i have a MCS, and yea, no spare tire.. however, in long trips, i wanna take one and put it in my trunk.

but is it really a spare tire or is it jsut another regular tire with the same rim?

anyone have a spare tire?!

 

I can't remember who (Moss, Mini Mania, etc) is selling space saver spares for Mini's.

Me, I use a kit I got from Target for $20. 12v air compressor and bottle of Slime. Small, and fits nicely into a corner of the boot.

 

I pretty much do the same. I carry a Conti-Kit, but when I go on a long trip I fold down the rear seats and bring along one of my snow tires as a spare.

Dean.

 

You can see part of it in this pic (ignore the broken MINI around it)



It's a rather generic looking steel wheel / donut spare. But, it fits.

 

i wouldnt get one of these for long trips, the snow tire idea is a much better one. i wouldnt drive more than 20, 30 miles on the space saver spare or "donut", and if you're on a long trip, it would be helpful to have a tire that can be driven on indefinitely.

 

alternately, you can call tirerack and get a steel rim and the cheapest tire they sell to keep in the car, this shouldnt be more than $100 total.

 

How many of you who are relying on fixing your tire by plugging it, or dumping in some slime, and then re-inflating it with your boot compressor have actually done this.

My position is that if you have not done this, you may be surprised at how hard it is to push the plug tool into the hole. I don't have and don't plan to use slime.

Have you ever used your boot compressor to just add air to your tires? Does it move air fast enough? Does it vibrate and scream? Does the electric cord reach the front or rear power outlet? Does it pop the fuse in your car?

My point is, I think you might want to try all this out before you need it on a dark, rainy night on the side of the road in a bad neighborhood.

I'm sure you local tire store will let you practice sticking a plug into one of their junk tires... and remember, the tread of a RF is extra tough.

Now my thinking is to get a small wheel and a small 'real' tire, as suggested earlier and use that when you are going out of town.

If you can get a doughnut from a wrecking yard cheap that is one thing, but have you checked the price of a doughnut and wheel from our vendors? Not cheap.

Just something to think about.

YD

 

I've used plugs in the past, and just a few months ago used the slime kit and compressor. Took about the same time to slime and completely fill a fully deflated tire as it does to change one out to a spare. Sliming required less overall effort, and my hands didn't get as filthy as when changing a tire, though. I agree that it's a good idea to get familiar with either process so you aren't learning for the first time on the side of a wet and dark expressway, for example.

Yes
Faster than a handpump, but slower than a huge garage compressor. Adequate for me to adjust tire pressure at an autocross, for example...
Yes, it vibrates and makes a loud whirring noise. It doesn't scream like my wife when I scare her, though.
Front outlet can do all 4 tires. One at a time, of course.
Never has in any of my past vehicles where I've used a portable compressor.

If you've got the space when going on a longer road trip, having a standard tire (175/65/15) would certainly be good insurance.

 

Chevy cobalt and Miata donuts are alleged to fit

 

Please check any (non MINI) spare tire fitment on the front wheel before you wind up needing it. Clearance on the front wheel is often a problem.

 

Please don't slime a tire. I bought a set of wheels with tires and two of them had been slimed bad idea. It cause the tires to come out of balance, when I went to get them rebalanced they had to remove the tires, clean out the crap .

I have a spare with my R50 and have used it once, after 3 hours of class room training n learn how to get it out of the back , I would drive on it as long as needed. I think it was R&T did an issue years ago about the donuts and found they performed much better then we think. I would put it on the back for a long drive.

For my 1200 mile round trip to MOTD I will carry a floor jack, jack stand, tire plug kit and air bomb. The plug kits work much better if you can get the tire off the MINI and the air systems work better without weight on the tire. I will also have two spare tires in case I need to replace a bad tire (had two good ones left from the last 4) in a pinch and get off the donut without falling prey to some local tire opportunist. If you don't have a floor jack, please get a jack stand for those side of the road jobs, the flat tire is bad enough don't need more headache's because the MINI fell of the jack too.

OMG I sound like my father

 

Classic Mini in Ohio had good deals on space saver spares. I ordered one from them a couple of months ago for around $140.00 I think. It will not fit over the front brakes on R56 Cooper S. It will fit over rear. Will involve double tire change if flat on front, but space saver on rear is a good idea versus on front. Not perfect, but a good compromise in my mind.

http://www.njbaglady.com/ is web site for Bag Lady who makes cool bags for space saver spare. Mine shipped today. Hope to have it next week.

 

Here is a question though, would you be able to get a Donut spare that would work well when the rest of your tire wheel combos are 225/45/17?

I use regular tires and I dont even have slime or a compressor in my car...

 

I live dangerously with no spare and non runflats.

 

Would'nt just about any 4x100 spare fit? The trick is that whatever tire had the flat you'll want to move that tire to the rear to use the spare. That way you don't need to worry about turning clearance.

I've used a plug on a motorcycle tire and the thing came out not one mile down the road. Installing the plug was a little tricky, but who cares when it pops back out. I've also slimed a tire and that was a mess to clean up.
I don't have runflats or a spare, but I do have my annual membership to an RV club that will flatbed to any place I want for my annual $75 membership.

 

If you're willing to do that, there are more options. But, you still have to worry about the center bore / hub size of the spare. Some spares may have a center bore that is smaller than the MINI's hub size.

 

Honda models that use the 4 X 100mm bolt pattern wheels fit nicely, too. Same size center hub [exactly]...
So lots of choices, there....should be plenty at the salvage yards.

Steve

 

Here's something that's already been researched:
http://new.minimania.com/web/Item/NM.../InvDetail.cfm

 

I don't like the idea of the temp doughnuts, however it's better than nothing at all... I like AngryScientist's idea... a cheap steel wheel with a tire slapped on. Take it two steps further and add one at the SAME size as the rest of your wheels and, if you have the cash, mount the same tire on as all the others.
So much for space/weight saving but on a long trip you may thank yourself for doing it.

 

It all really a matter of how much space you're willing to trade away for your peace of mind.

I'm fine with the compressor, plugs, and slime. I don't use über-expensive tires on the road, and if I get a flat in East Outhouse, Nevada, I just want to get home. With my preference, I can get all the way home, and not sacrifice space. With a donut spare, they're only good for 50-100 miles in reality. Hopefully you're not that far from a tire store. With a full size spare, you get the least amout of hassle, but the biggest trade off in space.

 

This is an expensive solution, but for long trips you might consider a Mini-Fini with the spare tire attachment. Or you could carry a full-size spare on the roof.

 

You're not from around these parts, are ya, pilgrim? I think you mean "boot!"