Here's Why This Car Has Four Skinny Wheels

Seeing a skinny tire on a car isn’t that unusual. In most cases, it’s mounted on a space-saving spare wheel while the other three have full-size tires. But things get really weird when all four wheels look like that. A Peugeot 208 was recently spotted in a parking lot in Marseille, sitting on what appeared to be four spare wheels. However, the supermini was actually equipped with something called a “universal wheel,” sold by French company Enovcar.

As odd as it looks, there’s a perfectly good reason this product exists. It’s designed for repair shops to move otherwise immobilized cars. If the brakes are stuck or the transmission fails, how do you move the car? Another use case is when the owner wants to refurbish the original wheels. It’s also handy for electric vehicles with completely dead batteries. Although Peugeot sells the 208 as an EV, this particular subcompact hatchback has Stellantis’ ubiquitous three-cylinder gas engine.

Photo by: parkedinmarseille

The “universal wheel” attaches via an interchangeable hub secured with 10 bolts. It works on vehicles with either four lug nuts, like this Peugeot, or with five. Enovcar warns that cars shouldn’t be moved at speeds above 5 mph (8 km/h). There’s also a spinner mode so that the wheel spins freely in any direction. It involves adding a rotating ring to facilitate turning, parking, or rotating the car in place. However, it only works at speeds under 2 mph (3 km/h). Switching between roller and spinner modes takes about 30 seconds.

Another limitation is the weight: the maximum load per wheel is 2,200 pounds (1,000 kilograms), and the wheel itself weighs 22 pounds (10 kilograms).

Enovcar isn’t the only company selling this type of product. Our colleagues at The Autopian recently covered the Guni Wheel X, marketed as a “universal automotive repositioning” solution. It’s also designed to transport vehicles with damaged wheels, brakes, or transmissions. The company selling them claims they’re also a good solution for long-term storage, preserving the original wheels when the car won’t be driven for an extended period.