I was thinking today about whether I would pick up a spare tire kit/spare tire for my 8 if I were ever to go on a long trip. I figured it would be useful in an unpopulated area at night when you'd rather fix the OEM (if possible) during the day.

Then I wondered - in such a scenario, would the OEM 225 tires fit in the trunk with the mounting kit installed? Anyone have a clue? I haven't taken delivery of my car yet (2-3 weeks), so if the answer is in the owner's manual, please forgive me.

The OEM tire should fit in the trunk. Tight, but it'd fit.

Having a spare if you're going on a long trip is never a bad idea, otherwise sure as fate, you'll be in the middle of nowhere and you'll have a blow out - and the standard fix-a-flat stuff and air compressor isn't gonna handle a blow out.

However, I'd suggest that unless you really want to get the spare mounted off the load floor of the trunk, you save the money you'd spend on the mounting kit and just throw the spare in the trunk when you need it. The mounting kit puts the tire in at an angle, and really eats up space in the trunk.

I will have to measure when I get home tonight, but I am not sure that an OEM will fit on the spare mounting hardware. Since I have my snows on and the OEMs are in the garage, I will try to swap the mini spare with a full size tire and see if it will go in. (Nothing like empirical data!)

mm

Actually, I'm pretty certain based on looking at some cars on the lot with the mounting kit that the 225s will not fit in the kit, so I was presuming they would have to go under the it and rest on the floor of the trunk. However, I'm not convinced you could get the 225s under the mounting kit - this is my question. If you could measure, that would be great. One thing to keep in mind is that given he weird downward's angle you would have to place the tire in at, esp. given the small trunk opening, it might not possible to get the tire in even if there is sufficient vertical clearance beneath the kit.

Sorry, I thought you just were asking if a standard wheel/tire will fit in the trunk, which it will. It will most definitely NOT fit on the spare tire mounting bracket.

Omicron beat me to it, but here is my answer. I got home a little while ago and took out my spare and brought one of the OEMs over. The answer is --

yup, it fits in the trunk without the spare mounting bar, and even fits in sort of underneath the mounting bar flat in the trunk, but --

nope, no way, no how will the OEM fit onto the mounting bar.

The bar has bends in it which are sized to the mini-spare so it flush mounts (sort of) to the top of the trunk. The OEM is too tall and too large across to fit up onto the mounting bracket.

See, I really do like empirical data!) So there you go.

mm

Originally posted by Positron


yup, it fits in the trunk without the spare mounting bar, and even fits in sort of underneath the mounting bar flat in the trunk, but --


mm


That's exactly what I was going for - thanks guys. I think though that I will probably still just buy the spare tire minus the mounting kit and keep the tire in storage unless I'm going on a long trip somwhere where roadside assistance isn't worth much.

I just stuck my spare in the trunk against the far wall, with a wheel cleaner brush and a towel wedging it against the near wall (where the tools are). Hasn't bounced around yet. This way if I have something important to put in the trunk (like a couple golf bags) I can toss the spare in the back seat or do without for a while. My mounting bracket and hardware are sitting in the basement along with the plastic ECU heat sink (not needed with CZ Stage 1 installed).

I don't follow the logic of having the spare for long trips (or at all for that matter). Chances are, if you're on a long trip the car's going to be loaded full of luggage, etc. and you would therefore not have room for the OEM 18" wheel anyway. You'd have to travel very light or lose some luggage!

Of course I'm joking, but there is some truth to it. :)

There's still the backseat for luggage

Omicron said it best.....he's right

Are you guys all former NASA-types? I think you're looking for a fail-safe backup where one is not really required.

The construction of modern tires is really robust, and 99% of the time, your tire failure is going to be a slow-leak puncture that your tire pressure monitoring system is going to tell you about in plenty of time and the pump and spray stuff will enable you to get where you're going. The other 1%, Mazda roadside assistance or AAA can bail you out of.

"Toss the spare in the back seat" Shebam? The horror!

Originally posted by boothguy
The construction of modern tires is really robust, and 99% of the time, your tire failure is going to be a slow-leak puncture that your tire pressure monitoring system is going to tell you about in plenty of time and the pump and spray stuff will enable you to get where you're going. The other 1%, Mazda roadside assistance or AAA can bail you out of.

"Toss the spare in the back seat" Shebam? The horror!

I guess that's really what I was trying to say. Plus, wouldn't you take the 2.4 kids with you on a long trip?

Originally posted by boothguy
... Are you guys all former NASA-types? I think you're looking for a fail-safe backup where one is not really required ...

Actually I have built (and am building) gear for NASA, I do have the donut spare, and in case anyone was wondering, I am not a rocket scientist.

Sometimes I make regular drives from Ann Arbor, through the streets of Chicago, to Evanston, just north of Chicago. That drive takes me through rural areas where my cell phone doesn't work and into potentially inhospitable areas. To aggravate the situation, sometimes I am pressed for time. I make other trips to Northern Michigan where larger areas have problematic cell phone service. So, the tire is insurance. It was expensive, takes up space, but makes the possible outcomes more predictable.

On the "it could never happen front", adding Murphy's Law to that statement, along with some comic relief, leads to the conclusion that not having a spare tire will create the condition where one is needed.

I haven't changed a tire along side the road for quite a while, but I have. If I didn't have the no-cell and inhospitable cases, I probably wouldn't have bought the spare. As you said, the new tires are very reliable.

Originally posted by boothguy
Are you guys all former NASA-types? I think you're looking for a fail-safe backup where one is not really required.

The construction of modern tires is really robust, and 99% of the time, your tire failure is going to be a slow-leak puncture that your tire pressure monitoring system is going to tell you about in plenty of time and the pump and spray stuff will enable you to get where you're going. The other 1%, Mazda roadside assistance or AAA can bail you out of.

"Toss the spare in the back seat" Shebam? The horror!

Out of that 1%, chances are,(according to Murphy), that you'll have a 100% chance that your cell phone will register, "Searching".
Maybe I've lived in Wyoming too long, and am used to going for literally hundreds of miles without cell coverage. :)

I just installed the spare tire kit. The fact that the bar holds the spare at an angle, is the reason why much of the room in the well of the trunk is retained.

I bought the kit with the tire mounted on the rim. It was the demo tire they had to show people what it looked likt. I installed the hardware myself. Total cost was $350.00 versus $520.00 to have the dealer do everything.

The biggest drawback I can see now, is that to change a tail light, I am going to have to remove almost everything to remove the trunk liner. That is just bad design.

I guess that's really what I was trying to say. Plus, wouldn't you take the 2.4 kids with you on a long trip?I hope this is a joke. The rear seat is great for carting folks around town; even a day trip of a couple hundred miles. But I would not subject anyone to staying back there for prolonged roadtrips (hours of driving per day.) They're just too darn claustrophobic. Plus, carting around luggage for 4 all in the trunk? Nah...