I am expecting my 8 to come in on wednesday, i didn't go with the spare tire kit, because i only believe in full size spares, plus it was far to expensive. I just read on the forums that you need the specific tire because any other one will messup the monitoring system. i drive mostly in the city, where pot holes are ruthless and having a full size spare to ride on for a day or two would be nice. i don't care to buy a whole rim and tire from mazda, i don't care about the rim at all. if anyone knows, can they help me figure out if i can just buy a steel wheel and a tire. what are the specs and all of what i would need to buy. i don't care for the spare to look preety, i just want to be able to drive and not wait for road side assistance. sorry if this question has been asked a million time before, going through all the forums with the words spare tire in it didn't seem to work for me. Thanks to anyone who can help me with this

Sorry I don't have an answer to your question but where are you planning to hold your full sized spare tire?........

Originally posted by brothervoodoo
...where are you planning to hold your full sized spare tire?........

My exact question. Are you going to bungee-cord it on the roof? Maybe there are other unique ideas on how to carry a full-size wheel and tire, like how bout towing it behind you in a trailer?

to my understanding the boot has enough room for a full size spare. someone on this site said there was enough room. i don't travel with anything, rarely need to carry anything and i would imagine the back would have enough room.

I guess it would fit if that is all you are gonna use the trunk for

I think I'd almost consider buying some run-flats at that point that I'd really think I'd need to get a spare. Maybe I'll do that for my 2nd set of tires.