[Limaone]

Hi...having just purchased a new UK spec Sorento XSE fitted with 18 inch alloy wheels I'm was surprized to find the spare wheel is a on a 16 inch rim. Is there anyone with techical knowledge who can advise me regarding this? The RAC legal people tell me to use it would be illegal, but that Kia aren't under a legal obligation to provide a spare. But if they do surely you should be able to use it! The manual describes the spare as a "tempory", marked as only to be used up to 80kph. However the tyre is a 245/70R16 107 with an H speed rating (which is up to 130mph). The really strange thing is that the spare's rim appears to be the regular Sorento's alloy wheel sprayed black, but otherwise identical to the normal alloys.
I'm going to use this car to tow so I really need a reliable spare..you never know!
Thanks for any help :mellow:

 

[beyond_help]

sometimes i just don't why they do not standardize things more.
i can understand here in the US using gasoline engine version.....but not standardizing tire size !
all my sorento SE tires are 245/70r16 including the spare, that is one of the reasons i purchased it

maybe the 18 inch wheel assembled with the tYre might not fit in the space provided ?

in reading other posts i find that there are other differences between US and Englander versions....is it just for marketing standards ? or besides driving on the wrong side of the road the english have to be different LOL, just kidding !

 

[Murphwiz]

The spare is perfectly safe and legal to use in a get you home situation, 'space savers' are only designed to be used up to 50mph, a good majority of Euro cars are fitted with some form of space saver spare wheel.

 

[james b]

i rang rac today and spoke to tech dept they have looked into this and they said that the tyres on my sorento xse are 18" low profile an the spare is 16" but the prfile of the tyre is bigger making it the same size .they said that this is legal.iwas concerned because like you i tow a caravan

 

[Limaone]

Thanks for the replies. I've finally got a definitive answer to my question, thanks to the technical department at the UK Camping & Caravanning Club and the UK Tyre Industry Council. In short(ish) a spare wheel designated by the car manufacturer as a tempory wheel can be used in the event of a tyre failure to a normal running tyre. The proviso is that the overall aspect ratio (the height of the tyre & wheel) must be under a 2% difference, my Sorento XSE is 1.5%. So this means under such circumstances a 16" wheel can be used on the same axle as a 18" wheel, but as my spare has a narrower footprint on the road to the normal road tyres then the max speed should be under 50mph, and care should be taken when driving. Towing can be done with the "tempory" spare but only to get to a place where the regular tyre can be repaired/replaced.