Space Saver Wheel - Is my paranoia justified?

[brad]

I know you are joking because my neighbour is too thick to be able to use a computer & post on a forum.

Gutterings fine, eaves are a disgrace.

[darkfriend]

I don't know what the mark 7 boot is like, but I put a full-sized spare in my 118TSI mark 6. You can look in the mark 6 forum in the 'How to' thread or follow this link:

Full-sized spare in Golf mark VI

[DV52]

I don't know what the mark 7 boot is like, but I put a full-sized spare in my 118TSI mark 6. You can look in the mark 6 forum in the 'How to' thread or follow this link:

Full-sized spare in Golf mark VI

Darkfriend. Had a squiz at your mods. Very neat indeed! It looks like you had to lift the floor position to accommodate the full size spare. The mk7 wheel well looks similar, but the boot floor has two positions. I'm hoping that I can just use the upper position, but it's not clear how thick you had to make the polystyrene sub-floor in your mod. Can you measure the distance from the bottom of the wheel well to the top of the polystyrene please so I can measure it on my car (please)

[midlifecrisis]

Great pics. Need to get my mk7 and do some measuring

[darkfriend]

Darkfriend. Had a squiz at your mods. Very neat indeed! It looks like you had to lift the floor position to accommodate the full size spare. The mk7 wheel well looks similar, but the boot floor has two positions. I'm hoping that I can just use the upper position, but it's not clear how thick you had to make the polystyrene sub-floor in your mod. Can you measure the distance from the bottom of the wheel well to the top of the polystyrene please so I can measure it on my car (please)

I think it mentions in that link during the description that the foam is 10cm thick. I've just checked it and it is! The total depth including the foam is 22cm. Hope that helps.

[Mountainman]

I have just tried the 16" wheel with 205/55 tyre on my mk7 and it doesn't fit in the spare well, not because of height (even a 225/45 tyre would fit) but because it won't fit under the rear plastic panel that juts out in to spare well that the narrow spacesaver sits under. Also measured the weight of the spacesaver at exactly 14kg where as the 205/55 16 on Toronto alloy weighs 18.5kg new (and 18.2kg with 32,000km wear on the tyre). so if you get a flat the spare will be travelling on the hatch floor above the spare well. And it's no use buying a full size spare as it will never fit in the spare well unless you really want to butcher the rear plastic panel.

[midlifecrisis]

I have just tried the 16" wheel with 205/55 tyre on my mk7 and it doesn't fit in the spare well, not because of height (even a 225/45 tyre would fit) but because it won't fit under the rear plastic panel that juts out in to spare well that the narrow spacesaver sits under. Also measured the weight of the spacesaver at exactly 14kg where as the 205/55 16 on Toronto alloy weighs 18.5kg new (and 18.2kg with 32,000km wear on the tyre). so if you get a flat the spare will be travelling on the hatch floor above the spare well. And it's no use buying a full size spare as it will never fit in the spare well unless you really want to butcher the rear plastic panel.

Yeah, dealer told me plastic will need to be trimmed to fit full sized spare. Then it should work.

[DV52]

Yeah, dealer told me plastic will need to be trimmed to fit full sized spare. Then it should work.

midlifecrisis: I had hoped that I could simply drop a full size spare into the wheel well. I based my hopes on the following bit that I read from the manual. You can see that the extract comes from page 319 from manual. It talks about stowing away the "removed" wheel in the wheel well. No mention of needing to butcher the plastic return on the rear of the back panel. This is getting more difficult!

[DV52]

If you'd read the manual properly you'd know that the space saver should only be fitted to the rear. Apologies if this has already been pointed out.

Brad: Galvanised into action by your suggestion that I hone-up my literacy skills (only joking), I went back to the trusty (and voluminous) tome that VW calls the "Owner's manual". I do like literature that is based on the credo that too much information is never enough!

Anyhow, I'm the first to admit that my experience and knowledge of space saver wheels is amateurish at best, but I'm keen to understand any limitations in the technology so that I use the wheel properly (and as I said in my previous reply, so that I don't stray into the dreaded "nood" territory - only joking again).

I think that I need your help some more. I've tried to find the limitation that you mentioned in your post (about only using a space saver on the front wheel) in the manual, but alas my efforts have been unsuccessful. It's entirely possible that it's mentioned in some obscure part of the manual that I haven't yet found. It's also entirely possible that my literacy skills have been found yet again to be deficient (English is not my first language).

I have been able to find the "warning" section for using the space saver wheel which I have copied below (it's from page 320). As you will read, whilst much of what is said has already been included in others reply to this thread, there is no mention of the front wheel limitation.

Is your contention that "space saver should only be fitted to the rear" a preference, or is it a limitation?

[RubAVeeDubDub]

I always wondered why people were so scared of space savers and then half the time they fit the cheapest tyres they can find to their wheels. Space savers are not the end of the world. They have been fitted to most of the cars of the last decade. Used by 10's of 1000s of drivers overseas without problems. They are TEMPORARY. Unless you're in the sticks, you can find a tyre shop pretty close by. If you do badly puncture a tyre and it can't be repaired then head off to your nearest wreckers and see if you can get a full size tyre for acheap.

Space savers will last fine if you use them responsibility. They are made for only about 50kms of usage.
I drove on a space saver rather briskly through the mountains and it held up fine. Wouldn't recommend doing it, but it won't send you spinning into a tree the minute you go over 80kms an hour.
Besides - how often do you get a puncture? I've been driving for 6 years and I only once needed to use a spare when I got distracted by a lovely lady walking past and smashed into a chicane.

If you're super concerned about a space saver and don't want to chop up your boot, then maybe consider getting a bottle of tyre foam. They basically fill the inside of the tyre with a foam and you can get where you need to. The ride quality is atrocious but far better than driving on a flat tyre and also expect some very unhappy tyre fitters who need to pick that crap off the wheel.