Botsy67

After 17 years of owning my car, I have not yet taking out my spare from the frunk (knock-on-wood). But I do occasionally check the spare tire pressure just to be on the safe side in case I do get a flat on the road. Cheers,

jdbornem

I've been wondering this since yesterday. I'm not sure that the spare will deflate completely back to it's small folded size, although I haven't tried yet (I want to clean it well first). There are replacements on ebay, but these seem to just be part-outs from other cars, so are also 16+ years old.
Anyone know more about this? Is it possible to get a newer replacement tire for the folding spares?

Mike Murphy

Don’t know, but my 1999 donut has the original tire as well. It shouldn’t be too hard to call up tire rack and ask them for a tire that would fit

ZuffenZeus

My Porsche 996 cars had fulling inflated spare tires, but I know that Porsche has since moved away from that, but instead includes a tire repair kit and compressor. But you can still get a spare tire kit that includes a run-flat spare, jack, etc.

I would just order a used replacement if your current one is problematic.

paddlefoot64

My 18 year old spare still appears to be in good shape. Would love to have the foam tray that came in it.

808Bill

Even at 20yrs old. It will get you from point A to point B, but do not drive any longer than to the tire shop. I just had my original spare on my 04 Ram blowout while driving on it for two weeks. It was it's first use and only use...the steal cords in the rubber where rusty.

sgt1372

Good question. I've got the donut spare in my 2000 C4 Cab which also came w/a compressor to inflate it.

I'd hate to inflate it to check it out and then find out that it won't deflate back to its original size, thereby rendering it useless. Personally, I'll just take my chances on whether it will "work" or not when I need it and just call AAA if it doesn't.

I also carry a can of inflator to use in conjuction w/the compressor to use in case AAA is unavailable and I need to try to fix one of tires on the car, which is what I'd try to do before using the donut since it would require jacking up the car and removing/replacing the flat.

There are the same precautions as I take w/my BMW and Vette that originally came w/run-flat tires that I've replaced w/non run-flats. I carry an emergency spare in the trunk of my BMW ut I just have a compressor and can of tire inflator in the Vette.

Haven't had to use any of this stuff yet and hopefully never will in the future either.

jdbornem

One problem is that while the C2 cars have a fully inflated space-saver spare, the C4S has a folding spare, which is origami collapsed on the wheel, and needs inflated once mounted. TireRack has space-saver spares, but they only have articles about what a folding-spare is, not the actual tires. I kind of wonder, since they are completely uninflated, if a tire shop could even mount a new folding spare on the rim. They usually use air pressure to seat the bead.

So, as b3freak suggested, if the spare doesn't deflate properly, I guess I'll just get an ebay used replacement. (~$300)

kc0433

I used the collapsible spare a few years back when I blew a rear. After use, I unscrewed/removed the valve stem core to get all the air out. Let the tire sit overnight. It collapsed back to prior size then I put it back it the frunk. I checked it for dry rot and it was in good shape with no cracking for being 13 or 14 years old at the time. I wouldn't do any heavy driving on one but that goes for any donut spare.
It's a funny little lopsided tire for sure.

zbomb

Made a deal for my dream wheels... I'll likely have to re-barrel (hint) them to get them to fit under the fenders but man am I happy. Pick up this weekend.

cwbrown

Must be BBS e88

Dranon

I just inflated my spare on my C4 just to check it out. It deflated down to original size just fine!

sgt1372

Good to know. Thanks!

FullTiltBoogie

Picked up my FD Motorsports tuned mufflers. Swapping out my FabSpeed mufflers so the wife and I can have a conversation in the car.

dporto

Which Fabspeeds ? Maxflow's? I don't think they're loud at all... Supercups may be a different story...