Why Some New Cars Don't Include A Spare Tire Anymore

Hundreds of millions of people get flat tires annually in the United States, and Jalopnik is here to help with everything you need to know about fixing one. The thing is, a lot of new cars don't include a spare tire anymore, not even one of those donut tires meant for short-distance driving.

It's a far cry from the times when spare tires were so important to drivers that automakers would seemingly stick them everywhere. Spares can and could be seen from the fender wells of vintage vehicles to the rear of rugged SUVs to the engine bays of oddball compacts: That was the situation when drivers first met the Yugo.

Like many modern automotive trends, this can be traced to the 1970s gas shortages, when companies began sharpening their focus on fuel efficiency. Since reducing weight can be a key to better EPA ratings, and wheel/tire combos and tools can weigh about 50 or 60 pounds —or more for oversized setups — eliminating them can indeed make some minor improvements in fuel consumption. It eliminates a certain amount of automaker cost, too.

The history of the spare tire begins in 1904, when Welsh brothers Thomas Morris Davies and Walter Davies invented the Stepney Spare Wheel that didn't require you to remove the damaged setup. It clamped directly onto the original wheel. By 1909, Rambler was offering an interchangeable wheel/tire combination that was the first modern-type spare.

But the shrinkage really began, as mentioned, as a weight-saving tactic. First came uninflated, "collapsible" spares in the late 1960s, consisting of flat, uninflated tires mounted on smaller wheels, along with a spray-can of pressurized air to fill them up. These eventually evolved into "donut" spares that are basically collapsed spares that come pre-inflated.

Modern run-flat tires marked a turning point in the fate of spare tires. They basically come in two flavors. Bridgestone brought out the first type as a next-gen tech for the 1987 Porsche 959, a car that still seems like something out of a science fiction story. Its tires feature extra-strong sidewalls to support the vehicle in case of a flat. Self-sealing tires, popularized starting with the 2020 Ford Explorer, are lined with a special material that expands into and fills small holes to help prevent air escaping. The bottom line: At this stage, according to Consumer Reports, only about 10% of today's new cars come with full-size spares.

Instead of those full-size spares, another 50% or so of new vehicles use a smaller, space-saving spare-tire setup that's good for a limited number of miles at a limited top speed. The final 10% make do with run-flats complemented by some sort of patch/seal kit and a tire inflator. It's not always a perfect solution, though.

One big concern is financial: Run-flat tires still have to be replaced if they're punctured, and they can be priced up to double the cost of comparable regular tires. And since it's often recommended to replace car tires in pairs, if not all four at once, a single puncture can lead to a major economic headache. Plus, even if they aren't punctured, run-flat tires end up wearing out significantly sooner and require replacing more often.

Then there's the lingering worry over being stranded. The latest run-flat tires are strong enough to hold up to even a sidewall blowout, but you'll be out of luck if you have an extreme tire-destroying incident that leaves you with shredded rubber. That's why we recommend being prepared by making sure you have what every car should carry in case of a flat — even if you aren't carrying a spare.