Space saver spare wheels – will 16″ work when the cars wheels are 17″

Hi

I have a Seat Leon with 17″ wheels but am being told if I get a spare space saver wheel I need to get a 16″ wheel, this doesn’t right, but does anyone know if this okay or not?

As long as it clears the brakes and the rolling diameter is the same, guessing your car has 225/45r17 Tyres so as long as the space saver is the same rolling diameter of 61.5 cm give or take 5%

Thank you I will check,

When you check the brake clearance remember to check both front and rear wheels – likely to have different brake setups, so need to be sure that smaller diameter space saver hub clears both. Also worth checking wheel nuts/bolts to ensure they’re OK and that you can do them up tightly enough (thick normal alloys / thinner steel space saver).

As Tonyplym says above. I discovered that the slightly longer bots I had with my aftermarket alloys meant when I did have a puncture and used the space saver the bolts went in too far and caught on the caliper. The get-me-home slution was to pinch all the locking wheel nusts from the other 3 wheels (which were 5mm shorter) and use 4 of them on the space saver leave 4 each on the other rims.

My daughter’s Fiesta has a 15″ spacesaver as a spare, with the main wheels being 16″. It’s a higher profile tyre however so works fine in practice.

My car has 17″ wheels but a 16″ steel spare, but the diameter is the same. 215 55 17 compared to 205 65 16 (or there abouts from memory).  This is effectively not a space saver as it’s the same diameter. I’ve had two cars with dinky space savers, and you really had to drive carefully – they were get you home only.

Is there any chance of fitting a whole normal wheel? ie, not a space saver at all? With a little plastic trimming I fitted one of my winter wheels into my car’s spare well, ideal.

On some cars with big brakes, you can only fit the space saver to the rear so if you get a front flat you have to rotate a rear to the front then fit the saver to the rear.

This is effectively not a space saver as it’s the same diameter.

“Space saver” refers to the width of the wheel / tyre, not its diameter.  It’s to save boot depth (and, cynically perhaps, cost) when your car has alloys a foot wide.

The space saver in my car is a smaller diameter than the regular wheels.  Is fine as the idea is only to get you home and at a reduced speed. Was a but stressed when I first saw it but turns out to be completely normal