Hi,
I’m currently planning a driving trip around Europe with a few of my friends and wanted to know if its possible to get a space saver wheel for the Exige (S2)? I know that I have tyre weld, but haven’t heard too many good things about it and know that its only intended for small punctures.
Gav
Why bother - get European breakdown cover and have the car backloaded in the case of a puncture. Have done many thousands of Euro miles and never had a puncture…roads aren’t that different to the UK; and again i have never had a puncture here either.
i have had a few breakdowns though including having the car recovered from central Spain to home. Would never take a Lotus abroad without cover.
Would never take a Lotus [color:“blue”]with a K series engine [/color] abroad without cover.
PS I wouldn’t take [color:“red”] ANY [/color]car abroad, without breakdown cover
Don’t forget as well as the spare wheel, you are gonna need to pack a jack and tyre wrench, all take up loads of space. I agree with the others, get euro breakdown cover and pack a good book.
Thanks for the advice!! I’ll just wing it and hope for the best.
Gav
TOP TIP…
Keep at least one big can or 2 smaller ones in the car at all times + Full Euro recovery.
There’s nowhere to put your smalls never mind a spare wheel…
I picked up a mahoosive bit of wire, about 4mm dia off a packing crate by the looks of it, right in the centre of the tread on the off side rear.
It was about 00.00 hrs on the A1. I was going to a client to drop something off on my way home, in my suit.
Feckin thing was huge and as such was catching the inner arch.
The only bit of luck I had was coming across a layby to pull straight in.
I had just bought a can of tyre weld so pulled out the wire and gave it a go.
With hind sight I think I would have left the wire in and pulled it out after nearly inflating with the tyre weld.
It was pitch black (as it often is at that time) but managed to follow the instructions and roll car/wheel so the ‘hole’ was at the bottom.
One small can just inflated it and sealed the hole perfectly.
It worked a treat and got me back home 45 miles or so.
Bearing in mind the size of the wire it was still inflated the morning after. The rears were both shagged so I had already got a new pair ready to go on.
Took them to my local tyre man who fitted then new ones without hassle. No real mess just the unset milky fluid in the old tyre. Just washed off the wheel no snags.
I obviously took it steady to start with but then pushed it a bit upto 70mph on occasion and again it was absolutely bang on.
I now keep at least one big tin with me at all times.
No good for ripped sidewalls though!
On my previous elise and exige, when ever Ive gone abroad Ive got my mate (who deals in smart cars) to put this stuff in my tyres. He uses it on smarts and I believe they use it on bikes. Its pink with fine speckles of black rubber in. Ive played with it on his display where you can stab the tyre with an ice pick, pull it out, spin the tyre round and it seals it up for good!
Dam clever stuff and saves messing even with the tyre foam. The only thing I used to do was, if the tyre pressure ever went down I would double check for the signs of a puncture.
BTW no idea what it was called but I could find out.
Gav
And no im not on commision!
There used to be a similar product called Tyretite - I used to use it in 4x4 tyres but would be a little concerned about the effect on balence on an Exige, plus it wasn;t cheap on a tyre that did 40k miles, so would be far too expensive on one that only does 5k.
when ever Ive gone abroad Ive got my mate (who deals in smart cars) to put this stuff in my tyres. . . …
BTW no idea what it was called but I could find out.
Gav,
Wouldn’t mind knowing what that stuff is as I’m planning Le Mans Classic run this year . . I could of course nip round to yer Smart pal, went past on the bike only t’other day, but if you could find out I’d be v.grateful
Thommo.
the stuff I used wasn’t dear and stayed in for the life of the tyre. I never had any problems balancing on my exige but we did with me elise as the front tyres were not a standard size so we had to guestimate the amount needed.
It does give peace of mind when abroad, that and break down cover!
Gav
I never had any problems balancing on my exige
Gav
Selective memory there, Gav! You were tearing your hair out about that, at one time
Youre right mate but I wasnt running with the stuff in the tyres then, that was purely down to the imfamous Exige A048 wheel balancing problem.
Gav
Ive played with it on his display where you can stab the tyre with an ice pick, pull it out, spin the tyre round and it seals it up for good!
I suspect you are referring to Ultraseal
www.ultraseal-tyre-protection.co.uk
I have used it on a bike, and yes it did the job, but gradually oozed out through the puncture, coating the wheel and under tray. So it certainly doesnt seeal it “for good”. But it is enough to get you to a tyre dealer
Looks very similar but, the one my mate used was pink! with little speckles of rubber in.
Personally I still think its prefereable to the can of foam! Or a spare wheel!
Gav
Youre right mate but I wasnt running with the stuff in the tyres then, that was purely down to the imfamous Exige A048 wheel balancing problem.
Gav
There is a separate product that you put inside your tyre that’s supposed to do “dynamic” balancing. It comes in a bag that you throw in when you change a tyre, the bag breaks down as you run the tyre and the contents move around freely. Agan, something developed/used in big 4x4 tyres which can be very difficult to balence; but could be of some use with the AO48s. I’ll look for a link later.
[image]https://www.expeditionexchange.com/wheels&tires/DSC05356.jpg[/image]
Steve
Easiest answer is to use Toyo 888s - same performance, no prob balancing, & a lot less expensive
Once i got the dealer to use their expensive Bentley balancer then it was fine. Just that it took them a few trys on a normal machine even though I had told them that it wouldnt work, but yes as Pesky says, I then just switched to 888r’s!
Saying that Ive changed my car now so am back on A048s!
Gav
Saying that Ive changed my car now so am back on A048s!
Gav
Do you mean the blue one, or something else
Im not that bad tim! Yes the blue one
![https://www.expeditionexchange.com/wheels&tires/DSC05356.jpg[/image]](https://www.expeditionexchange.com/wheels&tires/DSC05356.jpg%5B/image%5D){kind=link}