328 Space Saver Spare Wheel

Howdy! I am restoring an '89 GTS and have that spare, so at least the '89s have that. What are you asking for it? Mine is dinged a bit, but I was going to sand and restore it as well, but a "new" wheel would be great as well. Mike

 

Is the tire for these still unobtainable ?

 

The very early US 328's had a full size spare with the old 308 style window washer bottle. US cars went to the space saver in about December 85 at VIN 612?? or so.

Some countries did not allow space savers so the car always came with full size. At various times Swiss, Austrian, Japanese and right hand drive cars had full size.

 

The '85-'88 and '88-'89 328 SPCs show two different part number space saver wheels (and also lists the markets where they are not used as Brian mentioned) -- the pics look very similar. Is there a Ferrari PN shown on the backside of the spokes?

 

The only change that I'm aware of was the change of color: silver for the first half of production or so, then dark gunmetal gray for the second half.

Rgds

 

Has anyone actually replaced the tire on the space-saver spare? I have the original and I'm sure it's not as supple as a new tire...31 years old (!) - but looks OK for it's intended use. I keep it aired up to 60PSI/check it periodically. I couldn't man-handle a full-sized spare in/out of the 328's compartment so the space saver is the only workable spare for me anyway...

 

Should you need the spare, in any way Mike, you would then have to man-handle the full size one at least once, to put the flat wheel / tyre in the front compartment.
Unless you plan to exchange it with your passenger, of course...

Rgds

 

Oh, right...good point I guess I should just carry a tubeless tire plug kit and and an air source! That way I have a lot more trunk space!

 

Anyway, my understanding is that a new tyre in the flat spare wheel dimensions has been unavaible for years; driving on an 32 years old tyre (even at 50 mph) might not be very advisable...

Rgds

 

I was 400 mi from home in the TR and got a 4 inch long slice through the sidewall of a front tire.The space saver kept me from a tow truck ride to a closed tire shop and a couple of days in a hotel in beautiful Fontana CA. waiting for a tire to be shipped in.

 

I drove mine 400 miles home. I did keep it below 100mph. The skinny spare is unnoticeable on the front on straight roads until pretty high braking effort is used.

 

On the ORIGINAL spare tyre, Brian?

Rgds

 

Yes. Most tire degradation comes from UV exposure. Spares get little of it.

Back in my younger days before exotic cars I did some tire failure analysis. It was a good education.

 

I wouldn't be afraid to use the spare/original tire. I don't think it's going to explode, just that traction wouldn't be so good due to the relative hardness of the rubber. I see there are T135/80 R18 space savers available but since I'm not tire size/rim size knowledgeable, I don't know if that would mount properly (safely) on a T105 rim as used in the 328. .

 

That's what the factory decided for the 348

 

I have never once had a tire failure that a plug or a bottle of slimy stuff would have gotten me back home. I'll take a spare thank you.

 

I didn't get a spare when I bought my 1984 Euro QV - well, I did, but it was an ancient TRX tire/wheel that the previous owner bought for spare tire purposes. I wasn't keen on spending a thousand or so for a factory Ferrari spare wheel/tire, I wanted something functional - I bought a Volvo space saver spare wheel/tire on eBay for $80 USD for a 2000 or newer Volvo S80 - Volvo uses (used?) the same 5x108 bolt pattern as the 308/328. The S80 space saver tire is 125/80-17 - a size that is still available on Tire Rack, and is the same diameter as the 308/s 205/55-16 and 225/50-16.

Two tricks are required to use the Volvo space saver spare - First, the brake disc holding studs on the Ferrari hubs normally fit into open spaces between the bolt spaces on the back of the wheel. The Volvo steel wheel needs to be drilled with at least 2 holes to leave room for those disc holder studs.

Top down view of TRX vs Volvo space saver, same diameter
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Posts on brake disc hub that need holes in Volvo wheel to clear:
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Drilled Volvo wheel - drill all 5 spaces between the 5 lug holes to keep it balanced
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Second, the steel Volvo wheel is much thinner than the Ferrari wheels, and the OEM lug bolts are too long to seat on the thin Volvo spare wheel. You need to buy 5 shorter 14x1.5 lug bolts just for the spare wheel - I bought mine from www.ecstuning.com, conical seat 28mm long for $2.66 ea https://www.ecstuning.com/b-ecs-parts/28mm-14x15-cone-seat-black-zinc-finish/b13-znnitt/


Gives a lot more room under the front space than a full size spare. I did make a ~2" deep spare tire bolt spacer to let the bolt tighten to hold the spare from moving. I also carry a Slime kit, a plug patch kit, and a battery-connect compressor - the plug kit and compressor have saved me a couple of times on the road when a tire has picked up a screw or nail in the tread (in other vehicles).
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