Removing your spare tire?

[WheresMyGas]

Can of fix-a-flat = rubber sloppy mess all over the inside of your rim. The tire changer person won't like that and it's hard to come off.

AAA: I think they offer spares but i'm not sure if they charge you(I think they would). Call and ask. If you want it towed you better have "AAA plus"(100mi towing) or you're 3 miles away from home. I'm not sure if it's $3 every additional mile.

[gascort]

Go on a diet! (if you have any weght to lose).
I'd rather lose the back seat than the spare. On my mustang, the seat back and the 60/40 fold down seat frame weighs 55 pounds. The bottom cushion weighs almost nothing. Lots of drag racing guys replace the seat back with a piece of thin wood and carpet it. Keeps the seat usable and comfortable enough for short trips, and you can cut off 50 pounds.
If your mazda is anything like this, you should do it!

Even in my 'scort wagon, the fold-down seats have a frame in them and the seats weigh a ton.

[tjts1]

Ditch the spare. Its 20th century technology. My full size spare and jack added up to 50lb in a 2600lb car or 2% of the car's weight. Get one of these. It works.

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by Krunko

I know that this of course is a risk if you get a flat tire. But I was wondering, since spare tires are so heavy, how much of an MPG boost this might actually get you. I have a Mazda 3 and havn't gotten over 29mpg yet on a full tank, and I'm looking for ways to get over the 30mpg mark. I live in LA, so I have to deal with traffic and hills, so that makes it harder to get more than 30mpg.

I have AAA, so if I were to get a flat I wonder if they offer a spare tire service of some sorts?

Anyways, on average how much weight do you save from removing a spare tire on a small-mid sized car like a mazda 3?

In the "sticky" at the top of the page,you'll find a piece on weight/mpg,it may have data useful to you.

[martinafan]

For optimum mileage I got rid of my fat wife and got a skinny girlfriend

[woodsmith]

For saving the amount of fuel used I think I would rather keep my spare tyre and a small tool roll and common spares then get my car dragged home on the back of a big kick ass tow truck.

You would have a better saving if you only put a couple of gallons of fuel in the tank each day at a gas station that you pass enroute.

[MadisonMPG]

Thread is old, but i'll post anyway.

Weight loss=good for city/stop and go traffic
Aeromods=good for highway

Combo of both is better. If you want to go without a spare, do it. I don't have a spare in my Geo and will probably never have one on short trips. If I go on a trip that is more than 30 miles from home i'll put a spare in. If you feel that you need a spare, keep it and try to lose 20 pounds elsewhere in the car.

[DarkDstryr40k]

my vote is if ur doing it to be green leave the stuff bolted down in your car, if you couldnt change a flat on the side of the road anyway remove it, if your doing it as a sport keep gutting personally i like the loss of the passenger seat vs back you can still transport people limo style cock the mirror to ask them "where to sir" and you have tons of room for school books. my seat was 40lb and 4 bolts later its back simple as that.

[Clev]

I'd keep the spare if you're straying more than 15 miles from home. My Saturn had a blowout a couple of weeks ago from something it picked up in the road--tore out an almost half-inch square chunk out of the tire. Fix-a-flat isn't going to help in that circumstance, and because I had the spare in the car, I changed it on the side of the road in no time flat and wasn't even late to work.

Since you're in Sherman Oaks and never see real "cold", you might consider downsizing your battery. You could drop in one that's 25 pounds lighter and still have plenty of cranking amps.

[jkp1187]

Could always just buy run-flat tires. They are more expensive and tend to have a harsher ride, but they eliminate the need to carry any tire-repair equipment with you, saving some weight. It also eliminates the need to deal with the messy fix-a-flat can.

If you go this route, if you don't already have a tire pressure monitoring system in your car, you might want to install one, or else just be extremely diligent about checking tire pressure.