I hit a piece of road debris and blew out the sidewall on a front tire. I was on I-15 about mid-way through Utah. Quite aways from any chance of expeditious service. Fortunately my MINI has a donut spare. Also, fortunately, I had checked it not too long ago. It needed some air. I even experimented with the tire changing tools.

All went well. I had the donut spare on in about 15 minutes. My next decision was whether to search for a tire shop or continue to my destination - 300 miles to Las Vegas. For a variety of reasons I decided to continue. I had no significant problems. I drove at 60 instead of the recommended donut spare's 50. Handling is definitely compromised with the smaller narrow donut spare. But it did the job.

The point of this post? Well, if you have a donut spare don't be afraid to use it. Don't push the handling envelope. I recommend you check it for air pressure and make sure you test out your tools. The long plastic handle thingy you use to control lowering the tire cradle to the ground rather than just releasing the retaining clips and letting slam down on the pavement.

Oh, I got 43mpg at a pretty steady 60mph.

 

Glad you made it safe as this shows how useful a spare can be on a long trip. I carry our Donut Spare wheel whenever I go out of town in fear that a tire store won't have the needed tire
http://www.waymotorworks.com/mini-spare-tire-wheel.html

 

I'm planning on a move into Mini's. Previously I was a Miata NA owner (8 years) and on that forum many argued against a spare saying Fix-A-Flat would work. You validated my argument to have a spare of some sort. Glad you made out okay.

 

Not all MINI models have a spare. I don't think any "S" model does. You need to check. I really like my Justa. Longest I have ever owned the same car (6.5 years now) in my almost half century of driving. And I have no plans to sell or trade it for at least a couple more years.

 

Spare or no spare, in some places in the Wild Wild West,like Utah, carry fix-a-flat. And if you have the spare you make sure that you check the pressure on it at least once a year or before you go out of cell phone range from AAA. I am grateful and secure on long country trips that my Justa has a spare in addition to runflats, too many things can happen even when prepared where the coyotes call home.

 

Yeah, the wild west. A lot of people from the eastern states simply don't comprehend the isolation we face here. In my Wyoming hometown it is, literally, 100 miles to the nearest WalMart / Kmart / Home Depot. Nearest MINI dealer is 240 miles. MINI tires are always a special order item in the wild west - and probably 3+ day delivery if lucky. When I had my blow out I KNEW I would not find that tire anywhere near along my travel route. So decided to continue to Las Vegas. When I got there it was still a warehouse order item - but at least it was next day delivery.

Regarding run flats. I switched away from them when the OEM set wore out. Decided that their 50 mile run limitation wouldn't be of much benefit in my typical travel situation. Especially since I do have have a donut spare. If I had an "S" I might think differently. Then I would test to see how far an airless run flat can really go when your only other option is waiting for a service tow in the wilderness and hungry predators are starting to circle your stranded ***.

Regarding AAA. When I checked a couple of years ago their "Standard" package for the Rocky Mountain region only included towing for 12 miles! Totally ridiculous - that MIGHT get you to the nearest intersection around here. I went with GM Motor Club.