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Why your next car may not have a spare wheel (/tire - don't get a flat on a Chevrolet Cruze Eco)
Yahoo ^ | 5/25/11

Posted on 06/14/2011 5:14:51 AM PDT by Libloather

Why your next car may not have a spare wheel
AFP Relax – Wed, May 25, 2011

Chevrolet has chosen to remove the spare wheel from one of its US models, opting instead to include a puncture repair kit, just as Michelin announces a tire that can't puncture -- does this mean the end of the spare wheel?

A long-held fixture in today's cars, spare wheels are little thought about but often essential, especially when a long distance from home. Statistics suggest European drivers suffer a puncture every 75,000 kilometers on European roads, although the number falls to every 3,000 km on some roads in Asia.

Buyers of the new Chevrolet Cruze Eco, however, will be among the first modern motorists who need not think about the spare, as the automaker has opted to include an "inflator kit" rather than a full tire to reduce the weight on the ultra-efficient model.

Chevrolet says that on-board tire pressure monitors, which are widely fitted on newer cars, have made spare tires unnecessary, as most problems can be detected well in advance.

So it announced last week that it's opted to do away with the heavy spare tire, opting instead for an electronic tire inflator and a sealant which can temporarily patch holes up to a quarter of an inch in diameter.

It says that the new solution should be enough to repressurize the tire and coax the car to a dealer for a proper repair, although in a serious situation customers can hit an emergency assistance button to summon roadside help.

(Excerpt) Read more at my.news.yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Extended News; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: chevrolet; cruze; spare; tire
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Cruze

Downhill.

1 posted on 06/14/2011 5:14:59 AM PDT by Libloather
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To: Libloather

Most cars sold these days don’t include a spare tire (or wheel) anyway; they give you this crappy “donut” thing, which is good enough to get you to the nearest service station and little more.


2 posted on 06/14/2011 5:19:40 AM PDT by Jack Hammer
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To: Libloather

I’m sure the repair kit will work well inflating a tire that has the tread separating from the tire because of the Texas heat. No thanks. I want a spare.


3 posted on 06/14/2011 5:19:59 AM PDT by Afisra
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To: Libloather
" opting instead to include a puncture repair kit "

This will not help at all if the car tire get's sidewall damage or a puncture in the sidewall, or a larger whole than a nail.
Looks like On Star will be getting a lot more call from stranded car drivers because most will not know how to fix a flat tire.
Does Chevrolet have liability insurance from lawsuits because of this ? because this puts those who drive those cars without a spare tire at risk.
4 posted on 06/14/2011 5:21:10 AM PDT by American Constitutionalist (The fool has said in his heart, " there is no GOD " ..)
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To: Jack Hammer

I was upset when they started providing those donuts instead of a real tire. With the cost of a new car, you would think you would get a real spare.


5 posted on 06/14/2011 5:21:42 AM PDT by ilovesarah2012
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To: Jack Hammer
Most cars sold these days don’t include a spare tire (or wheel) anyway; they give you this crappy “donut” thing..

I've referred to it as a "polio tire" for years. A car that is using one looks deformed, and in need of mechanical attention.

6 posted on 06/14/2011 5:21:52 AM PDT by Pearls Before Swine
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To: Jack Hammer

I’ve seen cars rolling along at 75 on the Interstate with those donut spares.


7 posted on 06/14/2011 5:22:01 AM PDT by saganite (What happens to taglines? Is there a termination date?)
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To: Jack Hammer; Afisra

When I needed a spare - I really needed a spare.

But I also carry two big cans of Fix a Flat.


8 posted on 06/14/2011 5:23:58 AM PDT by PeteB570 (Islam is the sea in which the terrorist shark swims. It aids & comforts the shark on it's journey.)
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To: Libloather
Chevrolet Cruze Eco?

Certainly is a wimped out name.

No spare tire, just a box of Kleenex in the glove box.

