Okay... I know it's stupid...I am just wondering who here has a spare tire in the trunk of their car.

Since factory spare won't work with 17+ rims, who has a matching size spare with their rims?

I know some of you are just trying to shave some weight off your car by taking every "unnessary" stuff out of the car, but what are you going to do if you have a flat?

I currently don't have a spare....I am afraid that...one day....I will get a flat tire and stuck in the middle of nowhere at night......

 

24/hr roadside assistance and i keep the spare in there as well

 

STi spare can be used with 17's.

 

The factory spare works fine with 17"'s. I wouldn't leave it on longer than necessary though. I limped to the tire shop on the donut when someone slashed my tire.

 

As alex said, the STi's spare is a 17 steelie, and ofcourse it fits perfectly in to the spare tire well, i carried that one in my wagon when i went on a roadtrip this past summer.

 

what about 18s?

 

Spare tires work but you can't drive more than 50 miles on them and can't go over 50mph. Put it on, drive to the nearest repair shop and get your tires fixed.

 

Thanks for all the inputs!!


How much is the STi spare? Where do you guys get it?
I think I will probably get one before someone slashed my tire...

 

I wanted a 17" full size spare, but it just doesn't fit in my rear space (wagon). I am very unhappy that a full size spare doesn't fit but it doesn't. I keep meaning to try to fit the older steel wheels from older Impreza in there...that might fit (?).

The small steel spare works fine - I know - but it won't clear some of the big brake kits. What you need to do if you get a flat on a front tire, is move a rear tire to the front and put the steelie on the rear.

You might have a misconception but generally to keep the speedomoter working, the outter tire diameter needs to be the same no matter if you are running 16", 17", 18", 19" or some other size wheel, if you don't keep the outter diameter the same you'll have to do something about the speedomoter and thus the odometer.

Good Luck.

 

btw
I brought my car with no stock spare in the trunk...that is why I want to buy one

 

Thanks! AntiochCali!

So it is okay to use a spare with different rim diameter but same tire diameter?

because I heard that using different diameter rims will kill the drivetrain or something... that is why I am asking...

 

I have a Wagon with 17's on it. I stopped carrying the donut... and just pray for the roadside asistance to get there before I get murdered Lastime I got a flat they were there within the hour... not a bad deal Infact I think it was even a free ride as I remember

 

Different diameter tires will screw the diffs, if you drove on them long enough. There is a minimal difference in circumference (<2% IIRC) between the stock 205/55/16 and 225/45/17 or 215/45/17. But like I said I wouldn't drive very long on it.

 

im prety sure that as long as you got the right tires on your 17's so that the outer diameter is the same as stock, a spare should work fine. you run into trouble when the spare is smaller than the other tires because one tire will spin faster than the other wreaking havoc on the diff

if you ahve to buy a spare anyway, you might just look into getting the STi spare.

 

Yeah, you want to be as close as possible for the tire diameter.

The difference in tire diameter has to be taken by the differentials - but it's no big deal for a short run - I drove back from Sacto to Pittsburg on my small spare. I wouldn't do that long term, but for a few miles, IMHO it's fine.