I have had enough of this B.S. when it comes to spare tires. Our SUVs have full size spares while both of our cars have space savers. Today, I was about to leave to head out and BAM! my third flat tire in the 76K (km) I have on my Corolla. Luckily I have more than one car so I took my alternate car (4Runner) out this morning. So this evening begins the stupid process of 1. having CAA/AAA come and change out the tire (I ain't doing it myself) and then 2. Now I have to change up my routine for one the next few days and go get the tire either repaired or replaced. Even worse is that I cannot drive on the highway with a space saver and I cannot drive all that far because these space savers tires do not last very long.

So....mad as hell.

I am not stuck for funds in any way (knock on wood). My current tires are probably at the end of the lifecycle as there is probably about 15% tire tread left. I have already made up my mind that I am going to purchase a set of new tires when I go to get the the space saver removed. Michelin Primacy MXV4 tires is what I have chosen. Because I am so frustrated with the stupid two-step process of changing the tires with a space saver, I plan to buy a 5th full size tire and full size spare and shove it in the trunk....Trunk has already stuff for work that I use or don't use so it makes no difference if space back there is compromised. All I want is some peace of mind that I have full size spare when or if I get another flat tire.

Question for anyone.

If I buy a rim that is completely different and NOT one of those steel rims you see with winter tires, but the tire size is exact fitting. Does the different rim and different aerodynamics make a difference if it it is matched to the three original rims that came with the car? All tires sizes are the same In other words, I am having a hard time finding a black 16" rim.

 

What am I missing, how is any of that the fault of Goodyear?

 

Cause they are crap tire from a crap brand. 3 flats on the OEM set of tires. Sorry, its partly Good Years fault.

 

Do you know what caused the flats? I've had two flats in my GS in 17k miles with the Primacy tires but they were caused by nails/screws so I can't blame the tires for that.

 

My only worry would be if that new wheel (sorry I hate the term rim - rim is the location on the edge that surrounds the wheel disc) would fit in the same location as your space saver.

I have no experience with Good Year. But I do love Bridgestones. Specifically RE760's. I've have Yokamaha and Falken before too.

 

1. it's 'Goodyear' not "Good Year"
2. how is running over nails or screws Goodyear's fault?
3. same size wheel AND offset regardless of the style of wheel is fine.

 

I fully agree with Jill on this one. I'm a firm believer in real spare tires and real spare wheels...not donuts, temporary full-sizers, run-flats, or compressed-air bottles...all of which, I agree, are B.S, though a full-size temporary is not quite as bad as the others. Those of you who read my older reviews know I used to complain about this, though I stopped because it was doing little good. The automakers are determined no to use real spares any more, except for some off-road capable SUVs and trucks. Once in a great while (rarely) you will see one on a sedan as an option, like the $900 package on the Chevy SS sedan (which also includes some other features). Automakers use the excuse that the alternatives save space and weight in he trunk, but we all know what the real issue is....cost.

Here, I don't quite agree with Jill. Nails, screws, glass, metal fragments, and other road-hazards can penetrate and puncture ANY conventional rubber tire that holds air....not just Goodyears. I've had puncture-flats with Michelins and Continentals...IMO the best two overall tire brands on the market. And, on a radial tire, if the puncture is above the edge of the tread-pattern, on the edge of the sidewall itself, it's Good-Bye tire....it cannot be safely repaired, because of sidewall-flex on the patch itself.

Self-sealing tires used to prevent this by covering the penetrating nail or screw with a thick goop inside that prevented it from making a hole and actually causing a puncture. But they are generally not in use any more today, because it was found that the goop caused too many other problems...it would slide and shift around inside the tire and constantly throw the tire and wheel out of balance, causing vibrations, shimmies, and irregular tire wear.

An old tip, Jill, is to take an American Lincoln Head penny and stick it, upside down, into the most worn-looking of the tread grooves. The general rule of thumb is that if you can see the top of Lincoln's head, it's time to head for the tire shop for a new tire. If not, you have at least some usable tread left. All modern tires, by law, also have wear-bars on them, which start to show when the tread depth gets too low.






If you buy a an aftermarket rim that, for any reason, even with the same size tire, does not exactly match the factory-original, make sure that there is clearance for the brake rotors and other hardware attached to the wheels, and that the holes are large enough to allow cooling air to get past them, circulate, and cool the rotors. Otherwise, there could be problems with excessive brake heat building up.

 

like others, not clear how this is goodyear's fault if you drove over a nail or glass etc. what caused it to be flat?

changing a tire for the spare on a corolla would take 5 minutes i think. a bit quicker than caa/aaa and certainly not a hardship if it's at your own home.

good plan and great tires.

well if the spare full size rim you get doesn't have the same offsets and is somewhat close in WEIGHT to the rest of the rims, it may drive 'funny' (i.e., i wouldn't do it). also, not sure the win by doing this as the spare full size rim will look different to the rest, so won't you still have to get a tire swapout done anyway? i guess it wouldn't be so urgent if you didn't have the constraints of the donut. by the way you can certainly go on the highway with a donut, just don't go fast.

 

Been there, done that. I drove over something in my old Corolla. I was forced to commute on the temporary donut on the highway for a few days while I waited for a replacement Michelin; I just kept my speed down below 80km/h (50mph).

So, yes, you can drive on the highway on the temporary spare; and yes, even Michelins can be punctured when and if you run over something hard and sharp.

 

1) Maybe or Maybe jsut bad roads?
2) Good year does have other lingering issues currently on hand, but thats a topic for discussion on another day :P

 

Can you even still buy Primacy MXV4s? They were discontinued and replaced with the Premier A/S. Are you sure they aren't Primacy MXM4s?

Not reasonable to expect an economy car to have a full sized spare. Of course your SUVs have full sized spares, they were much more expensive, and they're much heavier duty vehicles. A Corolla is a cheap, light car...totally fine on a temporary spare.

The issue isn't Goodyear as a tire manufacturer, its model to model. All tire makers have good tires and crappy tires, including Michelin. Nails in the tires and flats have nothing to do with the brand of the tire or the model of the tire, its just luck. I have a bolt in the shoulder of my Pirelli P7 Plus with only 8,500 miles on them, I'm sure it won't be fixable. Sucks, but certainly not Pirellis fault.

You'd have had these flats regardless of what tires you had on the car.

As for the spare, no issue with a different style wheel, its a "spare", aerodynamics aren't a concern.

And if I can change the tire on my 5,000 lb LS460L you can change the tire on your Corolla

 

 

 

Don't they use Goodyear on some of the Corvettes?

 

Your Corolla probably came with the same Goodyear Infinity tires that came on our old Prius. They are awful tires, the car will feel a lot better on the Michelins.

Where did you find the MXV4s? Id look at the manufacture date to make sure they're fresh.

Depends on the Lexus model. My AWD LS had a matching spare on a matching wheel (as does my RWD LS) but my AWD GS had a temporary spare.

I've never done a 5 wheel rotation on any of my cars, even with the matching spare.