Third Row vs. Spare Tire: RANT!!!!

[jcanoe]

5-10mph? This product strikes me as being more suited for auto shops when they need to move vehicles around with damaged wheels/tires. I don’t see how this product would be more useful than roadside assistance when you get a flat.

In other news, I’ve had my 2012 Honda Pilot for 140k+ miles. I’ve driven it to the top of the highest 3 paved roads in North America and driven it all over the country.

*knocks on wood* I’ve never...in over 7 years...had a flat tire. I’ve never used my spare.

You are correct. The current Guniwheel is not a spare and cannot be used on public roads. As noted in my post, in the video Guniwheel is planning to introduce the Gunispare. Gunispare will be a near universal spare featuring a low profile pneumatic tire, A DOT rated wheel/tire approved for use on public roads at highway speeds (up to 50 MPH.) There is a graphic picture and brief discussion of the Gunispare at the end of the video. Gunispare was originally to be introduced in Q3 2020 but has not yet appeared. There is already a FB page and a web site established for the Gunispare.

I found a short video demonstration, dated November 2020, of the still in development Gunispare - The Universal Emergency Spare Wheel. In the video the Gunispare has been fitted to a Mercedes, is being driven around an empty parking lot. Enjoy! GUNIWHEEL on Facebook Watch

 

[Pianewman]

Note that jcanoe said the proposed Universal Emergency Spare Wheel, " ... WILL BE...". It isn't in production yet,

 

[73Bruin]

[QUOTE="ryanjeffords, post: 5286874, member: 151850" ... knocks on wood* I’ve never...in over 7 years...had a flat tire. I’ve never used my spare.[/QUOTE]

In over 50 years of driving, I probably have used my spare tire less than 6 times, only 2 of which occurred I was on the road in urban areas. The rest were swapped in my garage, so I could get to a repair shop. The first was easy, a nail that caused my tire to go flat after being parked at work all day. It could have been addressed by the Tesla pump and slime kit. The last one was my only side wall blowout and occurred on the 405 freeway just south of Wilshire Blvd in the middle of rush hour. I got to the side of the road, but was barely out of traffic. Not the place I want to get out of the car and change a tire. Fortunately, one of those free service trucks was on the scene in less than 5 minutes. He swapped the tire for the compact spare and I was on my way to Costco to get a new tire installed not long after. It seems that without a spare, I would have had to wait for a tow (flatbed?) and the whole experience would have taken much longer and been much more expensive.

Has anyone been in a similar situation with a Tesla? And if so, what was your experience?

 

[TravelFree]

This is a simple solution for those who travel and want the peace of mind as we did: Modern Spare to the rescue:

 

[73Bruin]

This is a simple solution for those who travel and want the peace of mind as we did: Modern Spare to the rescue:

View attachment 634521

A few followup questions:

1). How do you get it to stay vertical?
2) If it stays vertical, does it interfere with the view through the rear view mirror?
3) If it lays horizontally normally:
-- can you please supply a photo so we can get an idea on it's impact on trunk spac
-- does it slide around?

 

[TravelFree]

1. There is a strap on the tire cover that wraps over the headrest. Put it there and hasn't moved in 6 months.
2.No
3. No, it doesn't slide around on the rubber mat but I prefer it vertical because I like the floor space for loading up bins to hold our groceries. Just a more efficient use of space for that. I did remove the shelf for the vertical storage. Vertical also works better for traveling and the luggage.

The kit comes with everything you need in the bag, jack, wrench and different lug bolts and a spacer to clear the brake. I added a torque wrench as well. I also have the Tesla pump and tire repair goop kit for simple fixes. The tire they give you is a real tire but not as wide as the Tesla tires.

 

[73Bruin]

1. There is a strap on the tire cover that wraps over the headrest. Put it there and hasn't moved in 6 months.
2.No
3. No, it doesn't slide around on the rubber mat but I prefer it vertical because I like the floor space for loading up bins to hold our groceries. Just a more efficient use of space for that. I did remove the shelf for the vertical storage. Vertical also works better for traveling and the luggage.

The kit comes with everything you need in the bag, jack, wrench and different lug bolts and a spacer to clear the brake. I added a torque wrench as well. I also have the Tesla pump and tire repair goop kit for simple fixes. The tire they give you is a real tire but not as wide as the Tesla tires.
View attachment 634683

Thank you for the comprehensive answers to my questions and the picture. I don't understand the need for different lug bolts. Is that because of the spacer and the way it attaches?

