MX-5 OC Forum

The joy of having a tire wall blow out and trying to mend it with the repair gunk , stuck in the middle of nowhere not recommended, thank god for the AA who also had a go at mending before they agreed to tow me home after 45 mins of me telling them "Ive tried that it dont work " another 30 pass while he get,s a tow bar out the back of his transit looking like something out the transformers film , any one else had this trouble and brought a skinny spare wheel ? if so let me know where i can buy one from please ? regards jimbob

 

Hi JimBob

 

This question was raised in STHT a couple of months ago, you can get a space saver to fit your car (5 stud I believe) from another late Mazda, the problem being it is to big for the boot. You could always put it on a luggage rack if you have a soft top I suppose!

 

Just looked it up; a donor vehicle would be a Mazda 6 GG or a Mazda 3 BK

 

The repair gunk is only any good for the smallest of punctures.

 

Regards Richard.

 

We have the same problem with our Mazda 6 Sport 2.5L petrol, it has a great big Bose noisy muzak  device where the spare space-saver could easily fit, very handy when you are stuck at the side of the road

You could always go over to runflat tyres but their extra un-sprung mass would totally upset the handling and balance of the suspension.

Dr. Eunos

 

We have a full size road wheel in the garage for local emergencies but not much good on longer trips of course. We also have a 2006 Mazda 6 TS2 with space saver (Bose sat inside it) which I will try on the Mk3 MX5 at some stage. It's the same 5 x 114.3mm stud hole pattern but doesn't look too promising. 

Measured against the MX5 road wheel, the diameters across the inside well of the rims are 14 1/2" for space saver against 15 1/2" for MX5 17" alloy. That may not be a problem as the callipers have quite a bit of room inside the alloys but I don't know what the offset will be like without trying it.

The other concern is the rolling circumference which is 68" for the space saver against 76" for the MX5 road wheel. That would make quite a difference in height on the corner it was fitted to and cause quite a big difference in wheel speed across the axle.

 I *think* if you have the LSD, you can't put the spacesaver on the rear. So, with a back end flat, you'd have to swap that out with a wheel off the front, and use the spacesaver there.

Pack two jacks

ABS can go mental if you have one small tyre - to the sensors it makes the other three look like they are on the edge of locking up.

 

If you are parked somewhere dangerous you can drive at low speeds on a flat tyre. It destroys the tyre, but if gunk won't fix it than it's beyond repair anyway. You run the risk of wheel damage if the tyres comes off the rim, but sometimes it's better to drive to somewhere safe rather than to try to change a wheel of wait for the AA parked in the middle of a twisty bit of road. Go at walking pace and you can cover quite a distance. Not something to try on a high speed road, obviously.

I've ridden 3 miles at walking pace on a motorcycle with a flat rear tyre. No damage to the wheel. It wasn't fun, but it also wasn't as scary as the 300 metres or so while the tyre was deflating.

There is a Mythbusters on ways to bodge a flat tyre without a spare, it's more entertaining than educational, but packing a tyre with straw worked suprisingly well off road.

Captain Muppet:

ABS can go mental if you have one small tyre - to the sensors it makes the other three look like they are on the edge of locking up.

 

If you are parked somewhere dangerous you can drive at low speeds on a flat tyre. It destroys the tyre, but if gunk won't fix it than it's beyond repair anyway. You run the risk of wheel damage if the tyres comes off the rim, but sometimes it's better to drive to somewhere safe rather than to try to change a wheel of wait for the AA parked in the middle of a twisty bit of road. Go at walking pace and you can cover quite a distance. Not something to try on a high speed road, obviously.

I've ridden 3 miles at walking pace on a motorcycle with a flat rear tyre. No damage to the wheel. It wasn't fun, but it also wasn't as scary as the 300 metres or so while the tyre was deflating.

There is a Mythbusters on ways to bodge a flat tyre without a spare, it's more entertaining than educational, but packing a tyre with straw worked suprisingly well off road.

 

Good points

"damn, I don't mind taking him the straw but getting it through the valve hole is a right pain "