What has happened to the humble spare wheel? For years it sat in your boot, largely ignored, but there when you needed it most like a good spare tyre should. They came in all sorts of shapes and sizes; from the space-saver (or donut for our American readers) to the full-size spare, or, if you were so inclined, you could even get a fifth wheel with matching 20-inch alloy to go with the rest of the car so swapping over because of a puncture did not leave you looking like a donut (maybe that's where American's got the term from - must investigate.)
Then the world went greenhouse gas mad resulting in car manufacturers looking at various solutions to cut their vehicles' emissions by reducing fuel consumption. The easiest way to do so is to trim weight and the spare wheel, in all its forms, made way for an air compressor and a can of tyre sealant - or gunk as it is commonly known. For the sake of paying €20 or €30 less a year on motor tax this switch probably makes sense (not to mention the potentially reduced purchase price due to lower VRT); after all why pay to haul around something that you are rarely, if ever going to use? Not only would carrying a spare make for higher motor tax but it would also have a negative effect on your fuel economy. Surely then the compressor and gunk are the automotive marvel of our time, freeing us from the shackles of the spare wheel?
No. You see gunk has limited uses. It is the Goldilocks of the car world with the puncture having to be just right for it to work. Should the hole be too big it won't seal; nor will it seal if the hole is in the wrong position like on the sidewall rather than between the treads. Granted driving on a tyre with a damaged sidewall is dangerous in itself, but if the gunk plugged up the gap enough to get you to the nearest garage that would help. Nope, instead it is forced out through the hole quickly followed by the air that the compressor is gamely blowing into the tyre while you stand by the side of the road ringing a breakdown company. For a punctured tyre? C'mon!
Don't believe me? I did it earlier this year. There I was driving along without a care in the world when a pothole crept out of a bush and lay down just in front of my driver side front tyre. As I was busy serenading a rabbit I had rescued from certain doom I could not react quickly enough to avoid the evil pothole and hit it full on - crash, bang, wallop followed by a beep as the tyre pressure monitor sprung into life to inform me that the tyre was losing pressure.
I managed to nurse the car back to my driveway with a few PSI left in the tyre only to discover a can of gunk where one would normally find some fresh rubber. Having tried and failed to plug the hole with the gunk a phone call was made to a breakdown firm after which a nice man arrived to tell me that, yes indeed, I did have a puncture and because the car was so new there were no tyres in stock anywhere but Dublin. As I live in the hinterlands of Kildare a tow truck was organised, one that arrived two days later!
A tow truck for a simple puncture? Just put the bloody spare in the boot, sod the extra couple of grams of CO2 and let me get back on the road within five minutes.
Many manufacturers claim that the removal of the spare wheel has been in response to customer demand - buyers would rather pay less motor tax and have better fuel economy than lug around a spare. I wonder have any of the manufacturers asked customer who are standing on the side of the road, in the pissing rain, waiting on a tow truck if they'd like a spare wheel. I know I would.
The rabbit is fine by the way. He went very well with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.