I'm pretty sure the spare tire on my car is original and I'd like to buy a new one. I checked the Tire Rack and their site says they only stock limited sizes so "call a sales associate." Before I do this, has anyone here ever bought a replacement compact spare? Where did you get yours?

 

I've never had to use mine. I'd check/post to the classifieds section and see if you can't find a good one. Also you could just get another donut from any car with the same bolt pattern. They all do the same thing. If you look in some of the spares in the cars at the junkyard, you will be surprised how many have never been used.

Are you looking for just the tire or the tire/rim? From what I've read in various forums, compact spares are pretty expensive due to the relatively low sales volume. Best bet would probably be to find a match in the junkyard.

 

depending on the car, the donut might not clear the caliper. I tried

 

I just need the tire. I still have the original one, but I assume it's 22+ years old at this point and probably dangerous to use although it shows no signs of cracking or use. In the 15 years or so that I've owned an FC, I've never had to use the spares, but I've had flats on other cars before so it seems a good idea to have a more up-to-date one.

Checking a junkyard may be a way to find a much newer tire, but it would probably still be on the old side. If I'm going to replace it, I'd prefer to find a new one.

 

I called and Tirerack.com does carry it. I believe the tire size is T135/70D16. They quoted me $133+shipping.

 

its a temporary tire, as long as your tire holds air dont bother buying a new one

 

$133 is not bad at all. I was afraid that "call a sales associate" was a euphemism for "prepare to be gouged." I'll order one.

 

I've used mine a few times and as long as there's tread, no cracks and it holds air, it'll stay in there. That being said, snagging a "new" one from the yard might not be a bad idea. There was a 2005 volvo in there last time and it looked like no one had ever opened the trunk or sat in the rear seats

 

I don't blame you for wanting to buy a new one. Back when I first bought my car, one of my rear tires blew out on the highway. I popped on the donut and carried on. 2 miles up the road, the donut shredded itself off the rim. And I was driving 30mph on the shoulder with my 4-ways on. It might have been something on the road, but who knows.

 

if yours is the aluminum spare i would get a tire, if you just have the lame black steel crap any spare from a mx6/626 will fit if you have the 5 lug. 4 lug i have a spare tire thats aluminum from my gx pay shipping + 20 and its urs

 

I do have the steel spare, but it's a five lug. I don't really think a 15 year old tire from an MX-6 or 626 would be much of an improvement over the one I already have though. Maybe I'll try to find an aluminum five lug spare before getting the new tire.

 

I had no idea they even made an aluminum spare for the FC until I started researching this thread.


Wish I had me one.

 

Yeah, I think it was fairly random as to which models happened to have it. Neither of my FCs had it, but if you talk to other guys, they've never seen the steel ones. I guess it depended on what Mazda received from their supplier on a given day on the assembly line. For what it's worth, I think the aluminum spares are more common on the four lug cars. I'm not sure there even was a four lug steel spare.

 

the spare is made by Enkei, I believe standard on the turbos and convertibles, definitely the convertibles

 

Rob, it's funny, I remembered discussing the subject of which cars came with the aluminum spare before. It was in this thread, and both you and I chimed in:

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...aluminum+spare

I believe there were three guys with S5 Convertibles who responded; all said their cars came with the steel spare. I wonder if it actually was "standard" on the TII or the S4 Convertible then Mazda changed the spec, or if it really was more of a luck-of-the-draw assembly line thing.

 

Not to start a debate or anything, I agree it was probably more of a "luck of the draw" kinda thing. More realistically, it was probably cheaper for Mazda to use the steel spare rather than throw an aluminum one in every single FC they made. They probably used the aluminum ones until stock ran out, or maybe it was a dealership decision kinda thing. Which would explain why they are in a variety of FCs with no apparent pattern.

 

Initially, it was supposed to be a huge (well, not huge, but they needed everything they could get) weight savings thing to make sure the FC didn't receive gas guzzler status. That would seem to indicate it should have been on heavier models - turbos, convertibles, maybe even some GXLs?

For the record, my old 1991 N/A had a steel spare, my 1991 Turbo has an aluminum spare.

 

all 4 convertibles I have had, all s4s, all had alum spares
87 tii- alum spare
89 tii- alum spare
87 gxl- alum spare

91 coupe I had was missing the spare

when I was picking up a hood I showed the guy where his spare was in his s5 convertible and it was alum as well

so I got pretty lucky