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Spare wheel question
Posted: Wed Jun 03, 2009 12:34 pm
by meggy-may
I have just discovered that my 1997 Polo seems to have the wrong size spare wheel. My wheels are 13", they have 175/65 13 80T tyres on them. The spare wheel is 14", and has a 105/70 14 tyre on it. This means that the spare wheel is too big.
I have looked on e-bay and all the MK3 spare wheels are 14", so I am confused.
Would a regular 13" space saver wheel fit OK if I bought one?
Re: Spare wheel question
Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2010 7:33 pm
by Tahrey1043
Nah mate - if my calculations are correct that's still going to seem SMALLER in overall diameter than the ones you have on! (Definitely 105/70 profile? I think it'd probably be higher profile than that, and therefore higher diameter, given that space-savers are often like pramwheels)
Therefore it's probably usable OK. There's more than just rim size goes into the determination of whether a wheel will fit, and it's more important that the rim isn't too SMALL (wouldn't fit over the brakes!). So long as the bolt pattern's the same and the tyre size is such that it's approximately the same as the others, you'll be OK.
Not too much direct experience of them, thankfully - all my cars so far have had fullsize spares so I've only glimpsed them on others, and fitted one once about 10 years ago - but they do seem to be squashed versions of real wheels. Wouldn't be surprised if - assuming the width is indeed 105mm - the profile's closer to 95% instead of 70, even if the stamping says otherwise. Again, assuming my maths are correct.
(13 inch wheel on 175/65 --> 175 width x 65% profile = 113.75mm rubber thickness; two thicknesses (as you have the ground side and sky side) = 227.5mm. 13 inches = 330.2mm, total ~558mm diameter. 14 inch wheel on 105/70 --> 105 x 70% x 2 = 147mm, plus 356mm = 503mm --- so it'd be riding about 2" lower on the corner with the space saver. You'd definitely not want to go over 50mph with that in place!)
You can, if you're alright with wheel changing and don't mind losing 10 minutes and some sweat, always swap it over ahead of time and see how the car looks resting on it.
PS your car may officially be "Mk3" but in the terms of this board it's a Mk4..... there's enough similarities for this question to stand, mind.