[Mike T.]

A very good plan.

I have a 3.5 inch wide front steelie for my older Type 450 smart, with a Continental emergency spare in 115/70-15. It doesn't set the ESP off but it would not work in a 451, because I don't think the pressure sensor would fit the 450 wheel. Also the offset is wrong for the Type 451, and I don't think the 451 has a rim - steel or otherwise - as narrow as 3.5 inches. The front wheels on the CDN Type 450s were 4 inches wide (mine are 5, 6.5 rear, but that's another story).

This wheel and tire - similar to the optional spare tire they sold in Europe back in 1999-2002 - fit perfectly behind my fully rearward driver's seat.

On one of our trips to the USA in smarts, a friend who was driving with us in his had a sidewall cut in his tire and the tire goo wouldn't keep more than 14 PSI in the tire, so he limped it back across the border (we were only 50 miles from Canada). I bought my new wheel and spare from a friend in Germany a month later, as we do drive to Seattle in this car a fair bit. It was cheap to send by surface mail, believe it or not!

I ought to get a Bag Lady thing done up too, and I should get a smaller jack as well. My wheel wrench (Craftsman with breaker bar) fits in my driver's seat drawer.