Is it illegal...

stockhausen said:
I think that you will find that most Citroëns had independent suspension all round; if they hit a pothole, the suspension on that wheel extended and contracted to absorb the shock; in the case of a flat tyre, the suspension lowered that wheel to keep the car level - I could be wrong but I don't think so.
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Although in theory you can drive on a flat tyre, the system is not designed for that and it is not supposed to be used that way. A French President did famously do so after an assiniation attempt but you'd risk damage to the car and the wheel.

You can however jack it up without a jack by raising the car to full, sliding an axle stand under it and then lowering it :D

Is it, I thought that Peugeot had dumped it. On what car is it still used?
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Citroen C5 and C6.

So you aren't (or weren't) completely lacking in discernment then :p
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;)
 
stockhausen said:
I think that you will find that most Citroëns had independent suspension all round; if they hit a pothole, the suspension on that wheel extended and contracted to absorb the shock; in the case of a flat tyre, the suspension lowered that wheel to keep the car level - I could be wrong but I don't think so.
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You'd be right, we tried it on my Dad's BX years ago.
 
It cant lift the whole wheel off the ground independantly - it can only compensate for things stopping the whole car staying level, so it'll lower the wheel with the flat tyre until the car is level?
 
You can't tell a BX to lift one wheel off the ground. It won't do that.

It has independant suspension and it will raise and lower wheels itself but only in order to completely level the car (ie park half on a curb half off and it lowers the front and raises the back for example).

You cant say 'Hmmm, my tyre is flat, lets just raise that out the way'.
 
Oh i see, sorry. Well from what i remember he had got a puncture and managed to drive it home safely, and it looked perfectly level whilst stood outside. Have to say it was a fair few years back, but i can distinctly remember that it was level when he got his puncture.
 
Howard said:
It's not inspected on the MOT. Only if the wheel's on the car during the MOT or you get pulled over.


And no, you don't need one, just to echo the 268 other comments ;) I carry a can of tyreweld instead in the MX5, saves a good bit of weight [edit: Great minds ^ ]
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mine has been inspected on all MOT's.......
 
Vinnylupo said:
Oh i see, sorry. Well from what i remember he had got a puncture and managed to drive it home safely, and it looked perfectly level whilst stood outside. Have to say it was a fair few years back, but i can distinctly remember that it was level when he got his puncture.
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I've driven home with a puncture loads on normal cars, you just pump the tyre back up.
 
stockhausen said:
Citroëns used to have a wonderful system called "hydropneumatic suspension". It was capable of independently raising and lowering individual wheels. One problem was that if you got a flat, it would automatically adjust the ride height of that wheel to compensate - cunning huh?

Sadly it didn't stop you destroying the tyre as a result, but you can't have everything, even on a Citroën ;)
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it saved the life of de gaulle during an assassination attempt
 
Took mine out of the S.

3 reasons. Weight reduction, more potential boot space and if I am carrying load I have nowhere to put a full size alloy if I use the space saver making it pointless.

Space I freed up has a can of foam, 12volt air compressor and the tools that used to be in the bottom of the boot (freeing up more vertical space)
 
4.1 Tyres
Information:
This inspection applies to
Tyres fitted to the road wheels only
The vehicle presenter should be informed when it is noticed that there is a defective tyre on a spare wheel

For the people who still seem to think the spare tyre is part of the MOT (lots of them out there from a brief scan on Google/Yahoo answers etc!)
 
On a side note, a mate of mine did discover that if you are carrying a spare, yet that spare is not legal (in his case the wheel was damaged), and you break down with a puncture, the RAC will not tow you to wherever as they would with a normal breakdown, they will only offer the temporary 30mph plug to get you to the nearest garage, or tow you to the nearest garage.

Interestingly my made had 2 punctures in quick succession. The first one the sun blinded him briefly and he clipped a bank, which punctured the tyre. This was classed as an 'accident' and therefore the tow driver took him all the way home, even though his spare was not legal and the RAC knew that. Soon after a different wheel just went flat, and as it wasnt an accident or anything, it was deemed to be through his own negligence that the car couldnt be repaired at the roadside by just changing the wheel, and they only gave him the bung to drive a couple of miles to a garage.

So, while its not a legal requirement, if you do carry a spare, its in your own interest to ensure its legal and useable incase of a puncture.
 
Rilot said:
One thing to be aware of though.
My RX8 had no spare and so when I got a bolt through the sidewall, thus immobolising the car, the AA refused to recover me (even though I had the top level of cover) as according to them, it's my responsibility to keep a properly maintained spare and in the event of single wheel puncture, they will only change the wheel for the spare.

Cost me a few quid that episode did. Cancelled my cover too.
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I surprised that the AA didn't recover on a car that came factory supplied without a spare.

It was announced several years ago that they would charge to recover a vehicle that was supplied with a spare from the factory but which had been removed. Same applies to most other rescue services as well.
 
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