 Poster: A snowHead
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There are lots of enquiries here about driving to the mountains, winter tyres, chains, etc. It might be worth remembering that as lots of modern cars are equipped with those useless "space saver" spare wheels, your trip could be seriously inconvenienced by a puncture. This happened to us; a simple puncture discovered on setting off home from the Alps to Calais. Change the wheel, no problem, but the "space saver" is rated for doing 100 miles at no more than 50 mph.... It was Sunday morning. Not a snowballs chance of getting a new one anywhere within 100 miles on a Sunday and we had a 750 mile motorway journey ahead of us.
The spare is mounted under the car, on a wire holder which unwinds from inside the luggage compartment. The car was very full, and we dreaded having to fit in a filthy wheel. But we discovered, to our surprise, that the damaged tyre and wheel would store in the same place with no problem. So on return we ditched the "space saver", bought a new wheel and mounted the new spare tyre on it. Problem solved. Yesterday we had a puncture in the pouring rain, on a busy and narrow road, near a one-way bridge, in Stow on the Wold. No problem, quickly changed the tyre and on the road again. We had a long way to go, much of it on motorway at high speeds. Even in this country, those stupid tyres are time wasters, not space savers. And there was plenty of room where ours was stowed for a standard size wheel.
Going to the Alps? Make sure you have a Big Man's Spare Wheel, not one of those stupid things, or risk serious disruption to your trip. And if we had needed chains at the time, we would also have had to switch one of the rear, undamaged, wheels to the front, as the chains would not have fitted the skinny Space Saver. They are a scandal.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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For spacesaver read "cheapskate manufacturer". Even most cars where they fit the spare inside the boot there is still space for a proper one. Manufacturers do it to save money.
Robin
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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or have European recovery policy that will get you to your destination/home depending on where your heading.....
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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kitenski, with the spare fitted, the vehicle could hardly have been called "broken down". I can imagine a telephone conversation with my breakdown insurers.
"Yes, I've fitted the spare, but it only allows me to drive at 50mph for 100 miles and I'll have to wait till tomorrow to buy a new tyre, so could you please relay me, my car, and all my belongings 800 miles home?"
"Certainly madam, we'll send a very expensive truck and driver along in five minutes and whisk you back to Hampshire in a twinkling of an eye"?
I don't think so.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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pam w, That's what my Euro breakdown says 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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boredsurfin, you tried it? for a puncture? Most would only do that, even for a serious breakdown, if repair locally was not possible. Nephew of mine who had a major breakdown north of Dijon after crawling north for 3 hours up snowy autoroute, and had AA 5* was towed back down into Dijon (after a considerable wait because the tow truck had to contend with the same autoroute), then wait around for a hired car, get themselves up to Calais and onto a ferry as foot passengers (with gear), then get another hired car in Dover to go home to Hertfordshire. Then go back and pick up the car 10 days later. He said the AA 5* service had been very good, and saved them a fortune, but on a very bad day on the roads it had all inevitably been something of a nightmare.
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pam w, Reading my small print if I'm delayed more than 2 hours and parts are not available I get a hire car of same quality or better and my car is re-patriated at a later date. The handbook clearly states the spacesaver is provided to get the car to the nearest dealership and a Euro wide out of hours service is provided. 
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boredsurfin, You get a hire car, but as pamw said above, it will be one to Calais, then another one at Dover., and they won't provide a roofbox for your skis either! For the sake of proper spare wheel it is just not worth the hassle.
Robin
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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I keep seeing all these facination with the finer print of insurances... isn't the best insurance the one you don't have to use!
What with a full size spare tires, none of the fine print needs to be invoked. How hard is that?
I bought my current car used. So didn't do as much "research" on what it has. It was a pleasent surprise when I had my first puncture that I have a full size spare. I didn't even have to break my journey to deal with it. And when I got the replacement tire, it happyly joined the team of "5-wheel rotation pattern", if you know what I mean.
Oh yes, naturally the chain fits too.
I hope that never happen to anyone. But if you have a punture on a stretch of road that requires chains, it's a complicated juggling act...
1) Replace one of the rear wheel and replace with a "donut" spare.
2) Replace the punctured front with the full size rear.
3) Put chains back on the full size new front
That is, if you have the present of mind to do 1) first instead of putting the smaller spare on the front only to find the chain doesn't fit! 
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arh but should the full size spare be a winter tyre or an all-season tyre? Then you'd have to rotate 10...
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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boredsurfin, my breakdown cover says the same. Fortunately those nice guys at Nissan provide me with a proper spare wheel.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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FWIW my SMax has no space for any form of spare tyre, just some "foam"...
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You know it makes sense.
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| hobbiteater wrote: |
| arh but should the full size spare be a winter tyre or an all-season tyre? Then you'd have to rotate 10... |
For those who has winter tyres, they'll have to made the judgement of whether to have a winter tyre spare, or just use the all-season spare.
In case it's not obvious,  you don't do tyre rotation between the winter and all-season.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I've got a very large spare tyre.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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pam w, A very similar thing happened to me on the way down to stay in SW France, I punctured just north of Paris at around 5pm with 8 hrs or so of driving still to go and only a space saver. Luckily quite a few French motorway service stations have proper garages we bought a new tyre (at a price) and carried on.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Just whack the spacesaver on and put the hammer down. They're good for thousands of miles
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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| kitenski wrote: |
| FWIW my SMax has no space for any form of spare tyre, just some "foam"... |
Our "other car" is a Peugeot 206cc and that comes with 2 cans of foam instead of a spare wheel, so before a trip to Paris in it a couple of years ago I bought a matching alloy wheel and tyre and chucked it in the boot. Yes it took up half the boot space but was it worth it.. OH YES! Firstly as insurance as I didnt fancy farting around in the middle of France trying to buy a replacement tyre, and secondly we have had a blowout in this country and fortunately had that spare as the punctured tyre was shredded and no amount of cans of foam would repair it. 
