Wheel problems

[71buickfreak]

So I bought a new 2020 GT2 AWD on Thursday in Oklahoma (technically used, but only had 7200 miles on it), drove it to phoenix for a bowl game and on the way home hit a fresh pothole that literally broke the front passenger wheel and busted a belt on the rear pass tire. Was able to get to tire shop a few hours later (the wheel amazingly held air, I am blown away by this) to get the front tire which was still good swapped to the rear wheel (which doesn't fit the front, BTW), and put on the donut.

Why in hell did they design this car without a place to put a fullsize wheel? I had to leave the wheel at the tire shop. It was broken, so nothing I can do about it anyway, but KIA is refusing to help without having the wheel in front of them. If you have any luggage at all, you are screwed if you have a flat. You have no options to carry the damaged tire. Are we supposed to carry moving blankets and straps and strap a bad wheel to the hatch? That seems ridiculous.

Just curious as to what you guys would do in that situation. I will say I am incredibly impressed that the wheel held air at all, we didn't know the wheel had broken until a couple hours later when we stopped for gas. It was missing a 6-inch long section of the entire bead of the wheel, the tire bead was fully exposed. The donut got us home 600 miles as well, which I was very happy about too.

That said, I have never broken a wheel on a pothole, and am not very happy about it.

 

[JSolo]

Some 20+ years ago I did a trip from chicago to phoenix in my 4th gen camaro. Few months prior to the trip I got new tires but kept 2 of the old. Bought a steel wheel and mounted one of the old tires to it. During the trip the back seat was down so I had full capacity of the hatch. Plenty of room for tire, tools, and suitcases.

But to answer your question, watch where you're going at all times.

 

[71buickfreak]

Yeah, i was, but this was a 2 lane mountain pass and there was nowhere to go, the low beam hood on the headlights doesnt give you a lot of distance for sufficient reaction time on a small pothole (small in diameter, but incredibly deep), so there wasn't any choice.

Moreover, what are you supposed to do if you have a flat and have luggage? Not drive your stinger is the best solution apparently.

 

[D.J.]

This problem about storage space for a damaged wheel - that is in no way unique to Kia Stingers.

 

[71buickfreak]

Not unique to stingers, no, but a horrible design flaw regardless.

This is a major problem for people who actually drive their cars long distance.

 

[D.J.]

Not unique to stingers, no, but a horrible design flaw regardless.

This is a major problem for people who actually drive their cars long distance.

Has this "flaw" been solved by other manufacturers?

I assume most modern cars do not have an actual full sized spare onboard .

 

[71buickfreak]

Has this "flaw" been solved by other manufacturers?

I assume most modern cars do not have an actual full sized spare onboard .

most modern cars allow for holding the full size wheel, but they come with donuts.

At this point, the conversation is mute, but I am incredibly disappointed.

 

[MerlintheMad]

The donut got us home 600 miles as well

Kia says to use the donut to get to the nearest service, not do a road trip with it. If I recall correctly, they recommend fifty miles give or take.

As for putting a full-sized wheel and tire in the luggage space: unless you are maxed out with four people and their luggage, I don't see how you could not move things to accommodate the wheel. There simply is space back there worth the cubic feet of two refrigerators. I've carried all four wheels and tires, two slot car boxes (not small) and three 40 lb. bags of water softening salt and had room for more.

 

[71buickfreak]

Lol, no shit on the donut. The closest kia dealer that was open on sunday was Albuquerque and they told me to kiss off. When you dont have a choice, you dont have a choice.

As for the space, yes. It was maxed out. Do you think I would have left the damage wheel and tire for insurance purposes if I had an option?

Its a bad design. Period, end of story.

 

[MerlintheMad]

Its a bad design. Period, end of story.

Can you imagine how tall and fat in the ass the Stinger would be if it were designed to hold a full-sized wheel and tire below, and maintain the same cargo space?

 

[vipeboy2000]

Can you imagine how tall and fat in the ass the Stinger would be if it were designed to hold a full-sized wheel and tire below, and maintain the same cargo space?

right?? even the taurus doesn't get a full size spare. only the police interceptor version with the skinnier tires/wheels do and even that gets a revised trunk floor that takes away more trunk space... if you get the sho with the performance pack you don't even get the donut! I'm just glad Kia at gave us a donut instead of what the germans are doing with runflats/ fixaflat kits.

 

[Dan00Hawk]

If the Stinger had come with no spare like the many modern vehicles, you'd be even more incredibly disappointed. None of us nor Kia can change how you feel about not having room for a wide rear wheel/tire combination that fits under the floor of a low-slung, rear wheel drive, GT vehicle. The section width for the 255/35/19 is just over 10". The spare tire is about 4" wide.

So, in order to achieve your desired result, the battery would likely need to be relocated to the front, which produces other packaging, design, and handling compromises. Otherwise, the trunk pan would need to be lowered by 6", or the floor of the hatch raised by 6", and the entire hatch design raised by 6" in order not to compromise cargo area. All of this to accommodate the rare occurrence of needing to transport a full size tire when fully loaded with luggage so as not to cause inconvenience to someone on a long distance trip that is loaded down with cargo. I can fully understand why the design team and engineers decided a space saver spare was the right decision for 99.9% of Stinger owners. I'm also glad they didn't go with runflats and no spare tire for a variety of reasons.

Maybe a full size SUV or pickup should be on your shopping list if this sort of thing is a "make or break" item with regard to your overall satisfaction of a vehicle?