Has or does anyone run their TT without the spare tire? I like the extra space without the spare, but does it upset the weight balance of the car?

I'm getting my car corner balanced again soon, so I'm thinking of balancing it without the spare in the front. Good or bad idea???

 

Good idea!! Its not that heavy so should not affect any wiehgt distribution...Techart has a nice kit that adds carpet to the bottom of the trunk to make it look better and more functional when the spare is removed. I am waiting to get that then will be removing mine (it is actually useless as not even 18" wheels would clear my brakes!!)

 

Chris,

I removed mine. No problems.

 

Chris,
Lighter is most always better. Less mass to have to accelerate and change direction. Be realistic though, the weight of you in the driver's seat or an added passenger or either a full or half tank of gas will have a much greater impct on the corner balancing than the donut spare. Do you really want to be without a spare in that rare case that you need one? Yes there is roadside assistance, but I am of the belief that if it is a simple matter of changing a tire, I would rather do it, be done with it nd be on my way rather than sit and await assistance.
Just another viewpoint.

BTW, I went into the corner weight effects of the driver, passenger and gas level in a post on the "R" forum a few months ago.

 

Carry a tire plug kit and little DC air compressor. Also, if you want to remove some "high situated" weight, replace your battery with an Optima battery. You will lose almost twenty pounds.

 

Thanks for the replies guys.

Ken, I could lose my spare tire before losing the car's spare if I really wanted to lose some weight.

cjv, thanks for the Optima battery tip. I'm going to replace my battery since my factory one is a bit weak from not driving the car for a few months.

 

Chris,

Unless you just want to get rid of the weight, your battery is still under warranty. They have replaced mine three times.

 

Chad, could you suggest where to get the Optima battery and what model number should I look for.

Thanks

Doug

 

One thing to keep in mind guys, for normal driving the spare tire has always been designed to work as part of the inner crush zones in the front. When a frontal impact occurs the spare tire has always been part of the package in holding the front end together and moving energy away from the driver. Trust me I know this for a fact!

 

Ouch that hurts.

 

Should have been in it!

 

OK, Stephen....you are right. The tire stays in mine. Also please email me when that truck is coming down here and what the process is.

Thanks

 

You got it!

 

Will work for HP.. Nice

 

There's no question that removing the spare will give the car more rear weight bias. My Turbo has a weight distribution of 48.5/61.5 with a full tank of gas, the spare in the front, rear seat backs up, and no driver/passenger.

Adding a driver did not change the distribution front to back, but did obviously change the left/right numbers.

BTW, lowering the rear seat backs moved the numbers forward to 48.6/61.4, so you can imagine what taking 30-40 lbs off the front of the car would do. I think the rear % is high enough as it is (with the spare).

If you find enough stuff to remove to reduce the weight by 200 lbs, you've gained about a tenth of a second in the quarter mile.

I keep my spare in the car...