Hit something on the freeway coming home this morning from work and the drivers front tire blew out. Had no problems stopping the HCH actually stayed straight and didn't veer. The only problem is NOBODY in Houston has OEM tires. I wanted OEM as the Bridgstones for me have been very good. Went directly to the dealer and they checked all the other dealers and nobody had them. Went to Discount Tires and they said it might take a few days. Soooo I went to Tire Rack and they had them in stock but I did call them to see if it would ship today. They couldn't guarantee it but he said as early as it is it should ship today and be here tomorrow.kevin

 

Hello,
Nice to hear you are OK after the tire mishap.

Can you comment on the hi speed performance of your spare? I'm considering getting a full size spare due to the possibility of it happening to me. My commute is quite lengthy so driving with "the flow" of traffic (in the carpool lane) is pretty important. Actually, getting home safe is more important.

Time to check my spare's pressure.

BR,
Mike G.

 

Just as an FYI if you haven't done so already, you should never use a compact spare as a front tire. Rotate the rear tire to the front and put the spare in a back wheel position.

 

That's good advice, I'd never have thought of that! Thanks.

 

Just for your info, when I got a flat on my '06 I was considering a full size sapre as well, however a full size will not fit in the the spare wheel well inside the trunk. I didn't want a full size taking up the room in the trunk so I left the spare (doughnut) in the car instead. Hope this helps.

 

Yeah you'll see it in the owners manual sometimes even. This advice of course is mainly for FWD cars, since the whole idea is you want to minimize speed difference between the drive wheels, plus torque steer and steering problems associated with having a smaller overall diameter tire at the powered/steering end of the car. For RWD cars, especially ones equipped with a limited slip diff, they'll either have a spare of equal outside diameter or they'll tell you to make sure to only use the compact up front.

 

Ops. oh well. as far as driving at hwy. speeds it drove ok.I would not drive like that again, 60 mph...in the right hand lane.kevin

 

Hello,
I appreciate your info Adam. I was going to take the opportunity to learn how to use my jack and figure out if the spare would fit in the trunk. Is the diameter too large to fit or is the height laying flat the part that takes up too much room?? I was thinking about ditching the styrofoam(sp?) and placing the tools wrapping in some padding.

TIA,
Mike G.

 

The diameter is too large for the tire to fit in the compartement. I also would maybe suggest ditching the scissor jack and buying a nice bottle jack for the car. The jack is cheap and it takes for ever to raise the car. I probably spent 20min. cranking the jack and 5 min. swapping out the tire with the spare including time to tighten the lug nuts.