I'm wondering where you MCS owners keep a spare if you have one? I have gone with standard tires and I want to have a spare tire to have in case I have a flat. But where do I put it in the car? I know I know a newb question. But I'm planning on a cross country trip so I want to have a spare. So that is why I'm asking. I know I can put it in a basket on my roof rack but I'm afraid someone will steal it. So any ideas?

 

I have a justa so my spare is taken care of but other S owners have carried their spare behind the passenger seat. There used to be a source for custom vinyl bags for the spare but that source has disappeared. In a pinch you can just use a heavy duty trash bag.

 

Some folks will recommend that you get a repair kit from Slime or some other similar company.

You also have MINI Roadside Assitance (assuming your '09 is still covered) or perhaps your car insurance covers tows for flats.

Just some options in case you needed the space for luggage/bags/etc...

 

I manufactured a rear brace similar to the M7 rear chassis brace with a middle upright spar for a spare tire mount. I don't think mine is functional as a chassis brace but it hods the spare perfectly as I had intended and looks pretty cool too. I drilled and installed a stud in the center of the upright for the tire mount, made a cone to center the spare rim. I then whipped out a naugahyde wheel cover with a zipper on the sewing machine. The cover looks great from a distance but up close you can tell It is done by hand. I used a spare from a Suzuki Aerio which is a 16 inch wheel. This spare fits perfect on the rear but needs a 1/4 inch wheel spacer for the front as it will contact the caliper in parts of the rotation otherwise. The wheel fits almost perfect under the rear cargo cover but as the cover sits on the seats it also sits on the top of the spare.
If I had more money I would have purchased a M7 rear chassis brace, installed a center upright with a stud. This would have saved me lots of time. I also would have purchased a spare intended for the mini and a nicer cover. I hope this procedure helps. I love how it ended up but miss having the cargo area. At least I have my rear seats available.
Justin

 

I got my mini spare from Detroit Tuned and a black fabric bag from The Bag Lady which now stows flat on the rear seat behind the driver. In five years no one has ever sat in the rear seat so this works for me. I also carry the Slime Kit and a Dynaplug kit.
Dale

 

Don't carry one adds too much wieght. Plus with no backseats it will just slide around all over the place.

 

Wow- nice work!

 

No spare here.
Just a slime kit, plugs and roadside assistance.

 

For those who have a spare, is there a site where you can plug in information and they basically tell you what spare to get? I'm not lazy; I just want to make sure I get the right one in case I need it, and I don't want to have to depend on modifications when changing the tire. (I'm ditching the RFs for standard tire.)

 

Very nicely done. I'm considering switching out my original wooden box I fabricated for something similar to yours. I have no use for rear seat, and completely removed it - so, slightly different mod.
BTW, I've always been told never put spare tire on Fronts of FWD vehicles. If must drive, switch the rear to front.
Again, thanks for the Post & photo's.

 

Tyreshield for me

 

AAA.
I don't know about cross country, but this is Texas. If they can run 1100 fps, they can have the car, the wallet, and my Dr Pepper.
Else we will just calmly wait for the tow truck.

 

BTW, I've always been told never put spare tire on Fronts of FWD vehicles. If must drive, switch the rear to front.
[/QUOTE]

I would agree the spare tire is quite useless for any braking or acceleration traction considering the contact patch is at most 1/5 of the normal wheel. Every time I get something in my tire it is the most inopportune time when I am on the way to an occasion with no time to swap front to rear. So I try to be prepared for a quick spare change.

 

I would agree the spare tire is quite useless for any braking or acceleration traction considering the contact patch is at most 1/5 of the normal wheel. Every time I get something in my tire it is the most inopportune time when I am on the way to an occasion with no time to swap front to rear. So I try to be prepared for a quick spare change.[/QUOTE]

The smae applies to RWD cars. Never mount a donut on a drive tire.

 

And if you use a MINI spare it will not fit over the S or JCW brakes anyway so it would have to go on the rear.

 

Why hasn't anyone tried to reconfigure the exhaust of an S, and use a Non-S tire carrier?

 

Loss of POWA!!!!

 

noooo... im sure it can be done.

 

It's been done at least once. Look in the 2nd Generation "How to" section for a thorough explanation. Looked like a LOT of work to me.

 

I really want a spare for my long road trips but there is no room in the boot with luggage and packages. So that is why I was thinking about mounting it to my roof rack. I'm driving to the Gulf Coast of Florida for the July 4th week on vacation. I already have a container of Green Slime. Or maybe I'll just take the Justa instead of the MCS.

 

The roof seems like a smart option for you. I think Yakima makes a tire mount that goes with their cargo basket.

 

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...pare-tire.html

 

Neat idea - although leaves no space for anything. I bought a Chevy Cobalt spare off eBay but it sits in the garage for that reason. I do carry slime and a plug kit.

The tires in my sig might be the answer....

 

Putting a spare in the trunk is not for everyone but it works for us. We use the rear passenger seats as the trunk for long trips. Our seat back is set to the forward setting making the rear seat less comfortable. The wheel / tire in the boot does not consume as much space as it looks like because the wheel is against the seat back and the foot print is not that big. The wheel acts as storage too for all kinds of tools and emergency stuff. I am not a big fan of slime so the 5th wheel was the answer for us. Roadside in Utah could take a long time and getting to the destination seemed like a better option. We can still call AAA or Mini if we need to. It takes nearly no time to remove the boot spare if you want to use the other options (and you would never know the spare was there). It is not that difficult to get slime if you want it (Target sells it) but slime won't fix a slash in the sidewall.

Our street tires are 140 TW H-Kook RS-3s and I am very sure no runflat can't match that.

See the link above that I posted. Some of what you are looking for is in that link.

 

I could always do something like this.

http://www.bmwblog.com/2010/01/23/mi...-tire-problem/