Answer to the lack of a spare tire.

23562 Views 94 Replies 40 Participants Last post by jds62f, Jan 15, 2012

tesprit

Discussion Starter · Mar 31, 2009

4

A major problem I have with my Elise is the lack of a proper emergency spare tire. The can of Fix-a-Flat in the trunk as supplied by Lotus leaves a lot to be desired especially if you are far away from home or a repair shop and you end up with a blown and shredded tire. After much time and research, help from a fellow LTer (thanks Cegan09), and chasing parts down, I finally have a viable spare wheel/tire in the trunk of my Elise.

The photos below show the marriage of a collapsible spare tire from a Porsche mated to a front base Lotus Elise/Exige wheel. As you can see from this first photo, in the collapsed state it fits perfectly in the trunk of my Elise even with the Sector 111 bootie and all the carpet and padding back there.

Land vehicle Vehicle Car Auto part Engine

Here is a side view showing how much extra room is available around the wheel and if the spare is installed upside down, you can store things inside of it.

Tire Wheel Alloy wheel Vehicle Automotive tire

Here are photos of a collapsed spare next to an inflated one. You can see how much they grow when you inflate them as well as how strange they look.

Land vehicle Vehicle Car Alloy wheel Wheel

Land vehicle Alloy wheel Tire Rim Wheel

The only drawbacks I can see are the loss of some trunk space, and the need to carry a small 12V plug in compressor as well as a small jack and a wrench to deal with the lug bolts. Also if you are weight conscious, this assembly weighs 31 lbs. These drawbacks pale considerably in my book compared to being out on the road miles from anywhere with a shredded tire and hoping to find a towing service that won't damage the car. At least with this set up you can change the tire and drive the car to the nearest repair shop. The top speed for these tires is 50 mph, but I read of a guy driving his 911 over 2,000 miles on his spare at 65 mph over the course of a week before he got his tire replaced. I wouldn't recommend doing that, but just being able to drive to a repair shop or back home after a catastrophic tire failure works for me.

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1 - 20 of 95 Posts

jeavis

· #2 · Mar 31, 2009

Wouldn't they rub inflated?

Spudboy

· #3 · Mar 31, 2009

That's pretty cool. Does the deflatable have a tube, or is it somehow sealed to the rim? How much did the tire itself cost?

Thanks

Cegan09

· #4 · Mar 31, 2009

I've actually never seen that tire inflated, kinda cool. I recently learned that some NSX's had that style tire as well. Glad the combination worked out for you.

kestrel74

· #5 · Mar 31, 2009

But......if you have a passenger.........what do you do with the flat tire :shrug:

RoadDad

· #6 · Mar 31, 2009

That depends on what or who you would rather leave at the scene... the tire or passenger.

"Honey, this won't take long. I'll be right back."

Chris Mackey

· #7 · Mar 31, 2009

Selling a 6" LSS wheel here:

http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/f95/fs-front-black-lss-wheel-300-shipping-70545/

tesprit

Discussion Starter · #8 · Mar 31, 2009

jeavis said:
Wouldn't they rub inflated?

Nope, they are only a little taller than the stock tire. Inflated they are 165/70-16 tires.

tesprit

Discussion Starter · #9 · Mar 31, 2009

kestrel74 said:
But......if you have a passenger.........what do you do with the flat tire :shrug:

The flat goes in a garbage bag and the passenger gets to hold it on their lap.
Hey, it's about time the passenger did something except just sit there and enjoy the ride!

tesprit

Discussion Starter · #10 · Mar 31, 2009

Spudboy said:
That's pretty cool. Does the deflatable have a tube, or is it somehow sealed to the rim? How much did the tire itself cost?

Thanks

The deflatable does not have a tube and it has standard beads to seal to the rim. Where it all gets weird is when the sidewalls fold inward and the whole tire collapses like an accordion. The tires are generally not sold separate of the Porsche wheel, but there are couple of Porsche guys here in the US that know how to remove them from the original spare wheel. The tires were the hardest to get, but I finally found these two. A 16" alloy Porsche spare wheel with a collapsible tire usually goes for about $150 and up. PM me if you are interested in a tire and I can see what I can do for you on a price now that I have some contacts in the Porsche world.

Aedo

· #11 · Mar 31, 2009 (Edited)

That is an amazing solution - congratulations!

On the other hand though - when was the last time you had a flat tyre and would have needed this solution? :shrug:

RacyTracy

· #12 · Mar 31, 2009 (Edited by Moderator)

Aedo said:
That is an amazing solution - congratulations!

On the other hand though - when was the last time you had a flat tyre and would have needed this solution? :shrug:

Carrying one and never using it would make carrying it worthwhile.

Spudboy

· #13 · Mar 31, 2009

tesprit said:
The deflatable does not have a tube and it has standard beads to seal to the rim. Where it all gets weird is when the sidewalls fold inward and the whole tire collapses like an accordion. The tires are generally not sold separate of the Porsche wheel, but there are couple of Porsche guys here in the US that know how to remove them from the original spare wheel. The tires were the hardest to get, but I finally found these two. A 16" alloy Porsche spare wheel with a collapsible tire usually goes for about $150 and up. PM me if you are interested in a tire and I can see what I can do for you on a price now that I have some contacts in the Porsche world.

Thanks for the offer, but I was mainly just curious. So is it partially inflated when collapsed? I'd assume it needs some pressure to keep the bead sealed.

tesprit

Discussion Starter · #14 · Mar 31, 2009

Spudboy said:
Thanks for the offer, but I was mainly just curious. So is it partially inflated when collapsed? I'd assume it needs some pressure to keep the bead sealed.

Here is the really interesting thing about these strange tires: there is absolutely no air pressure at all when the tire is collapsed and the inward folding of the sidewalls keeps outward pressure on the beads to keep them on the rim and sealed for the next inflation.

RoadDad

· #15 · Mar 31, 2009

Dan,

Is that spare secured in the boot at all (other than by the bootie)? I'm thinking about projectile motion into the clam for anyone without a bootie :shrug:. It's not quite as heavy, IIRC, as the stock battery but seems like it could be a source of star cracks or worse if it was loose.

Cegan09

· #16 · Mar 31, 2009

I know at least when i was test fitting, it had very little room to move, and it didn't seem to want to, though amazing things happen at high speeds. I wonder if a simple bracket couldn't be mocked up to mount on the battery mount points to hold it.

Seb

· #17 · Mar 31, 2009

Why not just put a real tire on it?

RoadDad

· #18 · Mar 31, 2009

Cegan09 said:
I know at least when i was test fitting, it had very little room to move, and it didn't seem to want to, though amazing things happen at high speeds. I wonder if a simple bracket couldn't be mocked up to mount on the battery mount points to hold it.

Or a couple of nutserts and a backing plate to attach the bracket :shrug:.

RoadDad

· #19 · Mar 31, 2009

Seb said:
Why not just put a real tire on it?

good luck getting that in your boot

I would think it nearly impossible, although I have never tried...

Seb

· #20 · Mar 31, 2009

Right. I guess a tire that won't actually rotate under the cars weight is better?

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