I have a question about my spare donut tire. I have 205/45/17" rims on my car, though not mini rims, I thought all 2010 jcw came with 17's. I never thought to check the spare, but as I was cleaning I noticed that it is 15". Just what good is that going to do me in the event of a flat. Anyone know if it should be a 17. It was built with 17" as far as vin decoder shows.

 

15" is the standard size for the MINI. The space-saver spare is only meant to get you to a tire store for a replacement. Depending on the brake size on your MINI you have, a front tire flat may necessitate rotating a rear wheel to the front and fitting the space-saver on the rear.

 

The rim size is not really that important, what is important is that the overall tire diameter of the spare is similar to your other wheels/tires. You have 17 inch wheels with 45 series tires on them, and a spare with a 70 series tire. That roughly equates to a similar rolling diameter.

MINIAC is correct about always mounting the spare on the rear. Always a best practice.

 

If it was the same size as you rims it would not be much of a "compact" spare would it?
One size fits all for mini's with a spare.

 

Thanks for the fast replies, was confused about it, glad to know the facts. And yes I have those big brakes in the front so the rear would make sense. I'll still call AAA if I'm in a situation where it's a front tire.

 

Well....the official way is if you loose a front tire...
You jack up the rear...take a rear good one off...put the spare on the rear...then lower the car...then jack up the front, and put the good tire from the rear on the front...so yes, a big pain.

 

But if you jack it from the front high enough, the rear tire will clear the ground.

 

I know that works on regular Minis, I never tried it on my MCCS. Don't know how safe that is,meither. OF COURSE, everyone knows the best reason to have the compact spare is that prevents you from ever getting a flat ;-).

Bought the compact spare for mine in 2010, and on the 3rd set of tires, and still haven't had a flat! I added a Slime Pump set in there too to really make sure I never get a flat.

 

not all MCS were sold with a spare in the first place, you're lucky to have one!

 

Your last comment there is a great point. Not the "never get a flat" part , but the importance of having a small compressor. Even with a spare, I will always have one of the small 12V compressors in the car. If you have a slow leak, like a nail in the tread, you can frequently pump it up enough to get to the tire store and get it patched or replaced.

My ex-wife still to this day calls me with car questions, even though she now lives 3 states away. She has a Justa Cooper convertible with no spare. Years ago, when she was still a wife, and not an ex-wife, I put one of these in her car.


So, a few weeks ago she calls me and says she came out of work to find a rear tire flat. I was able to walk her through using the compressor in the kit to get it up to 35 lbs pressure. After 10 minutes, it had not lost any measurable PSI, so I told her to drive to the nearest Discount Tire, which I had googled while waiting for the compressor. They were able to repair the tire (nail almost dead center in the tread) and send her on her way in less than 15 minutes. And, to be clear, she never had to use the Slime liquid, which I would consider a last resort.

Point is, spare or no spare, every car of mine has a compressor hidden away somewhere.

 

BMW straight up sold their z3 M's with no spare tire at all, and instead included a bmw branded compressor and bottle of slime. Not gonna lie, that compressor changed my life, and I run a small slime (go for the slightly more expensive $30 one, they tend to last longer) compressor in every single one of my vehicles, even my touring bike. Not only do they keep you going on a slow leak, but you can also air up all kinds of stuff, they're useful off road for airing down and up your tires (at least until I get a tire inflation system for my land rover) and you can even rescue other motorists with a puncture without having to change their tire.

I'm leery of slime, it can unbalance wheels slightly and is a righteous annoyance to clean off of the rim, so for a slow leak, I'd rather fill it with air and limp to the tire shop (they'll certainly thank you for doing so) but in a pinch where you're isolated in the middle of nowhere, it can be useful.

 

The diameters of MINI hardtop 15-17" OEM tires range from 24.0 to 24.6".

The 115/70-15 space saver spare tire has a diameter of 21.3".

Carrying an air compressor is also useful for putting 60psi in the spare you haven't looked at for three years.