Sealant foam is the same stuff as those old cans of "Holt's tyreweld" you could buy. As Osem mentions its designed for sealing around small punctures, such as something like a nail or screw in a tyre and its only designed to get you to the nearest tyre change place at low speed (much lower than a spacesaver I believe). Any other damage such as a torn sidewall or buckled wheel (very common with potholes) leaves you stranded.
Personally, I've got a full size steel spare in my car (2004 Focus) which I picked up off a friend. The standard spacesaver then went in my mum's car (2013 Fiesta) which only had sealant, and then we put together a wheelbrace and jack to change it.
Basically it boils down to this: Do you mostly drive in populated areas or urban areas? If its urban areas sealant and something like basic "call out" RAC/AA (with its 8 mile towing limit) will probably do you OK. If on the other hand you spend a lot of time out in the sticks, especially in areas with no mobile phone reception, then a spare wheel of some description is vital.
---------- Post added at 09:05 ---------- Previous post was at 08:59 ----------
Quote:
Originally Posted by SnoopZ
My point being is my wheels are 19in, not sure if i could get a space saver or they would have put 1 in the car, maybe it is to do with a cars power i really dont know.
I should have googled this along time ago but the car now needs changing with 94k on it and i do 18k a year.
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I don't think there's any legal requirements regarding spacesavers, just that manufacturers require lower speeds due to the relative size difference between the spare and a normal wheel.
What you might find though is that the spare wheel well in the boot either isn't there at all, or only deep enough for a space saver wheel. Some cars come with collapsible spare wheels to help get around this. I'd ask around the model specific forums for an answer.
Personally, a spacesaver is the minimum I'll accept in a car I'm driving. At least with that you can get the car down in to town and get the other tyre fixed.