Removing spare tire and tools to reduce weight.

Yes.

in my ever on going hunt for higher fuel efficiency - I experiemented with this same idea...

One day I removed both the Prius spare tire and jack(and mounting hw). I weighted it on a scale and test drove the Prius with out the spare, jack, and mountings on my regular commute route 15.8 miles one way with a Scangauge II to check for better fuel efficiency. If I recall correctly, the Prius spare and the jack weight about 35 pounds. The Scangauge II results for that day suggest that my miles per gallon energy efficiency did not improve from the alighting of the spare and the jack. I was really disappointed that removing 35 pounds didn't save any significant amount of gas so I put the spare and the jack back in.

Later on, I got a flat tire via road hazards three separate times in a row -because I had a spare tire I was able to change my own flat tires and drive to the shop to get the flats repaired. Save quite a bit on towing.

Turns out that the Prius loses a significant amount of energy when


1. it initially warms up from a cold start
2 it stops - the regenerative brakes only recaptures 10% to about 30% of the braking energy
3. it goes over 50 mph - as Bob points out - the Prius gets better fuel efficiency at a steady 25 mph
4. its tires are under inflated or when you use non low rolling resistant tires
5. the road surface is too slick or rough.
6. the driving temperature is below 60 F degrees
7. when you take sharp turns at high speeds like Jeremy Clarkson in Top Gear

 

I absolutely would not buy a car that did not have a spare. Get out in the middle of nowhere without a spare and have a flat that ruins the tire and it is not repairable and you have got big time problems. No way I would do it.

 

I have seen it written on other car manual I owned and talked about on other forums.

I don't think it mentions it in the C manual.

 

I owned a Hyundai Elantra I believe it was the 2002 or 2003 model, it came with spare tire. I'm surprised to hear that they are selling it now without it. One thing is for sure, the gas saving is minimal from that. They may be gaining more space and save couple of hundred dollars in the spare tire. That's about all. Telling you that removing the spare tire was done to improve MPG is about the same to tell you that if you leave your wife at home the whole time will end you saving a lot of money on gas because you are driving without that extra weight.

 

The tire goop messes up the pressure sensors as well, which will end up costing more to replace than just a tire.