spare tire

[thomaszeit]

I’ve just bought a Subaru, after 20 years of a Saab, and I have a question. In Spain, the new Subaru Outback has tires 225/60/17, and no spare tire. I had been told that the room behind the trunk was large enough to place a tire of 225/60/17. However that size doesn’t fit. Any suggestion? 180/75/17 or any other size?

[Ruperts Trooper]

I am surprised that you have no spare at all - for UK sales the Outback gets a full size spare on a steel rim while the Legacy gets a space-saver.

215/60-16 or 215/55-17 fits the well of European spec (Japan-built) 2003-9 Outbacks mine has the 215/60-16 as standard.

[thomaszeit]

It’s probably to get a higher price in Spain, selling a wheel on top of the car. Regarding tire size, both tires you mentioned give 664.4 and 668.3 mm. of wheel diameter, and the tire equipped gives 701.8 mm. diameter. It’s an small difference, but enough to make tire does not fit the well.

[Ruperts Trooper]

If you carry a pump in the car, you could deflate the tyre to get it in but that's not an elegant solution.

[afterglowefx]

A fully inflated full-size spare will never fit in the well.

As mentioned, though, a little 12V air pump will let you deflate your spare by 5-10 PSI and then it'll slide right in. Plus, the pump is small enough that it can sit in the well with the tire.

We took our Outback down to the Mexico-Guatemala border and wanted a full-size spare for the trip. After reviewing all the other options, the partially deflated tire + air pump solution proved to be the most attractive.

We've yet to use it though, despite beating the **** out of our car on the worst roads Mexico had to offer