i was surprised that the new optima has no spare tire but comes with a tire mobility kit which consists of a air compressor and a sealant bottle thats great if the tire doesn't blow out. i wounder what happens if you are in the middle of no were and no cell phone signal.
i made the dealer give me a spare tire and jack from a 2011 but of course it wont fit in the spare tire hole so when i take a road trip in the trunk it will go.
Probably they do not expect you to drive through the wilderness in such nice car. Only to the mall, some commuting, pick up kiddies from school... What they are thinking.. but it looks like to be a trend in auto industry...
The spare tire deletion is a huge disappointment to me. That's one of the reasons that BMW dropped off my shopping list. Run-flats are not an option I would consider. BMW and Mini drivers have expressed many complaints about the ride degradation and difficulty/cost of replacing a run-flat tire that has had a problem.
Guess my 2011 will have to last me a long time (as I planned, anyway).
dfrost, I have heard/read the same thing about the run-flat tires and the ride/cost issues. I bet this is a MPG trick as several OEM's seem to be going to no spares....
For what's it's worth, Kia is comming out with a compact spare tire and wheel kit for the 2012 Soul, Rio, and the Optima (all come without spares for 2012) soon.
UPDATE! the Styrofoam case for the mobility kit comes out and the spare tire cavity still has the bracket installed to secure the spare tire so the spare tire and jack i made the dealer give me fits perfect and so does the mobility kit nice and flush just like the 2011's.
I do feel better now that i have a spare and don't have to worry if i have a blow out if i am out of cell phone range.
I have a 2011 SX and hit a pot hole. The tire was shot. So the can of Cr-p that they give you in the 2012 would never work. I'm glad I have a donut in mine. And when they say u r saving mpg without the spare it's BS. They r saving the money not us. How much does a spare really weigh. What a joke.
Don't get me wrong I want a spare also! I would agree 100% with you, about better MPH, total BS. 1 spare tire and a jack what..30LBS. That extra weight would not save any of us a dime!
I too wasn't too happy when I saw the flat tire kit either, but I was told by the parts person at Kia dealership that they will be coming out with a compact tire kit.
Depending on how much the kit will be, I may or may not buy it. We've never had a blow out (knock on wood) or any sort of catastrophic tire event (double knock on wood) in the past, have needed a spare only one time when the tire was flat in my driveway once...and a flat tire kit may have worked for that case.
In the SX, The tires are low profile. Much easier to get a blow out. If you have a flat tire and put that fix a flat in, its a mess. Ask a tire place what they think of it.
I think the SX has the donut tire. If the spare tire really had that much effect on MPG, think of how much less MPG you get with a full tank of gas vs. an empty tank :O
My TPMS light came on last night. I checked my tire pressure and all tires are properly inflated and equal all around. So this means the TPMS system has malfunctioned. Another trip to the dealer. I am starting to hate this stupid car.
But, as I was researching the TPMS in the owners manual last night it specifically said NOT to use any kind of inflation can repair agent on a car with TPMS because it will ruin the TPMS sensor and then it will have to be replaced. The TPMS discussion starts on page 6-7 with the specific warning about using these repair agents on page 6-10 of the 2011 Kia Optima Owners Manual.
So, does your car have TPMS? I wouldn't use the kit if it does. I am thinking this may be the reason some cars get spare tires and some don't, rather than turbo vs non-turbo in 2012. For this reason alone, if you are buying a new Optima with TPMS I would insist they provide a spare tire if one isn't in the trunk already.
OFF TOPIC RANT ON: I really want to love this car, but this is the 6th trip to the dealer for some niggly problem in the 6 months/7000 miles I have owned this car. I have never had a car that has been this much trouble. I am going to go prowling the dealerships for a possible replacement for this thing today. Everything except Kia. :OFF TOPIC RANT OFF