As time passes, the spare tire is becoming more and more of a rare species. Here is why so many new cars no longer come with spare tires.
There are a lot of things in life that we keep safely tucked away that we hope we’ll never need to use. Our smoke alarms, for instance, or our emergency funds. These are the very things that we can’t neglect, though, because when we need them, we really, really need them. Another solid example for drivers is a spare tire. Are you one of those unfortunate souls who has been stuck on an unfamiliar road late at night while waiting for your mechanic to hook you up with a spare? This topic is sure to strike a real chord with you, then.
In November 2023, the UK’s RAC reported that it had reviewed „equipment lists of more than 300 car models across 28 brands — everything from the smallest superminis to the largest 4x4s“, and what did the British auto servicing brand discover? Less than 3% of those models were sold new with a spare wheel included in the price.
For the manufacturer, of course, there’s a money-saving benefit to limiting production of spares, while there are also some performance-related reasons to dispense with them. They add weight when kept in the back, and because they aren’t always offered as full-size spares, they can limit performance while being driven on. As they’re something of a last resort, drivers may not be inclined to use them anyway, which also limits the call for them. There are also more lightweight and convenient approaches to dealing with a flat, which is a further factor in the reduction of spare tires. The impact of emissions regulations
If you were a fan of the fearsome muscle cars of the mid-to-late twentieth century, you surely still lament the fact that these mighty models became increasingly less practical, and then all but impossible to drive as a result of such paradigm shifts as the Clean Air Act. Enacted in 1970, the EPA reports that „this legislation authorized the development of comprehensive federal and state regulations to limit emissions from both stationary (industrial) sources and mobile sources“, and there weren’t many mobile sources more majestic than the Dodge Charger R/T (pictured here) and its kind. Fuel increasingly had to be cleaner, engines needed to be more efficient and generally smaller, and the trend for lighter, more practical models began.
As important as a spare tire can be, there’s no getting around the fact that it can add considerable weight to a vehicle: 44 pounds (20 kg) or so depending on the type of vehicle. This complicates the matter of hitting eco-friendlier targets. This could be seen as an advantage of the trend away from spare tires, having a potential positive effect on a vehicle’s fuel economy, but the benefits of this compared to the risks associated with driving without a spare tire are a matter for the individual driver to decide on.
