A traditional spare tyre which we have always been obliged to keep in the boot in the case of emergencies has been a subject of heated debate for a long time now in the motor industry. The death knell has now sounded for the spare tyre as we know it, and along with window winders, cassette players and car alarms that screamed when you pressed the fob, it looks like they will soon be disappearing for good.
The problem has been that our cars, on the whole, are getting smaller so the big, cumbersome spare tyre has gradually taken up more and more valuable space that is needed for other things such as grocery shopping or luggage if you are going away.
The first answer to this dilemma was the ‘space saver’, a narrow and temporary wheel that only took up around half the room of an ordinary spare and weighed around 7kg less. Despite looking rather fragile and, to be honest, rather silly, they have become increasingly common, and their weight also made them a lot easier to fit onto a car.
Next up we had the compressor, which worked in two ways. You could either have the space saver that required a compressor to inflate it, or you could inject a foam into the tyre to repair your puncture and then re-inflate it. One popular brand is the Conti Mobility Kit from Continental, which weighs only 1kg and, according to the manufacturer, has a success rate of around 80% and can keep you motoring for up to 400 miles.
The latest kid on the block is the self sealing tyre, another Continental invention.
They say that their research has shown that 95% of punctures are caused by objects that are 5mm or smaller, whilst 61% are caused by those 3mm or less. The material inside the self sealing tyres stops any air escaping through the treads, and now that their exclusive deal with VW has ended, expect to see them on many more models in the near future.
