If I order a MC with the 16" wheel option will it come with a 16" spare? My MA says no due to it would not fit in the spare tire storage area. I thought I read somewhere on NAM that it would come with a 16" spare. I would prefer the 16" wheel option, but not at the expense of not having a spare.

 

No 16" spare. Sorry. It's the econo doughnut. But at least you get a spare.

 

Thanks for your reply. So if I order the 16" wheel option is it okay to run the doughnut wheel if needed, even if the other wheels are 16"? Sorry if this is a dumb question

 

You can get a Cooper with 17" wheels and still get the donut. There is only one donut spare. It doesn't matter--the overall size is the same. Look at the how much tire sidewall there is on a 15", 16", 17", and 18" wheel--it gets narrower and narrower as the wheel gets bigger.

 

You can run the space-saver spare with any size wheels ... it's only meant to get you to a shop (at a reduced speed) to have the flat tire repaired or replaced. If the flat tire is on the front wheels, you need to swap a rear wheel to the front and mount the spare on the rear.

 

I've got a stupid question now. Why do you do that??

 

To reduce wear of the transaxle. Different diameter tires on the front of the Mini will cause the spider gears in the transaxle to continously work and wear. They are not designed for continous operation and can cause excess heat to buildup in the transaxle unit.

If you have LSD, it can make it worse.

 

... in other words:

Whether you have the original equipment 15, 16, or 17" wheels, the overall diameter of the TIRE is the same - meaning the speedometer will have about the same reading no matter if you have the 195/55/16 tire or the 205/45/17 tire.

Using the donut, however, is different. It's smaller in outside diameter than the original equipment tires, and is designed just to get you to the repair shop. Putting it on the front, where the drive happens, forces the engine to drive the car on only one of the two front wheels because one is larger than the other. (Normally, the load shifts from one wheel to the other, or both are driven and the load is shared). Making only one wheel do the work puts stress where it wasn't supposed to be.

LSD: Not the hallucinogenic drug, this stands for "Limited Slip Differential" - a unit that tries to apportion power equally between the wheels. As you can imagine, having two different diameter tires means one is spinning faster than the other, while the LSD wants them to spin at the same speed. The results are "rock and a hard place" results - something expensive usually mechanically fails.

LSD or not, in the event of a front tire failure, it's best to put the spare on the back (less of the car's load is carried back there) and put the (good) back wheel/tire on the front. While this means two tire changes, usually you can at least jack the whole side of the car up at one time using the front jacking point.

OR... call AAA (or mini roadside assistance if you're still under that plan)

(phew, my fingers are tired!)
Hope that helps...