My car didn't come with a spare tire kit. Now that she's got a year's worth of wear on the tires and I'm going to be taking her for a thousand-mile roundtrip to Laguna Seca in August, I'm really thinking I'd feel safer with a spare in the trunk.

What are the pros and cons of having the spare? Obviously you lose cargo space and you add weight, but you also have peace of mind and don't gunk up your TPM sensors with that fix-a-flat spray. Anything else I'm not thinking of? Anybody out there want to get rid of their spare tire kit?

 

My car came with the spare tire kit, but since all of my driving is mostly local, and since I wanted more room in the trunk, I removed it this past weekend. I also disassembled the bar that connects to the tire, so that the spare tire is free... if I decide to take a long trip, I'll just through the tire in the trunk...

I did free up space by removing it...

 

There are kits for sale in the "parts for sale" section....

 

m'eh if i get a flat i'll just call roadside assistance and get them to tow my car to a mazda dealership.

 

One draw back is that the spare covers the trunk light. So at night you can't see what's in the trunk.

I think someone on this board has moved the trunk light to a different location in the trunk, which solves this problem.

I just live with it. I have already used the spare once and was glad that I had it.

 

Road side assistance

 

I opted for the spare. Under some extreme circumstances I might remove it if I absolutely couldn't do without the lost space. But certainly not my preferred mode.

I much rather have the spare and be able to continue from any flat under my own power, without relying on a service call and without ruining the orginal tire and sensor if the tire IS repairable. If you can live with the remaining trunk space for the majority of your driving, I can't see the downside to having the spare, other than cost.

It pretty much does make the trunk light useless, but

here's my DIY on adding some LED fixtures to make up for it...

 

I removed my spare, don't really need it for local driving and use the extra space for long trips - when I may actually need it!
Have considering selling, but figure the day I sell it, I'll find some reason to want it!

 

Personally, if I were to carry the spare, I'd also remount the bar. The spare tire has a lot of mass and I wouldn't want it shifting around the trunk under braking or cornering or in the event of an accident.

I have the spare kit, it was port installed. If it wasn't already installed in the car, I wouldn't have bought it. Now that I have it, I would never leave home without it.

It does take up a lot of space but you make adjustments. I can still fit everything that I need, I just use soft duffels instead of real luggage.

 

I have the spare setup and wouldn't recommend it. It's meant to mount out of the way, but that's the last place it is. It's hard enough to load any larger luggage in the back, even harder of a fit with the spare. And the little whole that runs between the cabin and trunk is null and void with the tire mounted there. I pulled my for local driving since I have Road Side, but I'm about to take a long trip (+3000 miles!!!) so it's going back in...but I won't be using the spare tire mounting brackets. --Mark

 

respect

I am thinking of selling my tire - the RSA is good enough for me versus the trunk space and balance on the car.

 

It puts some weight up high in the car. I wonder though if the mounting brace actually might actually double as a shock tower brace?? It might actually make it harder to get a golf bag in the trunk which is very tight already.

 

Also if you are looking to mount a legitimate rear tower strut brace it won't fit with the spare tire mounting kit.

 

I have the spare laying in my trunk - without the brace

It does not move around in the trunk at all in spite of a lot of enthusiastic cornering on my part.

Very little cargo space is lost and I retain the use of the trunk light.

 

Sorry folks, all of you with the spare tires un-mounted and unrestrained in the trunk are looking for trouble. If you get rear ended and the tire is lying flat in the trunk it is going to disrupt your crumple zone in a big way. Better off to leave it home.

 

I bought a cell phone instead.

If you plan on being able to remove your own wheel in a pinch, be sure to check that you can do it with the standard lug wrench. I couldn't when I was putting on my winter wheels. Someone put them on way too tight; I ended up getting a breaker bar to remove the wheels and a torque wrench to put them back on, with the correct force: 108 ft.-lbs. - per the latest TSB.

Check out this thread for more details.

 

If I'm rearended I think the tire would just move the foot and a half or so to the back of the trunk. How big is the crumple zone?

The mount for the spare scared me thinking that if I was rearended the metal support beam would get pushed into the back seat.

 

It adds 28 pounds to the car...

 

I didn't like mine, for the reasons stated throughout this thread. I didn't ask for it, but it came with my car. I sold it and used the proceeds to help pay for my new Racng Beat exhaust. It wasn't even a close question. I haven't regretted it for a minute.

 

Which works great if everywhere you drive is in-town and has cell phone service.

Drive on even moderately rural roads and you're looking at a 3.5 - 4 hour wait for roadside assistance, if your cell phone can get a signal...

 

I think driving a car w/o a spare is ridiculous. I have had many flats, seems more often with low profile tires. If you are in a rural area or in the suburbs on a desolute road, good luck waiting for Road Side Assistance. Espsecially if your in a dead zone where your cell phone doesn't work.

 

This debate could go on forever, and may be based on personal experience (and perhaps where you live) as much as anything else. Even with many long trips through the desert and in the mountains, I haven't had a need to even attempt to mount a spare in 20+ years, and last time I did, the lugbolts were cranked on so tight that I couldn't budge them even with a heavy torque wrench, so I had to have the car towed anyway. Now, with a ruptured disc in my back, I doubt that I'd even want to try. So, for me anyway, a spare tire is just a waste of space. Given the general quality of modern tires (with Firestone perhaps an exception) and the fact that most punctures I've had have simply resulted in slow leaks that gave me ample time to get to where they could be easily repaired, I'm not losing sleep about it on long winter nights.

 

Pro:

Being able to change a tire and be under way within 15 minutes when you run over a roofing nail and get a flat, instead of ruining a $250 tire and a $200 tire pressure monitor when you have to pump said tire full of goo and then reinflate it.

Con:

Loss of half of the trunk space.

Mine came with in there, and there it has stayed. Not taking it out.

 

needs some help from you guys with the spare tire kit: I just bought a spare tire w/mounting kit and I'm no dummy, but for the life of me I can't figure out where & how it mounts. I didn't get instructions with it and I got a little tired of hanging out upside down inside my trunk trying to figure it out. I'm still searchin so please no flamin, but in the mean time if one of you could point me in the right direction, I'd appreciate it. Thanks!

 

Got it! thanks to expo1 for posting a pdf of the install instructions in another thread. seems to be quite a few other people asking the same question. thanks once again to RX8.com and all the fine people who take the time to help other 8 owners.