As I was getting off the Veteran's X-way north of Tampa last week, I felt a little jolt. I muted the radio and gave the steering wheel a little twist to gauge the car's reaction. Sure enough....just as I did, the low pressure indicator light came on the dash.


I had a flat!

It was on the passenger rear, so I edged over to the right side of the highway and stopped.

I examined the tire, couldn't find anything sticking out, so I got out my air compressor. Thought I could put enough air in to allow me to drive a little farther up the road to a safe place. I was on the side of the road with 60+ mph traffic whizzing by. While waiting to see if the compressor would inflate the tire, a Semi went by and blew me over.....what a backdraft! After 10 minutes, I gave up on the compressor. I didn't want to ruin my 4 mo old rubber by inserting the fix-a-flat, so I started to take out the spare tire. (the one that didn't come on the car. The one I chose to purchase from a fellow RX-8Club member who wanted a rear strut more than a spare tire.)

Everything came out fine......found the jack and changed the tire so I could drive home. You just gotta love those bright yellow alloy rims that Mazda uses for the spare. It looks exactly like the one I had on my '93 RX-7 for 8 years but never used.

Got home, found the hole, plugged it, filled with air and was finished.....well almost.

Next morning when I got up, the tire still had air in it.....which was a problem.....cause when I put new rubber on recently, I also had Nitrogen installed.

So I went to the brand new Mazda dealer just 1 1/2 miles from my house and they filled her up....free......cause the nitrogen is a free fill up deal, as long as you own the car.

Thinking back, I am really glad I sprung for the spare tire and mount bracket. I only paid $250 for it shipped from Vegas. I didn't have to get a tow or pay for a repair job.

 

Yeah, I wished I had a spare when I got a flat on St. Patty's Day at 3 in the morning. =(

 

Glad that you got it swapped and fixed. I don't have the spare--roadside assistance for me.

 

glad to hear your tire didn't fall victim to the fix-a-goo.

 

Yeah It was 6:05 PM....all the Mazda dealers were closed...I could have called AAA, but thought why waste it when I have the spare. Nothing important to do that night, so I decided to change it myself.

 

I've got these really cool looking lugs......splineguards with Red Tips from McGuard.....to go with my red brake calipers and my Red/Black interior. One of the red caps popped off......so I'll have to super glue it back on.

 

Whats the deal with putting nitrogen in, instead of regular air? Is it really that much lighter, or is there another reason?

 

Hey i have a question, is it safe for you to put the donut spare tire on the rear of a rear wheel driver car. I thought i might of read either in the manual or somewhere, that the donut spare tire should be mounted on the front tire and swap the reg tire out in the rear. I think it mostly has to do with RWD setup more so than anything. Someone correct me if i'm wrong.

 

The thought behind it is that the pressure fluctuates less than air and since there is no oxygen the tires last a little longer. Might be more to it than that but thats the gist...

 

i have run flats thank god =P i can go up to 55 mph for quite awhile without damaging anything

 

It's that nitrogen is dry - no water vapor. Water vapor behaves differently than oxygen or nitrogen, and you never know how much is coming out of a compressor.

I've always wondered if someone figured it would be a good idea and deliberately decided to use nitrogen, or if it came about randomly from racers using air bottles instead of compressors and kind of wandering into it from nitrogen being more available than compressed air.

Ken

 

I'm thinking that sounds right, but most people don't plan on hot rodding around with a spare. As long as your just heading home or to a fixing point, i'm sure you'd be okay. I wouldnt' feel to sure about going WOT with that spare in the rear tho.

Sounds to me like one of those things that Mazda would put in the manual so they don't get sued over some idiots problem understanding commen sense. As usual, play it safe, or play on your own.

 

Ahh cool. Yeah that makes sense too. I get it. Thanks Stavesacre21

 

Foz'sRX8, awesome story!
I don't have a spare so I wonder what I'd do...

 

You are right, the spare should go on the front which would require two tire changes in this case. Problem is the limited slip and the unequal sizes of the tires. In reality I think it would take several hundred miles of use to actually cause a problem.

 

I wish we could have the same trunk space and a spare tire!

 

First good thing about nitrogen is that, it does not carry water vapor

Second thing is that, nitrogen will not destroy your tire .... like regular air (oxygen)

Third thing is that they dont expand, If you put 33psi, it stays that way most of the time. Unless you have a leak somewhere and you put regular air back in.

Forth thing is that, its very safe to use theres no exploding hazard (who knows where you pump your regular air at ?)

Its cheap at my local tire place it only cost me 5 bucks for the life of the tire. so 20 bucks total.

Bad thing about it is that altho its free, but everytime you have a flat/leak you have to go back to the same place, wait there for someone to *release and re-pump* the nitrogen back in.

 

Just got my new 2007 RX-8 on Monday. I too opted for the spare tire. Unfortunately, my dealer didn't have one in stock so I am waiting for one to arrive. Hopefully I won't get a flat before then.

 

Now do all sports car come without a spare or just the RX8 ?

 

A guy told me yesterday that the MX-5 no longer comes with a spare.

 

of course i'd have a lot more travel coming up and have to read this post. i don't have the spare but am starting to think maybe it's not a bad idea.

 

I wouldn't imagine it to be a problem with a brand new car unless you work in...say...a junk yard or construction site.

 

My 07 MX-5 doesn't have one. It is getting more and more common to skip the spare because of weight/space savings

 

Delighted it worked out, but I'm still quite happy with my lack of spare.

 

Well, I was able to mount the spare tire.............and still get my golf clubs with cart bag in the trunk. I ust have to take out my driver & 3 wood before putting the bag into the trunk.