I have a 2016 MX-5 on order and would be curious to know if just the tire, minus the wheel, could be squeezed into the trunk. After being towed to a shop, it might save time if they don't have one.

Probably not,find a temp spare,it is small enough to fit.

Thank you. That's good information. A temp spare would be fine if it fits and I know that I'll need to make some measurements once I take delivery of the car. Kinda thinking that I'd prefer to sacrifice most of the space just in order to have the spare.

Go to Walmart or similar store and get a tire inflater compressor kit with tire plugs. Carry it in your trunk. Tire failures and not very common anymore.....http://www.walmart.com/ip/Slime-Roadside- Repair-Kit/14254132

Correct- tire failure is very rare- you are getting a high performance car and saving weight is paramount- carrying any spare around adds more weight and if you don't need it, why carry it? Kinda defeats the idea of a light weight racer- this is what I do: driving around town I leave the spare at home- going on my favorite twisty road, I leave the spare at home- I have AAA and if I do get a flat, I don't want to be changing it by the road anyway- man, that is dangerous! When I go on a road trip, I load the spare and jack- and my spare is full size, with a wheel that matches the other 4- this also serves as a replacement if I ever bend a wheel-

Thanks to you all, T S T, Bob and jamnblues. The around-town flats don't worry me and I should have been more specific. It's the road trips in remote areas where there's no cell phone service that concern me more. That's when I thought having something more than just the sealant/compressor kit might be worth sacrificing trunk space for assuming a temp-spare would fit.

greycat....When I had my 2011 MX-5, I purchased Bridgestone Potenza Run-Flats for all 4 tires. This helped alleviate the whole "what if I get a nail in the tire tread" anxiety that I had. Having no spare tire made me nervous as well.

Thanks Racer X. I greatly appreciate your input along with the previous ones. This was probably one of those questions where there is really no one "Best answer" since the variables differ from one driver to another such as how much time we might spend driving some of those more remote mountain roads where cell phone service is spotty. The Run-Flats would certainly help to cover those situations where it wasn't always convenient to call the Auto Club. So to all of you, thanks for the good ideas. Those, combined with a tape measure, should give me enough to get started.

Your Miata already has a compressor and goop in the rear. Note that a temp spare is almost as tall as the OE 205/45-17, so no advantage there. Likewise, the sidewall stiffness of any good tire precludes squashing it smaller. RE050A OE runflats are pretty harsh, but work ok. First item to improve handling is to replace the sloppy swaybars with aftermarket, as Mazda still insists on too much body roll.

Thank you for the additional and helpful information. Based on what you say and the other comments, I've pretty much given up the idea of carrying any kind of spare. Nor will I be willing to spend the big bucks to replace the brand new tires with runflats until I have to replace the originals. I especially like your suggestion of replacing the swaybars if I find the body roll excessive. Won't know that until I take delivery of the car which is on order. The last sports cars that I owned were MG's and Porsches in the 1960's and if the MX-5 has more roll then they did, I'll probably want to stiffen it up some.

Hi Greycat, I share your concern, I am an owner of Miata 2016 (MX5 Mazda) in Mexico, the streets and roads here are not ice rink, there are many potholes and one damage on the side of a tire can be a headache. I have in the truck a good tire repair kit, this is only for punctured, but is impossible repair a high damage on it. I'm looking for a spare tire that fits in the trunk and had no problems with the brakes calipers. In an 1,000 miles trip, you can find a lot of problems if you not carried a spare tire? The original tire of my Miata is 205/45/R17. I think a spare temporally tire could be 120/60/R16, but I am not sure if this size tire could be adequate for the trunk space and can be installed without any problem. I really appreciate if somebody know, which wheel size and tire type fit on the Miata 2016 trunk, for an emergency situation. Mayor.