| Has anyboody out there got any idea of how to carry a suitable spare on a long journey, or what to do with a full sized punctured tyre when the boot is full and you have a passenger? A boot rack seems a possibility, but I am not very keen. (12/99) |
| Fit blown tyre behind the passengers seat when you pull it fully forward .. need a bin bag to keep things clean .. but you keep a couple of those in the boot anyway?? (12/99) |
| Regarding carrying a spare wheel and tyre - whilst browsing through some of the mx5 club sites I came across someone (sorry I don't recall who it was at the moment) who had gone on an overseas tour with other club members. His solution was to buy a second hand boot lid especially for the trip and had fitted the wheel and tyre on top of it. Obviously when he got home I assume he replaced the boot lid with the original. (12/99) |
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Fit blown tyre behind the passengers seat when you pull it fully forward Sorry, this is a none starter. The space-saver wheel will fit here but a normal wheel is fatter and has a larger diameter. So it does not fit behind the seat. A standard wheel and flat tyre will fit in the boot (but only just) then the only other places will be the boot lid (tied onto a blanket?), or maybe the parcel shelf. If you have no passenger it will go on the passenger seat, but it wont fit the foot well :( Of course if you are touring, spending one night in each place then you will have real problems getting a spare. I hope it never happens to anybody. (12/99) |
| Ummm! I just keep a suitable bungy cord in the rear glovebox to secure it's lid in the event that I need to put a full size wheel in there. (12/99) |
| On a long trip, with a passenger, I usually put the spacesaver on the rear shelf (secured with bungies); handy recepticle for sweet papers etc! Dunno what I'll do if I actually do have a flat though (I guess my passenger will have most of the boot contents on their lap) (12/99) |
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A standard wheel and flat tyre will fit in the boot (but only just) But a 195/50/15 wheel & tyre will not fit in the boot. I couldn't even fit the tyre without the wheel in the boot of my car as it was to stiff to bend it enough to get in. (12/99) |
| With a spare removed, I managed to jam (literally) at 205/50-16 wheel and tyre in the boot - funilly enough, it was the easyest one to store, finding places to put the other three in the passenger compartment was the hard bit! (12/99) |
| Have just had a look at the miata.net for 'spare wheel carriers'. There are some interesting stories about people having the spare wheel slung underneath the car. Some alteration to the exhaust pipework is needed but shouldn't be a problem for someone with a bit of savvy and a welding kit. (1/00) |
| Got one to that plan ... custom 2.5" exhaust in SS (314) for 270 GBP .. needs another box... (1/00) |
| Moss sell a luggage rack which they say will carry 40 kgs. How heavy is the average alloy and tyre? (1/00) |
| 13 Kilos for my wheels. So it is too heavy for a standard Mazda boot rack. However your's may vary. It will depend on the weight of the wheel. (1/00) |
| I bought one of the Moss luggage racks last summer, and drove to France and back for a few days with a very large suitcase on it. The suitcase must have weighed more than a spare wheel. Not really any major probs with this, but I felt as though if I had put any more weight on it, it would have damaged the boot - it looked a little out of shape where the most load was when I got back. BTW make sure you get the right rack, as some are only rated for 10kg (22 lb for you old timers) - not a lot! (1/00) |
| In an attempt to create a little more boot space I thought I remember from someone / where, that if you fit a different exhaust (seem to remember Z28 Camero???) then the spare can fit under the car on a special bracket. Any thoughts or places I can get the bits from much appreciated. (4/00) |
| You will find all the details on www.miata.net. (4/00) |
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Made the wheel bracket from one tow bracket, a bit of 40x5 strip steel and a bit of 30x5 strip steel .. quick bend the in the vice and a MIG weld together .. and a big M12 zinc plated coach bolt with a stainless steel wing nut and R clip from B&Q .. Exhaust is custom made from 314 stainless steel in 2.5" .. started off with the one silencer as shown on the web site featuring this mod but added a second one where the stock car has a resonator behind the cat .. with a turbo to quieten (acts as a silencer box) it is about right now .. bit boomy on over run but silent enough at idle and 4,000 rpm .. the second silencer lost me a bit of top end power :-( .... everyone I talked to down South wanted 500-1000 GBP to do this .. bloke in Scotland did the first one box job for 280 .. and charged 60 for 4 hours refitting with the second box.. doubt you will find that down South. (4/00) |
| To find out how to fit the spare under the boot area of your MX5 contact Bullet Supercars Australia they do this conversion to their V8 Bullet Roadster (bullet@ion.tm) (4/00) |
| I have had 16" wheels running GoodYear F1's for some time now and on the way to work this morning, while laughing at the MGF owner with a flat tyre by the side of the road, it suddenly occured to me that the only spare I now have is 2" smaller than the other wheels. If I did get a puncture, could I use the 14 space saver tyre? I would have thought if you put it on the back, it woul seriously bugger up the diff and if you put it on the front, it would prove impossible to steer. What do you guys who have 15/16/17" wheels have as a spare - can you get 16" space savers? (5/00) |
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Hang-on... When you increase the alloy dimensions you take into account
the change by fitting tires with lower % profile these have very similar if not the same actual diameter if tyre is included even though the wheel is 2" bigger the tyre is 1" less in profile. I do seem to remember that the space save is smaller and as such should not be used on the front, but this would still present problems with a limited slip dif etc AFAIK. I personally would call the RAC to sort mine if I had a flat - would not be seen dead with the space saver on my car (except in extreme case). (5/00) |
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The *overall* diameter (wheel + tyre) should be the same with your 16" wheel/tyre combination as the original 14" setup. Otherwise your gearing and speedo readings would be messed up. So the spare will be as good (or bad) as it was before. Mostly bad. (5/00) |
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The size of the wheel is NOT the determining factor. That's only the size of the hole in the center of the tyre. . (After all, the spare is already mounted on its own wheel.) The outer diameter is the pertinent factor If you didn't match the original tyre (for diameter and rolling radius) AND you have a LSD, THEN you have to be careful. If you have a blowout on the rear, swap one from the front back there and run the spare on the front... (5/00) |
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The standard space-saver spare is smaller than the standard 14" wheel and tyre. This is why the owners manual says it has to go on the front if you have a LSD. I have driven quite away on a space saver once (and only once). It doesn't affect the steering noticeably (at up to 50mph). The car still runs straight. However it does affect braking. If you are a little heavy on the brakes then it pulls badly to one side. There are two other problems though. |