9 posted on 06/14/2011 5:25:44 AM PDT by N. Theknow (The MSM is to 0bama what the Broom-n-Scoop Detail is to a circus parade.)
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To: Libloather
Not that ridiculous. First of all, it's only changing what comes standard on the car. You can order it with a spare tire if you want (for $100). The Cruze is selling very well (#1 compact in the U.S. last month).

The article also had this interesting bit:

It's a neat idea, and one which could catch on quickly -- although at last week's Challenge Bibendum event in Germany Michelin unveiled an innovation which could make punctures themselves extinct. It seems that the French tire manufacturer may finally have nailed the key to a 'flat-free tire', using an interior material capable of plugging the tire as soon as a hole appears. Michelin says that it's filed 15 patents for the "unprecedented technological breakthrough," which reports suggest could be in use as early as 2014 with considerable environmental benefits including reduced rubber usage and reduced fuel consumption.

10 posted on 06/14/2011 5:28:26 AM PDT by kalt
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To: Libloather
Yahoo's news writers need to get out more, or Yahoo needs to pay them more money.

My '08 doesn't have a spare tire, a place to put a spare tire, a jack, a lug wrench, a repair kit or even an air pump.

(It has Evil Runflat Tires that don't! I can't imagine how they think they're saving weight by doing this -- the runflats weigh a lot, since the sidewalls need to be thick enough to support the car!)

11 posted on 06/14/2011 5:30:49 AM PDT by Sooth2222 ("Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of congress. But I repeat myself." M.Twain)
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To: Libloather

Don’t buy a Gov’t Motors car!


12 posted on 06/14/2011 5:31:58 AM PDT by G Larry (I dream of a day when a man is judged by the content of his character)
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To: Libloather

I mostly dirve vans, but they are equipped with two spares. Where I go, “roadside” assistance is a dream, and only a dream, unless someone stops to help.


13 posted on 06/14/2011 5:32:38 AM PDT by Smokin' Joe (How often God must weep at humans' folly. Stand fast. God knows what He is doing.)
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To: Libloather

Reason #4,539 why I will not buy a GM product ever again.

And my father was an Oldsmobile man.


14 posted on 06/14/2011 5:34:07 AM PDT by redgolum ("God is dead" -- Nietzsche. "Nietzsche is dead" -- God.)
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To: Libloather

Maybe this is prompted by the need to meet Federal fleet fuel economy standards, as in, less weight, more mpg?


15 posted on 06/14/2011 5:37:01 AM PDT by bjc (Check the data!!)
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To: kalt
They have been working on that idea for almost 20 years. I saw an early model when I was an intern at Firestone.

Good for small punctures, not so good for large ones. But since most of the flats are because of small punctures, that is ok.

16 posted on 06/14/2011 5:37:19 AM PDT by redgolum ("God is dead" -- Nietzsche. "Nietzsche is dead" -- God.)
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To: Libloather

I guess they don’t know that New Mexico highways are the natural habitat of the drywall screw.

The locals also seem to think that a temporary spare is temporary because it wears out eventually.


17 posted on 06/14/2011 5:37:33 AM PDT by Tijeras_Slim
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To: Libloather

This has been true for years. Many cars have had the spare tire as an option, and only come with a fix it kit. Nothing new at all, and not limited to GM.

Run flat tires are also old news. Been around for a long time.


18 posted on 06/14/2011 5:40:16 AM PDT by ltc8k6
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To: Libloather

obama and the unions have pushed GM about as far out on the limb as it can go...now they’re sawing it off at the trunk.


19 posted on 06/14/2011 5:42:33 AM PDT by FrankR (A people that values its privileges above its principles will soon lose both.)
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To: Libloather
Statistics suggest European drivers suffer a puncture every 75,000 kilometers on European roads
SNAP, 'kilometers'. I hate it when these guys speak in Canadian.

But more important that 75K, is 46,600 Miles. And I don't know about European drivers but 46,600 miles on a set of tires is a bit much. Like time to get a NEW SET 6,600 miles ago.

20 posted on 06/14/2011 5:42:58 AM PDT by Condor51 (The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits [A.Einstein])
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