Charging behavior on spare tire

Yes all of that If tires are not the same size on the car generally it's hard to get over 55 mph the slip or traction control or VSC or whatever comes and goes constantly slowing you down all of that been through that just make sure all your tires on the car the same size that spare I wouldn't think would cause that problem it should be the same OD as the 185 65 15s.

 

i think you're supposed to put the donut on the rear

 

According to @Mendel Leisk who measured the circumfrance of regular tire and spare tire they are the same. But clearly they are a difference weight and shape, so it's no going to feel normal up front and putting it on the rear is probably going to be more comfortable to drive with.

 

3rd gen spare (16”) was about 1/8” less on OD than stock 15” tire, just stacking them on a slab, aligning faces on one side with a carpenter square, then checking the opposite side. 4th gen switched to a 17” spare, and it’s OD spec was a little less, maybe another 1/8” less.

 

So how does this all relate to the Gen 2?

 

Good point, and I do ramble. Say at least the principal, that temp spares, while lighter/narrower, still have to have OD close to stock.

 

I had a similar situation and identical negative VSC lighting up and the car reacting poorly. I solved it by putting the donut on the rear and having two full size normal tires on the front. I only had to drive for a day while I ordered new tires. Since then I went to a junkyard and bought a OEM wheel and bought a matching tire to keep in my garage as a back up for when I needed it. I has made me rethink spare tire availability and I will alway have a donut spare in every car I own. The inflator kit is a band aid if you commute 5 miles around your home. I don't so my minimum requirements are a donut spare and another complete full size wheel and tire at home. Downtime on cars means lost money so even though a full size wheel and tire are costly...I do it.

 

It tells people the method by which you can measure it... Now if one of us lazy-but Gen2 owners would go out and do the measurement.

 

Sure wish someone had a machine that could bend the spare tire well into something large enough to hold a full size wheel with tire... I remember my old Subaru came with a small donut wheel, but they designed the spare tire space so it could hold a full size wheel. That was much appreciated as 5 tires regularly rotated lasts longer than 4 of them.

 

I believe the OEM manual states that the donut spare is ONLY to be used in the rear. It's also a safety issue - emergency- braking & maneuvering is also impacted. The car will pull or spin to one side, because of the different footprint of the tires.

 

It'd be cool if you could prove that with a picture of where it says that in the owner's manual because none of us are actually allowed to read the owner's manual...

 

The Gen 2 has no limitation as to where the spare can be installed, but the owner's manual (at least the 2007 one) does contain warnings that the spare will reduce ground clearance and you should never have more than one compact spare on the vehicle at the same time.

My personal opinion is that I will, whenever possible, have the compact spare on the rear of a car. Steering puts additional stress on a front tire. No one ever seems to observe the speed limits suggested for driving with the spare installed. I have no desire to see a minispare tire peel off the rim going around a curve, etc.

 

I’ve not seen that. Good idea, but if I was putting on the spare, say in a parking lot or side of road, with just the scissor jack, regardless if the flat was front or back, I’d just swap it in there; I’m not gonna start raising multiple corners, doing multiple swaps.

Then I’d drive straight to where I can repair, or get it repaired, via lower speed routes.

 

I've done it more than once with a front flat tire... It's really not that much extra work, you just put the donut on rear first and then put that rear wheel on the front where the flat was. But I guess it has to do with your physical ability too. But as @TMR-JWAP explains, if there's a need to take evasive action to avoid an accident and you have to make a hard turn at speed, you really want to be doing that with two real front tires.

 

I'll have another look, when I have time - but I know I've read that on one or more of the new cars manuals I've purchased in the past. If it isn't in a Toyota manual; it could be in a Honda manual.
I've ran a donut spare on the front; only once - the car pulled abit when braking. I'm simply afraid that the donut would simply fold-over; if I jerk the wheel to avoid something.
Since then; I've always placed the donut in the rear and rolled the good rear tire forward.

 

This rear tire installation requirement is 100% true on some cars. I've had some models where the donut spare would interfere with the disc brakes if installed on the front tires.