Why don’t some cars have a spare tyre? | Ask Us Anything #22

Welcome back to another episode of Ask Us Anything, where we gather your questions from the internet and answer them.

In today’s episode, we are going to find out SoyaCincau’s NVMe SSD of choice, why don’t some cars come with a spare tyre and wireless broadband internet plans with ample data for a family.

Any recommendation for an external NVME SSD?

The SoyaCincau team uses an Adata XPG SX8200 Pro 1TB NVMe SSD which is rated for 3500MB/s read and 3000MB/s write with 1GBs of DRAM cache. It is then housed in an ORICO M2PV-C3 M.2 SSD enclosure.

Why doesn’t the BMW 2 Series Gran Coupe have a spare tyre?

Well, the spare tyre and the jack take up precious space in the car, typically eating into boot space and adding additional weight.

So, in the case of this BMW 2 Series Gran Coupe, it is fitted with a run-flat tyre. These kinds of tyres have a reinforced sidewall to hold up the tyre when there is a loss of air pressure caused by a puncture. Therefore, you don’t need to stop to patch the tyre or swap with a spare.

However, you will be restricted to a speed of 80km/h and have a limited range before the reinforced side walls start to lose structural rigidity. You can check with your mechanic about the condition of the run-flat tyres to find out if they can be patched and reused. But in most cases, it’s recommended you get a new one.

While run-flat tyres are more convenient if you have a flat tire, it is more expensive to replace. So, a cheaper alternative would be a tyre repair kit, which is sold as an optional accessory by BMW and is included as standard in cars like the Honda City RS and Nissan Serena here in Malaysia.

The pump injects air and a sealant into the tyre which clogs the puncture hole, as long as the hole is less than 4mm in diameter. You are then limited to a speed of 80km/h and a range of around 100km as outlined by the Automobile Association.

Now, depending on the type of sealant used, you can either wash it away and patch the hole or the sealant cannot be cleaned, and you need to change the tyre as the chemicals in the sealant will mess with the integrity of the tyre. As for the tyre repair kit, you will need to buy new sealant fluid because it can only be used once per tyre.

For example, Honda sells an Instant Tyre Repair Kit which retails for RM100 and is water based so it can be washed away.

Wireless broadband internet plans with ample data for a family?

Celcom offers a Family Ultimate wireless broadband plan with 300GB of internet quota for RM139 and you can add up to 40GB of additional data for RM70. So, you have a total of 340GB a month for the whole family.

However, it longer comes with a 1TB of Super VideoWalla & MusicWalla data that can be utilised for media apps like YouTube, Netflix, Dimsum, Viu, Astro Go, iFlix, iQiyo, Spotify and Joox like with the previous Celcom Home Wireless XL plan.

Since wireless broadband depends heavily on 4G coverage, it is better to stick with Celcom if you’re already a customer and are happy with the reception.

Alternatively, you can also check out Unifi Air wireless broadband plan. It comes with unlimited data, capped at 20Mbps and is available for RM70 per month with an RM100 upfront payment. But you will first need to check if your area is under Unifi’s coverage. You can find the coverage map here.

We’re looking for people to join the team!

I would like to announce that we are looking for people to join the SoyaCincau family. There’s an opening for Videographer and editor, social media manager, and BM Tech writer. If any of these positions caught your attention, you can find more information here.