Why do we carry spare tyres?
The majority of modern cars come with a spare tyre stored somewhere in the car just in case one of your tyres goes flat or has a blow out. They can often be found in a well in the boot of your car, usually hidden by a layer of carpet, and secured with bolts for safety and security. They can also be stored underneath the car, secured to the rear of the car, or in rear engined cars, in the boot at the front of the car. While it is commonly called a spare tyre, it is actually more than that as a tyre alone would be difficult for drivers to fit without specialist equipment. For this reason, cars are supplied with a spare tyre pre-fitted to a spare wheel.
These days we are rarely out of reach of a mobile tyre fitting service, or a vehicle recovery service, but when cars first came into use, this was not the case. Back then the roads were not in the (fairly!) smooth condition we are used to, but riddled with potholes and debris such as nails which did tend to cause punctures. As they were unable to call for assistance, this meant the driver had to take the wheel off the car, then remove the tyre from the wheel, repair it, reinflate and put everything back together.
It wasn’t too long before a car manufacturer had the idea of equipping their cars with a pre-inflated spare tyre fitted to a spare wheel resulting in much quicker tyre changes and they could get back on the road quicker. The punctured tyre could then be repaired at a later date. Eventually, some cars even came equipped with two spare tyres for those really long journeys! These days we can make do with one.
Nowadays many cars don’t have a fully spare tyre, as manufacturers try to maximise storage space, weight and cost by going for space-saver models. These are not intended to be driven far or at high speeds as most are restricted to 50mph. Some manufacturers have even done away with spare tyres completely by producing cars fitted with run flat tyres. Similarly to space savers, when these have been punctured they should not be driven for long distances or at high speeds, it is just an emergency measure to get you to the end of your journey (if it’s a short one) or to somewhere you can have the tyre replaced (if it’s a long journey).
As with all your car tyres, you should carry out regular maintenance on your spare tyre. You don’t want to fit it to your car only to find it hasn’t been properly inflated!