Forget silly cans of foam and space save wheels. Get yourself a proper wheel.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| Quote: |
I didnt fancy farting around in the middle of France trying to buy a replacement tyre
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we had to buy a replacement tyre in France, once, having changed the wheel after a puncture. The spare tyre was full size, but not in the first flush of youth. I thought it was legal, but the garage man said it was "foutu" and that we would have to buy a new one. OK. But then he said it was a different type to the other one on the axle, that he didn't have a matching one (like French butchers, French garages sometimes seem a world away), and that we would therefore have to buy two. Expensive ones. And he didn't take credit cards, and the cash point in the small local shopping centre ate my first card...
boredsurfin, but all that faffing about with telephoning breakdown services and out of hours chaps and waiting for a hired car (and carting your stuff across the channel) can will delay you for a long, long, time and can be avoided by having a spare wheel you can change yourself in a few minutes.
If you're on a ski holiday in the French mountains, a main dealer for your car can be several hours away in poor weather conditions and at the very least the lack of a proper spare wheel could cost you a day's skiing, as well as a few bob.
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| pam w wrote: |
| we had to buy a replacement tyre in France, once, having changed the wheel after a puncture. The spare tyre was full size, but not in the first flush of youth. I thought it was legal, but the garage man said it was "foutu" and that we would have to buy a new one. OK. But then he said it was a different type to the other one on the axle, that he didn't have a matching one (like French butchers, French garages sometimes seem a world away), and that we would therefore have to buy two. Expensive ones. And he didn't take credit cards, and the cash point in the small local shopping centre ate my first card... |
That was the EXACT scenario I visualised before our trip to France and the reason why I went to the expense of an OEM alloy wheel and tyre for the Peugeot, ensuring that the replacement after a puncture would be an exact match and conform legally etc etc not to mention the peace of mind whilst driving.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Don't even have a space saver - just goo to spray into the valve and a pump. No room anywhere for even a space saver...
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Wouldn't like to mix winter tyres and summer tyres up on the same axel, I wonder if a can of foam would be a better solution.
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| Quote: |
Wouldn't like to mix winter tyres and summer tyres up on the same axel, I wonder if a can of foam would be a better solution.
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Not if the tyre has any significant damage. My brother in law has a "can of foam" car and has tried, and failed, to use the foam more than once. Our spare, which we had to use a few days ago, was a snow tyre, but it was only on the axle until we could get to our tyre man and get a new tyre (the old one was completely finished, no chance of using a can of foam there - my husband hit a kerb at some speed!). You have to wonder about the priorities of car manufacturers when we get cars which have all the electronic gizmos going, but could require a tow just for a simple puncture. Even when they do work, I believe the cans of foam are only a "get you to a garage a few miles away" scenario.
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You know it makes sense.
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| Quote: |
Even when they do work, I believe the cans of foam are only a "get you to a garage a few miles away" scenario
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And after they have been used the tyre can often not be repaired.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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I'm currently trying to get a set of winters for my VW transporter in the UK. One supplier just rang to say he can supply 4 continentals. I asked about a fifth for the spare, "no no Continental tryes UK only have 4 of this trye available in the UK. "
So back to square one, try another make. I want 4 plus a matching spare thank you.
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Poster: A snowHead
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A small word of warning if your car is under warranty changing tyres to a make other than original equipment can invalidate your warranty.
The manafacturers Customer care department can advise you on this.
Make sure you receive confirmation in wrting (or by e-mail) that the tyre change is acceptable.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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boredsurfin, That is three separate therads you have posted this in.
It is just as wrong in all of them.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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So sorry, I was only posting from personal experience and passing on my experience for others to benefit from.
But if you think it's rubbish then it's fine by me 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I have 44" tyres on my hilux, each one is the size of a fridge freezer, my spare has to be mounted on the roof.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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With a beemer you only get run flat tyres, which according to the handbook can only be driven 150 miles at 50mph before they have to be changed. This has already happened to me once, fortunatley at 8am on a weekday morning. A quick trip to Kiwkfit to find thta they don;' keep these tyres in stock, the car spent the rest of the day languishing in the tyre bay wating delivery of tyres from supplier. Not ideal if on a long journey in the middle of the night, a scenario often typical of a run to the snow!!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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RDSpearing, Not yet happened to us...yet! Just bought some alloy wheels off eBay with run-flats (same as what's currently on car), ordered some snow tyres and about to put them on....will be taking the can of foam with us....just in case. On the record....BMW don't recommed taking the run-flats off and replacing with 'normal' tyres, but off the record they say it's absolutely fine!
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R32, if you have bought spare wheels so you can change to the snowtyres yourself, you could take one of your existing wheels, with an ordinary tyre, as a spare? A whole heap better than a can of foam, which won't work at all if the tyre has more than a genteel little hole in it.
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pam w, Yes a thought for the future....but this christmas we have a dishwasher, tiles, etc, etc, to go in the boot  .
Tyres have arrived from mytyres.com and they look fantastic!! Just need to find a cheap garage to put them onto the alloys now!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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R32, I just paid £42 to have my snowtyres put on, in our local garage, which I thought was rather steep, until I paid exactly the same for a haircut yesterday. £10 a tyre seems about the going rate.
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Just going to go out to the garage to see if we actually have a jack supplied with the car 
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FAQ
