Folding hard top Miata impressions...

Oh come on you guys !!!!! ALL Miatas from 1989 to the 2005 came with a
"mimi" spare tire from the factory ! ( in the US ) If your Miata did or
does not now have a "spare tire" in the trunk, under the trunk floor (by
way of a kit), then it's because someone took it out ! 2006 is the
first one to come out with "run flat" tires and a can to "fix" it.

Bruce Bing '03 LS

"BRUCE HASKIN" > wrote in message
...
> Oh come on you guys !!!!! ALL Miatas from 1989 to the 2005 came with a
> "mimi" spare tire from the factory ! ( in the US ) If your Miata did or
> does not now have a "spare tire" in the trunk, under the trunk floor (by
> way of a kit), then it's because someone took it out ! 2006 is the
> first one to come out with "run flat" tires and a can to "fix" it.
>
> Bruce Bing '03 LS

Wasn't 1990 the first model year for the Miata?

"Frank Berger" > wrote:

> Wasn't 1990 the first model year for the Miata?

The correct answer is YES and NO.

I believe the Miata was introduced in the summer of 1989 as a "1990"
model, since registration laws vary from state to state, there probably
exist Miatas titled as 1989 models. FWIW, KBB lists 1990 as the first
year.

A somewhat similar situation exists with the Ford Mustang which was
introduced in the summer of 1964 as a 1965 model however, AFAIK, there
aren't any major differences between the 1989 - 1990 Miata as there are
between the 1964 - 1965 Mustang.

W. Kiernan wrote:
> Christopher Muto wrote:
> >
> > the trunk appears bigger because there is
> > no spare tire in it. they have replaced
> > it with a can of flat fix.
>
> Is that so? I looked at the trunk of a new Miata when I was getting my
> oil change, but I assumed they had simply relocated the spare and jack
> into a little well under the trunk's carpet, like they did on my '99. I
> remember when I bought it to replace my wrecked '93, I looked in the
> trunk and told the salesman "Hey, the spare's missing!" because I
> assumed it would be up top like it was in the '93. Relocating the spare
> is one of the nicest little improvements from the NA to the NB.


The NB is actually similar to something called the "Trunk Model" which
Mazda built in order to show how the spare wheel could be relocated.
Ironically, with the NC all that effort has gone to waste - you might as
well get a NA, leave the space-saver in the garage and take a can of
Tyre Weld or whatever it's called in the US.

Zog The Undeniable > wrote:

> you might as well get a NA, leave the space-saver in the garage
> and take a can of Tyre Weld or whatever it's called in the US.

Agreed. The last four or so tire failures I've had have all been
unrepairable. If I'd had a can of flat fix stuff I'd have been totally
screwed, as it was I put on the spare tire and drove on.

Which is one reason the current Miata is on my "DO NOT BUY" list until
I win the lottery and can afford to have my chauffer follow me with a
spare, a jack and a lugwrench!

XS11E > wrote:
>
> Agreed. The last four or so tire failures I've had have all been
> unrepairable. If I'd had a can of flat fix stuff I'd have been totally
> screwed, as it was I put on the spare tire and drove on.

I thought the age of horses circulating on the roads would be over. My
average seems to be around 400000 km between flat tires.

>
> Which is one reason the current Miata is on my "DO NOT BUY" list until
> I win the lottery and can afford to have my chauffer follow me with a
> spare, a jack and a lugwrench!
>

I once helped a nice young lady changing the flat tire on her then brand
new Golf V6. Of course she had a spare (space saver), which was buried
under lots of gear - she was 1000 km from home. After unloading and
changing tires, we found that the big tire wouldn't go in there and had
to go into the car (cream leather... at least before the tire going
in).

Anyways she lost the day because she couldn't get the tire fixed on
Sunday. Did I mention it was raining cats and dogs? A can of tirefix
would've been a 5 minute fix and allowed her to go on.

Thinking of that, the first thing that happened to my NA was that the
space saver sleeps in the garage now and has been replaced by a can.
Compensates for my overweight spoiling the acceleration, too... :-)

cu
.\\arc

(Marc Gerges) wrote:

> Anyways she lost the day because she couldn't get the tire fixed
> on Sunday. Did I mention it was raining cats and dogs? A can of
> tirefix would've been a 5 minute fix and allowed her to go on.
>
> Thinking of that, the first thing that happened to my NA was that
> the space saver sleeps in the garage now and has been replaced by
> a can. Compensates for my overweight spoiling the acceleration,
> too... :-)

You're being very unwise IMHO. My last "flat" was a rip from the
center of the tread, across the tread to the sidewall and up the
sidewall almost to the bead. Let's see you fix that with a can of flat
fix!

