Are full-size spare tyres a thing of the past?

By Bruce Newton

You probably know the feeling. You're driving down the road when suddenly the steering goes lumpy and odd noises start reverberating from underneath your car. Or maybe you’ve just walked out of the supermarket to find your car drooping on one side.

Yep, a flat tyre. What a pain.

And most of us have been there. An RAC member survey found that 89 per cent of motorist have had a flat tyre at one time or another.

Once upon a time, having a flat would have meant going to the boot, heaving out the spare along with the rest of the kit, and getting into the grimy job of swapping over the tyre – or getting someone else to do it.

Now though, you’re going to be lucky to actually find a spare tyre in many new cars, one of a full size anyway. Our survey found only 69 per cent of members' vehicles had a full-size spare .

Why are carmakers not giving us a full-size spare?

The trend to omit spare tyres from new cars started with substitutes like space saver tyres and run-flat tyres, but more and more in most segments these days, your new car will not come with a spare tyre of any type.

Why? Well cost is an essential ingredient of all this. Car brands globally are in a constant drive to reduce the cost of building vehicles.

As more car equipment of one type or another is required by legislation, such as safety gear, or customer want (infotainment systems), so that cost needs to be compensated by a saving somewhere else.

Car companies will do it by exerting pressure on suppliers to deliver parts cheaper. They’ll do it by slyly removing less visible equipment – such as your spare. And they’ve also done it by omitting the traditional full-size spare wheel and tyre.

It’s a trend that started in Europe where distances travelled are generally shorter and service and repair options not spread so far apart as in Australia.

But the trend caught on. When the locally designed and manufactured Holden Commodore VE launched in Australia in 2005, it came with a space saver tyre or a tyre inflator/repair kit as standard, and extra was charged for a full-size spare. Outrage was widespread.

But the reason Holden went this way wasn’t only cost, after all it retained the necessary cavity in the boot for a full-size tyre to fit. No, what it was also focused on was weight.

Removing the 20-30kg full-size spare from the equation allowed the Commodore to be tested at a lighter nominated weight in official Australian Design Rule (ADR) fuel economy testing.

The official saving on the window sticker? About 0.2L/100km.

By the way, when Holden relented on its policy and offered a full-size spare as a no-cost option, 90 per cent of buyers ticked that box.

While Holden designed the VE to fit a full-size spare, many car companies now don’t. Packaging, predominantly the creation of extra stowage space in the luggage area, is another key reason spares have been dropped.

The packaging trend has been exacerbated by the rise of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles that have substantial battery packs occupying much of the space under the floor. In many cases there simply isn’t the space to fit a tyre even if the manufacturer wants to.

In fact, the Chinese brand Chery created headlines in 2024 when its Omoda E5 compact SUV became the first EV ever sold here with a standard full-size spare tyre.

In most passenger car segments, the chances of finding a full-size spare tyre or space saver under the rear floor are hit and miss. You can just about forget it in small entry-level cars and – at the other end of the scale – ultra-expensive exotic cars.

Which cars still get a full-size spare?

Where they remain expected and supplied is in 4x4 SUVs and utes, where vehicles are expected to complete long distances often in rough and rugged terrain. But even in these segments, we are seeing the Australian requirement clash with the global automotive reality.

Another Chinese brand, GWM, had to come up with a local solution when its new Cannon Alpha PHEV ute arrived without space underneath to fit a spare tyre. It offers a no-cost option spare tyre on a steel wheel (alloys are standard) bolted into the tray.

“The local team was passionate the Cannon PHEV had a spare,” says GWM Australia product engineering manager Riob Trubiani. “We know some people driving that car will be out regionally driving and will want that spare.”

Proving it’s not only the Chinese with adaption issues, Subaru has had to come up with an accessory spare tyre mount for its new Forester Hybrid. In this case you’ll pay for it – a hefty $3000-plus.

And Ford took a bet each way with its new Ford Ranger PHEV ute by limiting the size of the battery pack to ensure a spare tyre would fit underneath the body as well. But that also had the impact of limiting the battery’s power and therefore its EV-only zero emissions range.

Ford then had a buck each way by making the spare tyre a no cost option on three out of four Ranger PHEV models to help improve the all-important ute payload by 20kg or so.

What are the full-size spare alternatives?

Okay, so if a full-size spare wheel and tyre is on the way out of most new vehicle segments, what are the alternatives?

Space-saver tyre: Also known as a donut, it at least allows you to get mobile again if you suffer a flat. But it’s speed-limited because it affects the vehicle’s handling and braking stability and is definitely only temporary.

Collapsible spare tyre: A space-saver by another name that actually pumps up to the same size as the standard tyre, so it becomes a full-size spare. But again, speed limited. Also expensive, so not employed by a lot of brands.

Run-flat tyre: Notably pushed by BMW in the early 2000s and then adopted by other luxury brands, early run-flats were heavy and stiff-riding because of the construction reinforcements required for them to drive with a puncture far enough for it to be fixed or replaced. Their ride quality improved through the years, but their high production costs and the increased drag (and therefore fuel consumption) because of added materials, seems to have quelled enthusiasm.

Sealant: Some tyre brands spray sealant inside tyres that can seal up small punctures in the tread. However, weight and cost are issues. Also, this can do nothing to fix a tear in your sidewall.

Tyre inflator kits: Okay for very small punctures. Once again, tyre wall damage is not fixable by pumping in goo to gum it up.

What’s next in tyre tech?

There’s some talk about ‘smart’ tyres and how embedded sensors can warn drivers of issues like tyre leaks and damage. Think of it as a development of the tyre pressure monitoring many cars are now equipped with. There are even suggestions tyres will eventually have self-adjusting air pressures.

The theory is that as swarm data – where cars share information about road conditions and hazards – becomes more prevalent, potential puncture causes can be avoided.

But all that doesn’t attack the core issue that exists here – reducing or stopping punctures and hopefully being able to get on your way again within a reasonable time under your own power.

One future option is self-healing tyres using materials that can autonomously repair minor punctures and cuts, extending tyre lifespan and reducing the risk of sudden failures. Here, research is only in its early stages.

Another option is the airless tyre, which its proponents push as the first bonafide potential replacement for the pneumatic tyre that’s held vehicle wheels off the road for more than 120 years.

Essentially, an airless tyre, as epitomised by the Michelin Uptis, uses rubber and composites rather than air to build a mesh around the wheel that deforms over bumps.

Despite years of work, Michelin has only recently started in-service tests on Uptis with the likes of logistics company DHL in Singapore and the French postal service.

And Michelin says commercial fleets rather than private vehicles will be its focus for airless tyre applications.

Current issues include higher up-front production and purchase costs, even if the long-term costs and wastage – because they last longer – may be more palatable.

They are also noisier than orthodox tyres, create more drag – meaning higher fuel consumption and CO2 emissions, and can be a rougher rider.