why are compact spares called donuts?
 

Why are compact spare tires called donuts? They look no more like donuts than service tires. What am I missing?

Sixto
87 300D

They are called that so you will ask.

Because if you drive on them, it attracts "the man".:D

I'm going out on a limb here, but I seem to recall that the space saving spares first made their appearance on compact cars, meaning that they were very small compared to their appearance on larger cars today. Being a much smaller and thinner product in those days, the "donut" moniker was more appropriate.

they originally started out as an uninflated tires and wheel,and you had to use a can of compressed air to inflate em.

Are they not round and have a hole in the middle? Pretty obvious reason for me.

And how is this different from regular wheels or a full size spare?

Sixto

I see those reduced diameter spares in Porsches. I wonder about putting high-g load on a sidewall that's been collapsed for years then suddenly expanded :eek:

Sixto
87 300D

I had a brand new 2001 Volvo C70 HPT turbo coupe for a while, for about a year or two.

I showed the "donut" spare in it to my ex (I had bought the vehicle for her to drive) and explained that it was a "better" donut than most, much bigger and almost full sized.

She knows nothing and cares less about cars, but grasped the concept immediately.


"Oh", she said. "it must be a Krispy Kreme!!":D:D


I miss her. (I am talking about the Volvo.)

They're called donuts because if you put chocolate icing and sprinkels on them the man would eat them.

Tom W

Because it sounds better than "small tire".;)

It's not, the term just differentiates the specific usage between the two.

I never heard them called donuts. I always heard them referred to as "Weenie Wheels." I like that, personally.

Because calling them bagels would be stupid.

Because that is about what they are worth...the price of a donut.