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A Whopping 36% of 2015 Cars Are Sold Without a Spare Tire to Boost Fuel Efficiency

Many of us know the overly frustrating scene - you’re left stranded on the side of the road, waiting for that tow truck to come and wishing you could have a talk with the man who approved for your vehicle to roll out the factory gate without a spare tire.
Lions attacking Defender with a flat tire 1 photo
Photo: 4x4schweiz.ch
Unfortunately, this is a scenario that could affect more and more drivers, since the number of new cars that replace the spare wheel with a tire inflation kit has been on a steady increase over the past 10 model years.

According to a report released by the AAA, tire inflation kits have taken the place of spare wheels on 29 million cars over the past 10 model years, growing from 5 percent for the 2006 model year to a massive 36 percent for the 2015 model year (statistics cover US sales).

The main reason carmakers sentence spare tires to death is their quest to cut costs while aiming to improve efficiency. A 4-pound (1.81-kg) kit saves about 30 pounds (13.6 kg), which means the fuel efficiency increase is minimal. However, when everything adds up for the all-important full fleet statistics, the companies see this as an important benefit.

With materials such as CFRP having brought us massive weight saving possibilities, it’s shameful to see tricks such as the one described above still being used on a large scale.

“Flat tires are not a disappearing problem, but spare tires are,” said John Nielsen, AAA’s managing director of Automotive Engineering and Repair. “AAA responds to more than 4 million calls for flat tire assistance annually and, despite advances in vehicle technology, we have not seen a decline in tire-related calls over the last five years.”

Tire inflator kits are not magic

AAA also tested the most common tire inflator kits found in today’s vehicles and found that, while these work well in certain situations, they are far from providing the full safety of a spare tire.

For such a kit to serve its purpose, the tire must be punctuated in the thread surface, with the object remaining in the tire. This is where the kit steps in, coating the inner layer of the tire with a sealant and re-inflating the tire with the help of a compressor.

However, if the sidewall is damaged, a blowout takes place or the tire-piercing object is no longer present, you’ll have to turn to a tow truck.

Kits can also bring a financial penalty, as the cost of using them is considerably higher than that of a tire fix.

The study also shows changing a tire is a skill that is less important to youngsters than you might believe. More than one in five millennial drivers (ages 18-34) have no idea how to perform such a move, while almost 90 percent of drivers with ages between 35 and 54 are in full control. The gender bias is also strong - while 97 percent of men claim to be able to change a tire, the percentage drops to 68 percent where women are concerned.

Many drivers believe tire inflation kits are a full-proof solution, but as the facts demonstrate, that’s far from the truth.
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About the author: Andrei Tutu
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In his quest to bring you the most impressive automotive creations, Andrei relies on learning as a superpower. There's quite a bit of room in the garage that is this aficionado's heart, so factory-condition classics and widebody contraptions with turbos poking through the hood can peacefully coexist.
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