 

[TravelFree]

Thank you for the comprehensive answers to my questions and the picture. I don't understand the need for different lug bolts. Is that because of the spacer and the way it attaches?

Yes. Unfortunately some Teslas, like the 2020 Model S have a thicker brake caliper and require a spacer that has to be bolted on first then you bolt on the wheel to the spacer.

I don't know why Modern Spare didn't make a different wheel for the Teslas with the larger brake caliper. Might have to do with cost. If you go to their website you can find out which package they recommend for your year and model. I haven't looked at the recommendation for Model Y yet. Wife is still undecided on the Model Y AWD or the new VM ID.4 RWD. I'm leaning to the Y but she has to decide after a road test with both. We'll be selling the Nissan Leaf. I love my Model S LR+

 

[mswlogo]

Losing the spare tire and wheel is a comprimise to add other benefits. Manufacturers reduce the cost of the tire while increasing valuable storage space. The weigh savings is significant when engineers are working like crazy to reduce every ounce. Crash structures work better if they do not need to consider that some would carry a spare, while others would not. The additional passenger space can allow more batteries and more passengers.
People that demand a spare tire can usually throw one in the trunk or hatch and call it a day..

Run flat tires ride rough, grip less, cost more etc.

The modern solution is to just toss the tire.

I think the number one reason they don’t put spare tires in cars these days are newer generations are too stupid to know how to put one on.

So many posts here that will drag their tires out of the garage, load the car up, Drive to the shop, wait their turn, let some high school kid unload tires from their expensive vehicle (with white interior), wait for them to over torque their lug nuts, load the tires back in, pay the bill, drive home, unload them.

All because they don’t know which way to turn a lug nut.

 

[Pianewman]

^^^this!!!

 

[laservet]

Including a spare tire reduces the overall fleet mileage for ICE cars and range for EVs. In addition to reducing cost. My BMW had low profile performance run flats, ruined four of them and one wheel on local potholes. Three of those occasions I was able to limp either home or to the mechanic, on one occasion the entire sidewall blew away over about 1/4 of the circumference and it was undriveable. On one occasion in the middle of the night in the rain on an interstate under construction with no place to pull off I was glad I had runflats. The rest of the time, not. My experiences led me to choose the 19" Gemini for my Y. I pack a tire puncture repair kit and cross my fingers.

 

[73Bruin]

I keep reading the claim that the extra weight of a spare tire, Jack and tire wrench impact the range of an EV. While, I am sure that this is true as an absolute, I am wondering how big of an impact it really is. Imagine a car manufacturer saying "Carrying passengers can impact your mpg or range". Or even better, making customers step on a scale before providing them an MPG or range. I would love to be a fly on the wall when a sales person has to say "Sir, You weight too much, we need to advise you that your range will only be x instead of our claimed rate."

On the other hand, it seems like there is a readily quantifiable cost savings.

 

[laservet]

I keep reading the claim that the extra weight of a spare tire, Jack and tire wrench impact the range of an EV. While, I am sure that this is true as an absolute, I am wondering how big of an impact it really is. Imagine a car manufacturer saying "Carrying passengers can impact your mpg or range". Or even better, making customers step on a scale before providing them an MPG or range. I would love to be a fly on the wall when a sales person has to say "Sir, You weight too much, we need to advise you that your range will only be x instead of our claimed rate."

On the other hand, it seems like there is a readily quantifiable cost savings.

I'm sure it's both, cost may be more important in ICE cars where range isn't a thought, but meeting fleet mileage numbers makes manufacturers do strange things to get a fraction of an mpg greater fleet mileage. For example, my wife's 2009 BMW X5 has a problem in which the battery completely dies, like the dead parrot, can't jump start it, can't shift it out of park since it has an electronic transmission. The primary cause is that BMW set the software so the alternator only charges the battery when the car is driving interstate speed. That gave them a fraction of an mpg greater fleet mileage. Unfortunately, combined with some vampire drain of unknown origin it resulted in their SUV's and other vehicles around that year having the dead battery issue over and over and over again. Initially BMW's response was that the drivers weren't driving it properly by just driving around town and the solution was to either drive interstate speed daily or purchase a trickle charger from them and hook that up every night. Eventually a software update was issued that lowered the speed at which the alternator started charging the battery along with shortening the amount of time each individual computer in the car stayed awake after the car was shut off. Didn't eliminate the problem but lessened it.

In EVs where range anxious buyers compare maximum range a few miles could tip a purchase decision.