Spare Tyre - Probably a stupid question.

The main consideration with sorting a spare for your car is whether it will fit over the brakes. A spare is a get you to the tyre man as soon as practical & you should drive with that in mind. If you consider some of the replacements wheels supplied, if they are supplied at all, are pale shadows of the tyre normally affixed to that car. A few miles with an safe, but odd sized tyre shouldn't worry, again providing the whole process is done correctly. I think the spare originally supplied with a 160 wasn't a match, but it fit under the bonnet.
Its all common sense really . stack the neurons in the appropriate order & all will be well.
Its good to have you on board as a fully paid up member & not just a looker in.
I hope the car is living up to expectations.
M

Thanks AP, with that in mind i'll just keep the existing spare if i go for the Ultralights, rather than trying to track down a 5th one, as you say it's literally there to help the car limp to someone who can put it right or get home.

Really enjoying the car, not taking it out while the roads are still 93% salt but the runs i gave it before the snow arrived were great fun and i'm sure as i get more used to it that will only improve. Time will tell of course when MOT time rolls around just how much it needs/doesn't need but we'll cross that bridge when we get there, there's a garage specialising in classics near me and while they're normally more MGB era they've said they're happy to take on a TF and have done so before sop that's a bit easier than having to go further afield.

Having a garage like that nearby is priceless and I am sure you will become friends.

I'm not insinuating your car will always be in it! 😁😁

Some with the large brakes and 16 wheels get away with using the standard issue 14inch steel spare with the slight added pain of having to jack the car up twice if it's a front tyre that is flat.
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Puncture on a rear tyre= jack it up and just fit the 14" spare.

Puncture on a front tyre= jack the rear of the car, swap one of the rear 16" wheels with the 14" spare. Let the back down and jack up the front by the flat tyre.. Replace flat 16" with the 16" borrowed from the rear.

My 2004 TF 135 has the larger front brakes and 16" 11-spoke wheels.  It came with a full-sized spare wheel with a 215/40 16 tyre fitted and it fits in the spare wheel bay fine. 

The 115 I had first had 15" alloys but a steel 14" which was standard. When I got my Sunstorm with it's 16" wheels id just assumed it would have some sort of steel spacever 16" spare so was pleasantly surprised to see a 5th full sized 16" alloy in there, just painted black rather than silver. Apparently that was the standard spare as there werent any 16" steel spacesavers made in that PCD.  

I may go down to a 14" spare at some point. After reading the Roger Parker book I'm interested in going the vented bonnet route. That demands modifying the angle of the spare wheel supporting metalwork to ensure the required airflow. It's said it will leave just enough space for a 14" steel with a narrow tyre but too tight for a full sized 16"
 

Off-topic, but I am also very interested in getting a RPS vented bonnet. I've tried hard to contact them, but with no success. It seems they are going out of business and cannot be reached.

Anybody knows something about this?

Notanumber post=210978 userid=17316The 115 I had first had 15" alloys but a steel 14" which was standard. When I got my Sunstorm with it's 16" wheels id just assumed it would have some sort of steel spacever 16" spare so was pleasantly surprised to see a 5th full sized 16" alloy in there, just painted black rather than silver. Apparently that was the standard spare as there werent any 16" steel spacesavers made in that PCD.  

I may go down to a 14" spare at some point. After reading the Roger Parker book I'm interested in going the vented bonnet route. That demands modifying the angle of the spare wheel supporting metalwork to ensure the required airflow. It's said it will leave just enough space for a 14" steel with a narrow tyre but too tight for a full sized 16"
 

It wouldn't have been economically viable to make 16" steel space savers with the required stud PCD as the centres are stamped in large stamping presses,  but as Alloys wheels are cast and the stud holes are drilled maybe some  manufacturer makes alloy space savers and can do a custom PCD drilling for you. Ypu would need to approch the manufacturer directly as retailers will only say no! Or as an alterative, an alloy 16" space saver can be modified by welding up the stud holes and redrilled in the PCD required, then you can have a vented bonnet without having the limitations on brake upgrades that a stupid pissey little 14" space saver would cause.

A little tale of spare wheels.

Many moons ago, I was on a group drive with about 10 other Mgfs and TFs  when I ran over something I hadn't noticed in the road. Ended up with two offside punctures. Running 16" wheels but standard brakes, I stll had a 14" spacesaver spare. Someone loaned me their spare wheel, which was a 15"...

So I completed the day with two 16s, one 15 and one 14" wheels! Amazingly the car still handled fine!

A little tale of spare wheels.

Many moons ago, I was on a group drive with about 10 other Mgfs and TFs  when I ran over something I hadn't noticed in the road. Ended up with two offside punctures. Running 16" wheels but standard brakes, I stll had a 14" spacesaver spare. Someone loaned me their spare wheel, which was a 15"...

So I completed the day with two 16s, one 15 and one 14" wheels! Amazingly the car still handled fine!

The owners of RPS retired a couple of years ago, they had hoped to find a buyer for the business but failed, I am sure the company that actually made the mouldings were initially interested but backed out. The moulds themselves appeared on Ebay but I never watched to see if they sold. You can buy vented bonnet panels from various sources. Unless you are insisting on having original wheels the you can redrill the hubs to 4 x 100mm which is what I did. I currently run 16" MX5 wheels (£135 including new Falken tyres), an added bonus is that the Mazda wheels are virtually the same weight as the Ultralights 

That’s what I found. Apparently, they’ve only been able to sell a small part of their business. 
I’ll try to find another source and have a look.

Thanks so much