As I pointed out, none of my last 4-5 flats have been repairable,
they've all been catastrophic failures of tread and/or sidewall and all
caused by the same thing, someone leaving crap in the road that can't
be spotted in time to be avoided.

BTW, I also found, after my last flat, that my Lincoln Town Car won't
fit the flat back into the space the donut occupies and the trunk is
always full of mobility scooter and scooter lift.

I'm carrying a plastic sheet now to protect the upholstry when the flat
tire has to go into the back seat. Lots of work with saddle soap got
the marks out from last time....

XS11E wrote:
> (Marc Gerges) wrote:
>
>> Anyways she lost the day because she couldn't get the tire fixed
>> on Sunday. Did I mention it was raining cats and dogs? A can of
>> tirefix would've been a 5 minute fix and allowed her to go on.
>>
>> Thinking of that, the first thing that happened to my NA was that
>> the space saver sleeps in the garage now and has been replaced by
>> a can. Compensates for my overweight spoiling the acceleration,
>> too... :-)
>
> You're being very unwise IMHO. My last "flat" was a rip from the
> center of the tread, across the tread to the sidewall and up the
> sidewall almost to the bead. Let's see you fix that with a can of
> flat fix!
>
> As I pointed out, none of my last 4-5 flats have been repairable,
> they've all been catastrophic failures of tread and/or sidewall and
> all caused by the same thing, someone leaving crap in the road that
> can't be spotted in time to be avoided.

You seem to have extremely bad luck when it comes to tires; over 14 years of
driving and owning twenty-some odd cars, I'm not sure I've had a
catastrophic tire failure that didn't also include severe damage to the
vehicle making it undrivable--I'm talking major deer collisions and one
rollover. Tire issues have just never been a big problem for me, and as
such, I've relied on Fix-a-Flat for close to a decade.

Maybe I'm just really good at avoiding things in the road--I choose
well-handling vehicles like the Miata specifically to avoid situations like
this. OTOH, one of the guys I work with has struck objects in the road three
times in the last two years. I don't think it's a coincidence.

> BTW, I also found, after my last flat, that my Lincoln Town Car won't
> fit the flat back into the space the donut occupies and the trunk is
> always full of mobility scooter and scooter lift.

I believe certain Miatas are guilty of this. I've never had reason to place
one of my Miata's 15" rims in the trunk.

> I'm carrying a plastic sheet now to protect the upholstry when the
> flat tire has to go into the back seat. Lots of work with saddle
> soap got the marks out from last time....

Good idea.

--
tooloud
Remove nothing to reply

XS11E > wrote:
>
> You're being very unwise IMHO. My last "flat" was a rip from the
> center of the tread, across the tread to the sidewall and up the
> sidewall almost to the bead. Let's see you fix that with a can of flat
> fix!

Oh my tool for fixing that is even smaller: it's black, fits into even a
Miata's glovebox and says 'Motorola' on it.

> As I pointed out, none of my last 4-5 flats have been repairable,
> they've all been catastrophic failures of tread and/or sidewall and all
> caused by the same thing, someone leaving crap in the road that can't
> be spotted in time to be avoided.

Roads must be better where I drive.

> I'm carrying a plastic sheet now to protect the upholstry when the flat
> tire has to go into the back seat. Lots of work with saddle soap got
> the marks out from last time....

In case of the Miata, would you leave the wheel behind or the lady of
your heart?

It may be smarter to take the wheel: if you left the wheel, you had to
go back later to get it. The lady, most probably not :->

cu
.\\arc

My '94 Australian-spec has an "emergency" spare tire. Looks kinda like a
wheel pinched from a yellow wheelbarrow. All looks original to me.


"George Jetson" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Christopher Muto" > wrote in message
> news:96mwh.6485$li4.3361@trndny08...
>> the trunk appears bigger because there is no spare tire in it. they have
>> replaced it with a can of flat fix.
>>
>
> I don't believe Miatae have ever come with a spare tire. Some have put the
> RX-7 and RX-8 spares in them, but you're still left with a flat rim and
> tire that won't fit in the trunk.
>
> I've added a tubless tire repair kit (plug) to mine and with the air pump
> that comes with the Miata, it hasn't let me down so far. The repair is
> quite a bit easier than actually changing the wheel.
>
> Jim
>