Pram wheels / space-saver spares . . .

[bobotheclown]

Finlay, I had been after something like this ever since I found out that the GTI had a space saver spare wheel and as I was doing alot of motorway driving at the time I needed a full size spare wheel Doing 50mph on a motorway is not very safe IMHO plus my round trip on the motorway was around 86miles and the space saver has a limit of 50miles as far as I know.

I borrowed your photos from ebay so that I could show the dealership what I wanted to buy as they had never heard of a full size spare wheel boot conversion thingamebob. The photos were really handy, thanks ever so much!

[R32UK]

Think thats bad TT... I was driving round on 29psi on all four tyres till I checked the other week :embarassed:

[Teutonic_Tamer]

Finlay, I had been after something like this ever since I found out that the GTI had a space saver spare wheel and as I was doing alot of motorway driving at the time I needed a full size spare wheel Doing 50mph on a motorway is not very safe IMHO plus my round trip on the motorway was around 86miles and the space saver has a limit of 50miles as far as I know.

Just a couple of minor corrections.

A proper space saver spare is not limited to any distance at all, like you stated above.  I think you have confused this with the "Tyre Mobility Systems", which are basically a bottle of tyre sealant - and these do have a limited distance, soley as a "get-you-home" measure.

You also stated, in your own opinion that space savers are not very safe.  When a space saver is correctly inflated to 4.2bar/61psi (a typo above), then it is perfectly safe, when used within the constraints of the big yellow sticker on the side.  OK, they arn't going to be beating Sabine Schmitz round the Nurburgring, but that isn't what they are designed for.  They arn't meant to be a "replacement" for your Michelin Pilot Sport PS2, or your Conti SportContact3 - but are meant to allow you to continue your journey indefiately, but using a bit of common sense, by sacrificing any sporting pretensions. 

The only reason a space saver would feel unsafe, is if it was not correctly inflated. 

[Teutonic_Tamer]

Think thats bad TT... I was driving round on 29psi on all four tyres till I checked the other week :embarassed:

Tut tut!   

That just goes to show how cack the TPMS is on the Golf!    I really don't know why VW use such cheap and innefective systems, when Audi can use the proper radio-based TPMS. 

[RedRobin]

Think thats bad TT... I was driving round on 29psi on all four tyres till I checked the other week :embarassed:

Tut tut!   

That just goes to show how cack the TPMS is on the Golf!    I really don't know why VW use such cheap and innefective systems, when Audi can use the proper radio-based TPMS. 

....Tut tut! x2

Unfortunately the liklihood is that he didn't bother to use the TPMS.

[Teutonic_Tamer]

Think thats bad TT... I was driving round on 29psi on all four tyres till I checked the other week :embarassed:

Tut tut!   

That just goes to show how cack the TPMS is on the Golf!    I really don't know why VW use such cheap and innefective systems, when Audi can use the proper radio-based TPMS. 

....Tut tut! x2

Unfortunately the liklihood is that he didn't bother to use the TPMS.

Huh - The TPMS is always active!      You can not turn it off, like you can with the ESP.

[RedRobin]

Think thats bad TT... I was driving round on 29psi on all four tyres till I checked the other week :embarassed:

Tut tut!   

That just goes to show how cack the TPMS is on the Golf!    I really don't know why VW use such cheap and innefective systems, when Audi can use the proper radio-based TPMS. 

....Tut tut! x2

Unfortunately the liklihood is that he didn't bother to use the TPMS.

Huh - The TPMS is always active!      You can not turn it off, like you can with the ESP.

....Yes, but don't you have to set it so it has a datum to subsequently alert a deviation from? In other words, its alert system relies on human input to reset the datum.

[bacillus]

Well after reading this thread I checked my spare tyre pressure and it was only 3.4 bar!

Done the deed and inflated it to the correct 4.2 bar.

[Teutonic_Tamer]

Think thats bad TT... I was driving round on 29psi on all four tyres till I checked the other week :embarassed:

Tut tut!   

That just goes to show how cack the TPMS is on the Golf!    I really don't know why VW use such cheap and innefective systems, when Audi can use the proper radio-based TPMS. 

....Tut tut! x2

Unfortunately the liklihood is that he didn't bother to use the TPMS.

Huh - The TPMS is always active!      You can not turn it off, like you can with the ESP.

....Yes, but don't you have to set it so it has a datum to subsequently alert a deviation from? In other words, its alert system relies on human input to reset the datum.

Your are correct that it needs to be "set", but this is initially done by the stealer as part of the PDI, and should be reset, again by the stealer on every service where the pressures are checked.  If the "initiation" procedure wasn't carried out, then the TPMS will give a constant alert anyway!  This can all be found in the workshop manuals listed in the sticky. 

So, pedantically, yes, it does need setting - but in reality, once it has been set, that's it - just wait for it to tell you your boots are leaking.  But the trouble is, it don't - unless you are virtually on your rims, and by then, it will be too late.

So my initial conclusion still stands - the system on the Golf is useless    - unlike the system which Audi uses (which monitors the actual pressure inside each tyre). 

[Mew]

Finlay, I had been after something like this ever since I found out that the GTI had a space saver spare wheel and as I was doing alot of motorway driving at the time I needed a full size spare wheel Doing 50mph on a motorway is not very safe IMHO plus my round trip on the motorway was around 86miles and the space saver has a limit of 50miles as far as I know.

Just a couple of minor corrections.

You also stated, in your own opinion that space savers are not very safe.  When a space saver is correctly inflated to 4.2bar/61psi (a typo above), then it is perfectly safe, when used within the constraints of the big yellow sticker on the side.  OK, they arn't going to be beating Sabine Schmitz round the Nurburgring, but that isn't what they are designed for.  They arn't meant to be a "replacement" for your Michelin Pilot Sport PS2, or your Conti SportContact3 - but are meant to allow you to continue your journey indefiately, but using a bit of common sense, by sacrificing any sporting pretensions. 

The only reason a space saver would feel unsafe, is if it was not correctly inflated. 

I think he stated that doing 50mph on a motorway isn't safe in his opinion, nowhere in that quote does it say "space savers are not very safe"