Spare tire–Donut Question:

[Cortez]

This question is more about curiosity than anything else.

Q: Is the Coupe's rear window area (trunk) large enough to stow a spare tire–donut (mini wheel)...whatever you want to call it?

I've used that fix-a-flat stuff in the past and it was always hit or miss with me.

Every once in a while I'll be out late coming back from somewhere and be thinking "I really wish I had a spare tire" just in case.

Obviously I'd need the jack and lug wrench too, but I was thinking that if I had a flat I could swap the tires out and put the full-size tire on the front seat passenger (most likely in a large trash bag or something to keep it clean).

The forum (in general) seems to support the possibility of having a spare tire/donut, but nothing about the Coupe and the rear space size.

I'm not too crazy about the prospects of messing around with a can of goo at 2:00am on the side of the road trying to fix a flat.

"Comments welcomed!"

Cortez
Coupe #169

[JRinKY]

I am not a fan of tire sealant, so I carry a plug kit instead. Unless you have a blowout, you can nearly always re-inflate a tire enough to get you to a safer place to work on it and the plug then makes for a permanent repair for most punctures.

I have a cell phone for anything more serious than the compressor and plug can handle.

Carrying a spare tire, jack, and lug wrench would pretty much eliminate any cargo space, and relying on not having a passenger would not be very desirable either, from my point of view.

[Dave@ddmworks]

Originally Posted by Cortez This question is more about curiosity than anything else. Q: Is the Coupe's rear window area (trunk) large enough to stow a spare tire–donut (mini wheel)...whatever you want to call it? I've used that fix-a-flat stuff in the past and it was always hit or miss with me. Every once in a while I'll be out late coming back from somewhere and be thinking "I really wish I had a spare tire" just in case. Obviously I'd need the jack and lug wrench too, but I was thinking that if I had a flat I could swap the tires out and put the full-size tire on the front seat passenger (most likely in a large trash bag or something to keep it clean). The forum (in general) seems to support the possibility of having a spare tire/donut, but nothing about the Coupe and the rear space size. I'm not too crazy about the prospects of messing around with a can of goo at 2:00am on the side of the road trying to fix a flat. "Comments welcomed!" Cortez Coupe #169

John brings up some good points, but my main question is where are you going to find a small donut with the right lug pattern?

[LowLife1]

How's about a 5 X 110 wheel adapter, did a search on ebay for 110 spare tire and this came up:
04-11 HHR Cobalt Malibu G5 Spare Tire 5 lug 15x4, 5 lug 110mm Chevrolet | eBay

[wspohn]

Don't think that one will do it - you need an 18" compact spare and that looks like a 15" unless I am misreading the ad.

[cdnite]

Saab had a 17 or 18" spare in 5X110, I don't think it's super skinny though.

[Bills86e]

Carrying around the extra weight of "spare" is a lot of hipe. Definatly worth getting AAA
who tow's, brings gas ect, all in short notice. All in short notice as well. Ditch the tire idea IMO.

The Designers should have given us a concealed umbrella. (It rains alot in Florida).

Bills86e

[chickenwire]

Bills - first "mod" my wife made was to put a telescoping umbrella in the cargo net behind the driver's seat. lol.

[chain]

Originally Posted by Bills86e Carrying around the extra weight of "spare" is a lot of hipe. Definatly worth getting AAA who tow's, brings gas ect, all in short notice. All in short notice as well. Ditch the tire idea IMO. Bills86e

The one time I had to deal with AAA they were far from getting me help in "short notice". Hopefully that isn't the norm but I didn't have a good experience with them.

[Bills86e]

Originally Posted by chickenwire Bills - first "mod" my wife made was to put a telescoping umbrella in the cargo net behind the driver's seat. lol.

My wife has a flat head so doesn't think that much, but it's a Great place to set my beer!

[omw41]

Originally Posted by Bills86e My wife has a flat head so doesn't think that much, but it's a Great place to set my beer!

I finally figured out why my wife's hair is red; her brain is rusting.

[RedDevil]

This was also mentioned a long time ago. Some one said that the spare would have to be a full size rim and tire because a "donut" spare is not the proper size and would throw off the car's rear diff and may cause other problems with your transmission if you go this route. Basically our car's computers are only synced up for the factory wheel size and weight distribution. That's the best way I can describe it. Anyone else remember this topic?

[BellaVerde]

Get Norm to work on a "Continental" kit!

[ChopTop]

Jpdub (post 4)

What other cars have our bolt pattern??

Here is a list of other vehicles that use the 5x110 bolt pattern. Note that many of these vehicles use 17" rims as opposed to our stock 18", and most do not even reach our stock 8" width.


CATERA (1997-2001)

COBALT SS SPORT (2005 & NEWER 5 LUG MODELS)

HHR LS LT (2006 & NEWER)

MALIBU LS LTZ SS LT HYBRID (2004 & NEWER)

MALIVU / MAXX (2004 & NEWER)

PONTAIC G5 (GT 2007 & NEWER)

PONTIAC G6 GXP GTP GT (2005 & NEWER)

PONTAIC SOLSTICE (2006 & NEWER)

SAAB 9 3 (1999 & NEWER)

SAAB 9 4 (1993 & 1998)

SAAB 9 5 (1999 & NEWER)

SATURN ION REDLINE (2005 & NEWER)

SATURN L-SERIES (2000 & 2005)

SATURN SKY & REDLINE (2007 & NEWER)

SATURN ASTRA XE XR (2008 & NEWER)

SATURN AURA (2007 & NEWER)

The challenge in finding alternative wheels is both the bolt pattern and the offset. The stock offset is 55, which is rarely done. You'll be lucky to find wheels with offsets greater than 45 unless you go to the custom $1000 per wheel manufacturers.

I have a set of Avarus AV5 on order but they are being redrilled from a bolt pattern of 5x112 to 5x110 and have an offset of 45.

PM me and I can share who will redrill for you. That will greatly open up your options as the most popular sizes are 5x112 and 5x114. Also pretty rare to find a cast wheel in an offset greater than 45 which will extend your wheel outward approx .4" but seems to work in most cases.

[RedDevil]

Originally Posted by BellaVerde Get Norm to work on a "Continental" kit!

Your kidding, right? A continental kit would look horrible on the back of our cars. Way to big.