Full Size Spare?!?!?!?!?!?!
 

It better have one :)

Same tire, same everything.. I don't want a bloody donut or space saver in the trunk.

When you're riding on 18s you have to be careful not to dent the things... and if there's no full size spare I'll be supremely pissed off.

My BMW 325i had 17" rims and those bad boys got dinged regularly, even with tires that had that rim protection garbage. Of course, the car spent most of its time in Germany and the curbs are very unforgiving there. Still, give me the 18's and I'll take that risk ;)

Full size spare means alot of extra space required + more cost. I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't come with one.

Runflats please!!!!!!!

Runflats work by making very stiff sidewalls that rob some of the perfomance from the tire. Are you sure you want them?

I would like a full size spare as well. Finding tires the correct size for the RX-8, should one go flat could take awhile. I'd rather not drive around for days while an order to tirerack or someplace gets shipped in.

Most runflats also have a lot of road noise--and aren't really prefered.

When is the required tire pressure gauge take effect in the US? (Sorry I forgot)

I don't care about run-flats, I don't usually get blow-outs... I have been known to dent a rim or two though :)

So I'd like to have a full size spare with a nice easy hydraulic jack in the trunk :D

Ahhhh the hopes :)

Why do you need a full size spare? Personally, if something happens to one of my tires, I might be driving around on a donut for a day at the most (I've done it before, and I'll probably have to do it again). I will personally accept the decreased weight and increased storage space offered by a donut.

Besides, if Mazda put a fifth 18x8 and the appropriate performance tire hidden away in the trunk, that's another bunch of cash that will be added to the price. I'd rather not.

BTW, who said "run-flats"? Lemme get out my moderatin' stick... ;)

---jps

Another thing regarding run-flats: if the car comes with them as original equipment, the automaker is required to put in the air-pressure monitoring system... and then we're talking $$.

A donut spare is fine with me. Free's up a lot of trunk space, costs less than a full size spare too.

Donut is fine.. I can't remember when if ever I had a flat in my 15 years of driving.. Only once with work trucks, never with my personal car. Besides a full size tire will just be wasting in there.. and it ain't cheap.

MMMMMMM, donuts - Homer Simpson :D

A full size spare is going to be pretty tough to fit back there reasonably well. 18x8 rim with decent rubber is going to be pretty big & heavy. We're probably looking at 235/40 R18 as std equipment. With that spec tire, you'll have a sidewall height of 94mm or @3.75" Mulitply the sidewall height by 2 and then add 18 for the rim diameter and we're now close to 25.5" in diameter. Total depth of rim and tire would be about 9.25".

Since many of us are very conscious about the weight of the car as well, I think the RX-8 would be well served with a donut spare. If you live in an area where puctures are prevalent, keep a can of fix-a-flat in the car. It's pressurized enough to pump up your tire enough to make it drivable til you get a replacement and has some chemical in it to help seal the puncture. This is a really good tradeoff to a full size spare when considering cost, weight and storage.

Here is a "spy picture" of the actual spare that will be used in the RX-8. Please do not tell anyone elese.:o

Meanie :P

When you get the car just take the Spare out and throw in can of "fix-a-flat".

It would be cool to have a replacement rim sitting in the garage just in case the unspeakable happens and you need it. And if the 8 comes with lightweight aluminum wheels the donut with the steel rim won't be that much lighter so keep a can of fix-a-flat (approx. 1lb) for emergencies and the spare in the garage.

I doubt that Mazda would go to all the trouble to give the car aluminium suspension bits and a carbon-fiber driveshaft just to counter all that weight savings with a big honkin' heavy-ass spare tire.

I'd much rather have more trunk space and less weight than a full-size spare.

Fix-a-flat won't work if you get a blowout, only if you have a pinhole leak (and then only if you're lucky).

I hate that stuff. Used to work in a tire shop. I'd shudder when someone would roll in a tire saying they used fix-a-flat. If its been inside the tire longer than a few days, the tire is garbage. It rusts the steel belts quicker than water. Some places won't warranty a tire that has had that stuff used on it.

So we're back to the donut.. :D Probably the best compromise between utility and weight saving.

Full size spare is always preferable, but in the case of the RX-8, where weight is a primary concern, we may be faced with a donut. No one seems to know what we will get. This is, of course, only speculation only.

I totall agree
 

I totally agree. Give me the lighter, cheaper, smaller donut than the a fullsize spare or the heavier, more expensive, and lower performance of the runflats. Besides, everyone should have at least one set of track rims tucked away in the garage somewhere anyway. :D

A side note: Though the side walls of the run flats are stiffer than non-run flat tires, since the RX-8 will have 18" rims, I think the "standard" tire sidewalls will be stiff by default and the run flat version of the same tires will only be slightly stiffer.

Just a thought.

If the RX-8 gets a torque sensistive differential, then a full size spare wheel would HAVE to be included. The Audi A4 quattro doesn't have a full size spare wheel and it is limited to 50 mph for 50 miles and the center torsen differential has a cooling pump and cooler.

Well the RX-8 has a Torsen LSD standard (even on base model).

Can you explain WHY you'd need a full-size?

He is suggesting that you need the same overall diameter because the difference in circumference while rolling down the highway will eat up the friction plates in a LSD since the axles will be spinning at different speeds. The full size spare always refers to overall diameter not necessarily a full replacement rim and tire, I think that has been misunderstood eventhough many car makers are including another rim now.

Ah, so there is hope for my little request :)

don't get your hopes up because there are cars with LSD and donuts that tell you if you get a flat out back to trade a front to back and put the donut on a non-drive axle.

And there are "doughnuts" that are the same final diameter as the full spares, just not as wide, etc. Think about it, if there are big brakes, the spare will have to fit over it anyway.

---jps