Spare tire

[84E24]

I was just looking at some pictures of the trunk and
the spare tire well. Will a 16" tire and rim fit in the existing
well with no diameter or height issues?

Thanks,

 

[TILLA]

when you say a "16 inch tire and rim" you need to be more specific - use this calculator to see the difference:

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

 

[jhjacobs]

Without knowing the specifics I can definitely say that you can have height problems. My coupe has factory wheels with 225/60/14 tires (very wide) and my spare cover panel is about 1 inch shy of closing properly. I think the factory tire was a 195/70/14 and I suspect the spare well was designed for a maximum of a 205/xx/14 depth.

The good news for me is that I have some rust problems in the spare tire well (I know this is hard to believe) and I think that when I get around to cutting it out I will extend the well depth by about 1 inch to make the wider spare fit in properly. I could simply by a narrower spare tire but that wouldn't really be sporting.

 

[velocewest]

Why not just keep the stock spare? With the quality of modern tires, the odds of ever needing a spare are slim, and if you do, the original will work fine unless you are installing some big hairy aftermarket brake setup.

 

[blumax]

Keep the original spare--

Tony--I second that motion--leave it be--

My actual experience:
In over 500,000 miles of Coupe seat time while driving in about every type of road and condition--have only needed the spare twice.
My question is---how many of you expect to drive your Coupe 250,000 miles in the next year or two--or even 100,000 miles--sometimes it's just as well to leave things as they have come from the factory!!!!