TIL that our Golf has a full spare tire

Kinja'd!!! "FSI - alcohol enthusiast with a car problem" (fuelstratifiedinjection)
05/27/2016 at 10:59 • Filed to: None

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A rarity these days.


DISCUSSION (26)


Kinja'd!!! Tatanko > FSI - alcohol enthusiast with a car problem
05/27/2016 at 11:01

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Indeed! That’s where they keep the subwoofer on cars with premium audio as well :)


Kinja'd!!! Leon711 > FSI - alcohol enthusiast with a car problem
05/27/2016 at 11:02

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Mine has an 18 inch space saver. Sad trombone.


Kinja'd!!! Jcarr > FSI - alcohol enthusiast with a car problem
05/27/2016 at 11:09

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One of the few things I like about our VW. It’s come in handy a number of times.


Kinja'd!!! BvdV - The Dutch Engineer > FSI - alcohol enthusiast with a car problem
05/27/2016 at 11:12

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Well, when the Golf Plus was designed, it was still sort of normal, right? If I remember correctly the option of full spares just started vanishing around 2010-ish.

Btw, my Twingo was even designed for a full-size spare when it was launched in 2007, however they completely dumped the spare to save weight, and try to save fuel. This also caused my Twingo to drop into a lower road tax weight class, probably by accident, so the lack of a spare saves me money in two ways.


Kinja'd!!! fourvalleys > FSI - alcohol enthusiast with a car problem
05/27/2016 at 11:13

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The Fiesta ST has a full-size spare as well! I’m curious why, though, since it still has the speed/distance restrictions that a donut spare would have.


Kinja'd!!! FSI - alcohol enthusiast with a car problem > Tatanko
05/27/2016 at 11:17

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I’d rather have a spare tire instead of a fancy audio system to be honest.


Kinja'd!!! FSI - alcohol enthusiast with a car problem > Leon711
05/27/2016 at 11:18

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Less weight almost makes it a racecar!


Kinja'd!!! FSI - alcohol enthusiast with a car problem > Jcarr
05/27/2016 at 11:20

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Oh yes! Luckily we didn’t have to use it so far. But it’s great to have one.


Kinja'd!!! FSI - alcohol enthusiast with a car problem > BvdV - The Dutch Engineer
05/27/2016 at 11:27

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VW started to deliver all Golf Mk5s with a tire inflator instead of a small spare tire. That’s a good compromise that you save money by not having a spare wheel. At least you can still get a tire if you really want to have one.


Kinja'd!!! Tatanko > FSI - alcohol enthusiast with a car problem
05/27/2016 at 11:28

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Sorry if my wording was a little off, but I didn’t mean that the subwoofer is a replacement — it literally sits in the spare!

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Kinja'd!!! Probenja > fourvalleys
05/27/2016 at 11:28

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If it isn’t the same exact tyre size as the other wheels (diameter, width and speed index), then it is not a full size spare and it’s a compact or temporary spare so it must have the speed labels.


Kinja'd!!! FSI - alcohol enthusiast with a car problem > fourvalleys
05/27/2016 at 11:29

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Wait, a real spare tire but with restrictions? Weird choice for a performance car.


Kinja'd!!! Ash78, voting early and often > FSI - alcohol enthusiast with a car problem
05/27/2016 at 11:31

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My ‘95 Golf had alloy wheels (yes, alloys! All of my prole friends had hubcaps). AND it had a full-sized spare...with an alloy, too! Shocking how many things in the car world get better over time, but how many things also get worse. Also, FWIW, take the extra time to repair a minor flat with Slime, not Fix-A-Flat, especially if you want to keep the wheel from corroding and allow the tire to be repaired. Worth the extra few bucks and 5-10 more minutes of time (vs fix-a-flat).


Kinja'd!!! FSI - alcohol enthusiast with a car problem > Tatanko
05/27/2016 at 11:33

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In the spare? Now that’s ingenuity!


Kinja'd!!! RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > fourvalleys
05/27/2016 at 11:56

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Probably the same full size spare as the normal Fiesta, which would nonetheless be a mismatch with larger tires on the ST. Which requires them to get a special version *of* a full-size spare made that says it isn’t full size - essentially.

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Kinja'd!!! BvdV - The Dutch Engineer > FSI - alcohol enthusiast with a car problem
05/27/2016 at 12:29

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Didn’t know VW was that early with that.

Indeed the compromise is quite good, the tax alone saves me around €5 a month, supposing it would have gotten something like 15-20 kgs heavier due to the spare.


Kinja'd!!! Cé hé sin > FSI - alcohol enthusiast with a car problem
05/27/2016 at 12:38

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Those inflator things are evil abominations.

I have reasons to know this. I got a puncture on a recent trip to Italy. A C3 Picasso does not come with a spare wheel and the spray thing doesn’t work with large holes. Instead of spending ten minutes changing the wheel I spent a couple of hours by the side of the road waiting for a mis directed tow truck, was without the car for the rest of my week’s holiday because it was the weekend and no tyres could be got and then it cost me €100 for a two and a half hour taxi ride to the airport.


Kinja'd!!! jvirgs drives a Subaru > FSI - alcohol enthusiast with a car problem
05/27/2016 at 12:42

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All cars should come with, at minimum, a donut spare. Just found a screw in my LR tire since i realized the tire pressure was 4 PSI lower than the RR. Glad I purchased the spare once I bought my car since it wasn’t included.


Kinja'd!!! FSI - alcohol enthusiast with a car problem > BvdV - The Dutch Engineer
05/27/2016 at 12:44

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60 bucks a year ain’t too bad.


Kinja'd!!! FSI - alcohol enthusiast with a car problem > Cé hé sin
05/27/2016 at 12:46

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Oh man that sucks. All in the name of weight saving. I wouldn’t want to rely on a tow truck in Italy btw.


Kinja'd!!! FSI - alcohol enthusiast with a car problem > jvirgs drives a Subaru
05/27/2016 at 12:50

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Better save than sorry, as stupid as that may sound.


Kinja'd!!! Cé hé sin > FSI - alcohol enthusiast with a car problem
05/27/2016 at 12:51

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If it wasn’t for my Italian speaking brother I’d be probably be there still!

Nobody speaks English in Italy outside of the tourist trade and unfortunately my education didn’t include Italian.


Kinja'd!!! jvirgs drives a Subaru > FSI - alcohol enthusiast with a car problem
05/27/2016 at 12:53

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yup. Its holding air for now. Im going to take it off tomorrow and hopefully will get it patched.


Kinja'd!!! FSI - alcohol enthusiast with a car problem > Cé hé sin
05/27/2016 at 12:56

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That sounds too familiar. Hand gestures don’t make you speak Italian unfortunately. Having someone with you who can speak Italian is the ultimate advantage.


Kinja'd!!! FSI - alcohol enthusiast with a car problem > jvirgs drives a Subaru
05/27/2016 at 12:57

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I’m curious, can you actually reuse your donut spare?


Kinja'd!!! jvirgs drives a Subaru > FSI - alcohol enthusiast with a car problem
05/27/2016 at 13:05

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Yup. Its just like any other tire. It does have distance and speed restrictions since its not really made for long term use.