TiredOlMom

My Husband passed away last month. I am driving his car because I'm afraid of getting a flat tire. I have AAA but with no tire they really couldn't help. I felt safe when he was here to call. What do I need to put this all together. I called the Dealership and they really weren't any help. I know I need a Tire and Rim and a Jack. What kind of Jack and what else might I need that I'm not aware of - not having any real knowledge of Car things. How has done this and would be willing to share the knowledge? Thanks!

Loki

iTrader: (1)

Are you saying you want to keep a spare in your RX8, or you already have a flat and need to put a spare on it?

The car comes with a jack, if you open the trunk, you'll see a long piece of plastic along the inside of the back of the trunk. It has 2 tabs with which you can pull it up. Inside is the jack and a lugnut tool.

The car isn't designed to carry a spare, but Mazda did sell a kit that kept the spare at the back of the trunk. It's pretty hard to come by. But you could keep a spare in the trunk anyway. A spare from a Mazda 3 or Mazda 6, or most other Japanese cars with 5 lugnuts and 16+" wheels will do.

If your car has anti-theft wheel locks, you'll need to find the key. You'll know if it has this if one of the lugnuts on each wheel is different from the others. Usually people keep the key in the glovebox or somewhere in the car. It's a small cylinder with a hexagonal shape on one end.

Reoze

After blowing 3-4 tires in a span of about a month in my older RX8 I kept a full size tire in the trunk at all times. Fits perfectly, no mount required.

40thAnniv08

Bottom line first: The compact spare from a 2010 Mazda 3 fits my 2008 Mazda RX8. I got a compact spare from a salvage yard for a total of $11.98.

Forgive me if this is old news. I owned an '86 RX7 years ago, but I'm new to RX8 ownership. In addition to an RX8, I own a 2010 Mazda 3 Sport. With a tape measure, I compared the bolt pattern of my RX8 wheels with that of the compact spare in my Mazda 3 and they appeared to match. So I mounted the spare from my Mazda 3 on my RX8 and it fit (see photo). I went to a local salvage yard and purchased a compact spare from a 2010 Mazda 3 for a total of $11.98. When I searched the inventory of the salvage yard online for the spare, the search returned results for Mazda 6s as well, so I assume the spares for 3s and 6s are interchangeable.

I mounted the spare securely in the upper part of the RX8 trunk with two bungee cords (see photo). I ran the cords in an X pattern from two holes in the upper part of the trunk sort of near the speaker in the back of the cabin, under the spare, to a slot in the aft upper part of the trunk. I added two shorter cords from the center hole of the spare to the same aft upper slot, but I think the first two cords would have done the job just fine.

I should note that I got a noise from the front hooks of the longer cords when I hit a bump. So I went back and placed an old, small towel over the front hooks on the longer cords (I ran one small towel over both front hooks). This eliminated the noise.

Shopping bags still drop easily into the trunk with the bungee-mounted spare in place. But there is no way a suitcase of any size will go into the trunk with the spare in position. I'll have to put suitcases and coolers in the back seat or remove the spare to get them into the trunk.

I would be surprised if the spare weighs 30 pounds. I carried it easily under one are from the pick-your-part salvage yard and I'm not a big guy. I was surprised at how light it is.

Mazda 3s in model years 2009 and earlier have smaller rims. They may still fit RX8s, but you may want to stick to Mazda 3s or 6s of 2010 model years and newer to be on the safe side.