Spare tires are more and more a thing of the past.

In all honesty though, it's been 15+ years since I've had to put the spare on a car. I call roadside to do that, so as long as they bring me a tire or whatever I'm good probably

 

I did it on my Verano, when one of the Continental Conti-pros took a big metal spike in the center that was not repairable. I was in a parking lot, getting ready to go into a restaurant, when the PSI-warning-indicator for that wheel came on.....down to 10 PSI. I had some time left on my Buick Road-Assistance and On-Star contract, but figured, screw it, it would probably take as long (or longer) for the tow truck to arrive than I could do it myself. So, I got out the jacking tools, made sure the temporary-spare had the required 60 PSI in it (I always carry a portable air-compressor with me that plugs into the car's electric-outlet), and did it myself, right there at the restaurant in the parking space, in a cold wind. For the actual new tire, of course, I had to take it to the shop.

BTW, if you are not aware of it (and they usually don't spell it out for you when you buy the car), the Roadside Assistance offered by many auto manufacturers is often just a contract with AAA...or maybe the Allstate Motor Club.

 

Hell, it's been 15 years and over 200k miles (almost 400k if you include my wife's cars over the same period) since the last time I had a flat--the closest I ever came was a cracked wheel (monster pothole) that leaked down and had to be refilled once a day until I swapped over to my winter set while I got the wheel repaired. My current car doesn't have a spare, and I ditched the crappy run-flats within the first month. Not worried in the slightest.

 

Broke a tire on last hunting trip. Broke a tire a couple years ago on the Moab trip. These were not fixable with a tire plug either. Rock took the sidewall out of one, bottle brush took the other. So yes a spare tire is required for our use. I wonder if roadside assistance would come get you 40 miles from the nearest services, on a dirt road. And yes The Burr Trail is a county road. I know that many people don't use their vehicle like that, but we do.

 

Out of 20 years of driving, only had one blow out tire that got me stucked on the road, then last month I got a nail but was able to fill up air and drive it to tire shop. I would say don't worry about it, and get rid of run flat tires asap, the added road harshness and noise is not worth the trouble.

 

Thats a little of a unique situation. I doubt many people driving Q7s are going to be doing anything like that lol.

 

Personally I think run flat tires were invented by satan. They're noisy, the stiff sidewalls ride like crap, and give car designers an excuse to not give you a spare tire. I can understand car designers not giving you a spare tire on something like a Corvette or Lotus Elise, where space is at a premium. I could be wrong, but I think the Corvette moved away from run-flats several years ago and they now give you a portable inflator and some tire slime if you get a puncture.

On a big, heavy family SUV like the Audi Q7, its completely unacceptable IMO to offer anything other than a full size spare with the same spec tire on it. You might be 10 miles up a gravel road with your family camping in a place that is 50 miles from the nearest cell phone signal and you get a flat that tears the sidewall of the tire. Those runflats aren't looking so great now, especially since you don't have a spare. Also a donut spare on a big SUV is equally dangerous, cause said car is probably loaded down with 1000lbs worth of people, luggage, luggage on a roof rack, towing a 5000lb trailer, etc.

 

Just to be clear...we aren't even talking about runflats. I do not believe the Q7 has runflats even without a spare, and I know for instance if you buy a Chrysler Pacifica Limited with the vacuum, that deletes the spare...and the van does not have runflats.

I don't disagree with you at all, I want a spare tire. Unfortunately though, the industry is moving away from spare tires entirely...even on cars not equipped with runflats.

Honestly? In the Pacifica I would choose the vacuum over the spare lol.

 

Neither run flat or not Q7 did not have a spare. They provide the tire kit to help fix the flat only. There is no room to put a spare tire either.

 

Yep, thats why it has fix a flat...no runflats.

 

That's interesting about the no-spare trend. I've had to use the spare about 3x in the past 5 years (wife seems to attract nails, or we just have very careless workers in construction zones). Still prefer having a spare. I don't like waiting around for up to 2 hours for roadside assistance and carry a portable jumpstarter in each car plus an air compressor. I would rather rely on myself, plus the portable unit is still operating and cheaper than 3 years of AAA membership. The portable jumpstarter has come in handy 9 times in the past three years and seven of those times were for helping out others. Last year a coworker called AAA and while waiting I jumpstarter his car with my portable unit. He made it home and 45 minutes later the tow truck called him to say they were on their way, lol. He had called them 1.5 hours earlier by then. I don't know how comfortable I'd be with just a can of fix-a-flat but what can you do when the car isn't designed with a spare in mind, aside from just throwing your own spare into the cargo hold on long trips but that's not always practical either.

 

Never mind the run-flats.....a lot of even normal low-profile tires ride like crap today because of the lack go bump-absorbtion in the sidewalls, but, yes, run-flats make it even worse due to the added stiffness. That tire-slime you speak of in the portable inflator is a mixed blessing. Yes, it can temporarily cover up or plug a leak/puncture (provided the puncture is not too large)....but the sealant also sometimes tends to move or slide around the inside of the tire, throwing it off balance and causing vibrations/shimmies (it doesn't take much weight to screw things up....sometimes just a fraction of an ounce). That's just one more reason (among several) to keep one's speed down after using it.

 

Run-flats of any profile ride worse than low-profile conventional tires. It's not even close. the 30-profile 19" Pilot Super Sports I ran on my car for the past three summers are definitely stiffer and less compliant than my 17" snow tires. But they're like driving on pillows compared to the truly reprehensible 45-profile 17" run-flats that it came with.

As for the Q7, there are 4 tire options:

• 18" all-season conventional (Standard on 2.0T, not available on 3.0T)
• 19" all-season run-flat (Standard on 3.0T, except Prestige. Optional on 2.0T)
• 20" all-season run-flat (Optional on all models, standard on 3.0T Prestige)
• 21" summer high performance conventional (Optional on 3.0T Prestige only)

Which is just one of a multitude of reasons that I'd have to get the Prestige trim level if we wind up buying a Q7 later this year (we are seriously considering it)--it's the only one you can option with conventional summer-only tires instead of no-season run-flats that would have to be disposed of immediately. Add a modestly-priced set of 19s with snow tires and you're golden.

 

Lol so runflat is not standard and there is no spare!
For my X6M, since they replace the runflat on standard model with Michelin super sport, they have little
spare tire in the trunk as standard option, while you can delete it with a storage space...

 

The automakers, in their PR, give three basic reasons for that.......space, weight, and gas-milage. But it's obvious what the true reason is........



With two toddlers, I can understand why LOL.