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The much despised temporary spareMay 04 '00 Write an essay on this topic.Anita Lienert, who reviews cars for the Detroit News, recently criticized the new Aurora for coming with a temporary spare. You know, one of those small, rock-hard spare tires that most cars come with in place of a fifth regular tire. This criticism inspired this epinion. Why? Because I am personally tired of hearing how people hate temporary spares. This is a common emotion among the general public. After all, they look weird. And they do not look safe. I'll grant that having one on a car just does not look right. But how often do you use a spare tire? I can't remember the last time I used one. It's been over ten years. And when you do use one, how long will you need it? Unless you spend your sweet time getting the damaged tire fixed or replaced, not a good idea, then not very long. As for temporary spares not being safe, this is simply false. Granted, if I often took a vehicle off-road or to the track then I'd want a full-size spare handy. This of course applies to very, very few people. For 99+% of the driving public, temporary spares are just as safe as a regular tire. How can this be? After all, they're so small. The fact of the matter is, few people really come close to the limits of regular tires in normal driving, or even in emergency maneuvers. And temporary spares don't reduce these limits much to begin with. A few years ago Car & Driver magazine performed all of their regular tests on a car equipped with a temporary spare. I think it was a Corvette, but I'm not sure of this (can anyone dig up this article?). The upshot was that the tire did not fail, and the test results were not even that far off those with four normal tires. I think they even tested the car with four temp spares on it. Again, no problems, even with these strenuous tests. Some people dislike temporary spares because they think they're being ripped off. These same people think that if something is standard then that's the same as free. Sorry, but when manufacturers make something standard they bake it into the base price of the car. Ditto with the temporary spare. To the extent that it's cheaper, the price of the car is cheaper. Frankly, it's not that much cheaper. Manufacturers pay very little for the regular tires, less than half what they cost at the tire store. Why? Partly because the tire manufacturers are selling them millions of tires, partly because the middlemen are eliminated, and partly because by getting their tires on the new car there's a good chance that when they wear out they'll be replaced with the same brand. If they're not trying to save money, why do manufacturers use temporary spares? Two big reasons: weight and size. Lower weight helps the fuel economy ratings. A more compact size allows for a larger trunk. This is especially the case when the spare is under the floor of the trunk. A full-size spare would be much taller is this position, forcing the trunk floor to be much higher. So, next time you feel the urge to criticize a temporary spare, think about whether you'd really rather have less cargo space in order to not have a goofy looking tire on your car for a few days every few years. I suspect not.  |
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