The spare in my 09 is a smaller rim size and tire, but not a donut.I pulled the spare out of our 2010 Jetta today to check its pressure. It is larger than the typical donut spare like is in our Cabrio.
Wonder if it'll take a normal sized wheel and tire? The 17 inchers may be too wide.
It's probably a liability/legal requirement. I peeled it off when I installed the spare on my '09.My wife's 2010 has a 195/65-15 as spare. Still has the silly 45 MPH max sticker, even though the weight and speed ratings are OEM equivalent......
Since tire diameters of 15/16/17's of most jettas are the same and would fit in spare, I'm sure it was due to costs and weight savings.
Since you have an '09, do you have Bioline wheels? They're pretty readily available. Shop around in the classifieds here, and the tires/wheels section on vwvortex. You should have no problem finding a single Bioline.Wonder if there's a weight saving for buying a new alloy wheel to match the others on the car vs. the steel wheel spare. The wife scraped up the one alloy wheel in the back. Damaged the finish but didn't bend it. Could put it in as a spare. (Likely the jack wouldn't fit inside as nicely as it does on this factory spare rim.)
I remember once in the 240D's life that I bought another rim to put a snow tire onto. First bought a steel rim because of price difference. When I got it home and found the HUGE weight difference for the alloy ones vs. the steel one, I went back and traded it for an alloy rim. The 240D alloy rims looked EXACTLY like steel rims in those days. The spare rim was exactly the same alloy as the other 4.
Of course. I forgot about those brakes. No wonder I got a full size tire....
All JSW's have the upgraded 312mm brakes that you would find on the 2.0T (gasser) and a 15" wheel will not fit. So Vw HAD to put in a 16" spare.
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