Anyone else done this?

I took out my spare and put it in my garage.

I now have a can of Holt's Tyreweld in the glove. I reckon the fuel I save over a year by not lugging that extra weight around is going to cover my RAC membership, which I can rely on as backup if I get a flat and the Tyreweld doesn't work.

sounds like a plan, did you remove the wheel carrier as well?

No still on the car, is this easy to get off?

Few nuts and bolts i think?

How much fuel do you envisage youll save?

That's exactly my plan aswell

taking the lot off

Yes, although my FRP didn't come with a spare to start with

Scotty1.7 said:

How much fuel do you envisage youll save?

Click to expand...

my thoughts exactly!

BenF said:

Scotty1.7 said:

How much fuel do you envisage youll save?

Click to expand...

my thoughts exactly!

Click to expand...

Cause my thinking is that the steel spare with inflated tyre weighs what- 20kg as most?

For you to make any major savin gs you need to lose alot more weight then that i would of thought?

Question by the way thats sort of linked- Did the Puma have the option of a full sized spare alloy? Vause i think mine has one????

Not really looking to make a considerable saving but if I save more than the cost of RAC membership and a can of Tyreweld I'm in the black. I'm spending about £35-40 a week on fuel so I would have thought that taking 20Kilo out of the eqaution would give back something over a year.

If a spare is 20kilos and that is 1 50th the weight of a Puma, that means I save 1 50th of the fuel required to move it the the distance I do in a year *

1 50th of a year is approx 1 week of fuel, £35. RAC membership was about £30 and the Tyreweld about a fiver. Spot on!

*May not be accurate

Well true, it may be the case, however that size of savings could be had just by keeping the car clean (less drag), correct tyre pressure (Lower rolling resistance), Good servicing, oil changes etc (less engine friction) Wheel alingment and tracking (Again rolling resistance) and also weight in the car (Do you need the big coat, the unbrealla, the 100 of cds etc).

Simple things like that can help to reduce you fuel cost each week.

Also, are driving as econmically as you can- for example do you drive to work and home, then go shopping, then go some were else? Instead you can drive to work, go shopping on the way home.

I drive to manchester everyday for work a commute of 32 miles on a round trip. Even my car which does tend to drink like George best did (5 Miles to half a tank is the record now) can just manage that on £20 a week of fuel- even at £1.20 a litre.

If you think more about the trips you make you will find that the ammount you put in per week should drop.

PM me if that doesn't make sense and i'll point yopu in the direction of some usefull sites

Cheers Scotty, all I really bother doing is get into 5th as soon as I can and trundle up to junctions in 1st rather than neutral after Clarkson said it was more fuel efficient.

Does anyone know the physics of this? Is fuel consumption directly proportional to weight as per my rigorous and complex mathematical modelling?

Only if the car was 100% efficient, it isn't. If you halved the weight of the car, you wouldn't necessarily halve the fuel consumption. The same energy from the engine is still being lost in heat and noise, fuel used when idling and coasting won't alter, you would probably make the saving over say 2-3 years, but not over one.

I assume you have also removed your jack and wheel brace?

I would expect the total weight to be closer to 10-15kg, but could be wrong.

Oh, and all Puma's came with a steel spare.

Flas- Was there ever the option to get the alloy spare?

Nope, not on any Fords that I recall.

lib319 said:

Cheers Scotty, all I really bother doing is get into 5th as soon as I can and trundle up to junctions in 1st rather than neutral after Clarkson said it was more fuel efficient.

Does anyone know the physics of this? Is fuel consumption directly proportional to weight as per my rigorous and complex mathematical modelling?

Click to expand...

There may be something in it, but the ammounts could be very very small yearly- so it would take a while to claim the money back.

You need to keep in mind as well that clarkson was comenting on all Modern cars at that point (so that would be cars from 03 onwards i expect- He was in a 03 plate Audi A8 TDI)

There may be a little truth that a pumas engine would use less fuel coasting in gear, then ideling with the clutch in- but again the ammounts your talking about are so miniscule that the savings over the year prob wouldn't even pay for a alitre of petrol.

I could be completly wrong, but thats how i would veiw.

Oh and as for getting into 5th gear as quick as possiable- Remeber the engine is at its most efficent when all the fluids have warmed up- and the 1700 engine is only pulling 1500-2000 rpm at 30. Also being in the lowest gear is not always the most econmical why to drive- if the engine is constantly underload to maintain the speed it will use more fuel.

I would suggest doing the free(ish) simple things i said before and see if that helps.

Also something that you may need to do could be a new Hego sensor if your fuel econmy is poor

Mine has knackerd up abit(ok alot) hence the really bad fuel econemy.

A new one should be around £65 from your local Motorfactors (Or £135 from ford)

Cheers Flash- I'll double check later and drop the wheel to make sure- but the rim does look sliver not black?

Maybe the previous owner changed it?

Mine has an alloy spare, but the one that came out was a 15" steelie.

Isn't it an MOT failure not to have a spare wheel? So it should be illegal to drive around knowing you dont have one either? Or am i talking crap? :lol:

No, it's not an MOT failure not to have a spare wheel or else all FRPs would fail (as well as plenty of other cars). If it has a spare wheel, it must be up to the prescribed standards. Not having one is inconvenient, not illegal if you get a puncture.

Ah well i never knew that! :grin:

Scotty, if you do 32 miles a day, 5 days a week, (160 miles) and you do it on £20 at £1.20 a litre, by my calculations you're doing 43.58 mpg. Not bad!