On my Canadian 2010 Fit with auto transmission no spare tire is provided as a weight reducing measure. The specs for the space saver spare tire from the owners manual are 125/70/15 95M with a 4 x 100mm bolt pattern. My regular tires are 175/65/R15.

I am unwilling to pay hundreds of dollars to Honda for a space saver spare tire. A full size tire, which will run cheaper, will not fit in the wheel well.

I looked in the local wrecking yards and can find plenty of 14" spares from older Civics. IIRC they're 125/70/14. 15" spares from Civics are harder to come by as they come from later model years. Could I use a 14" spare instead of the 15" spare? Will the 1" reduction in size matter, especially when the spare is used in the rear?

 

It probably wouldn't matter on the rear. The front may be a problem with that much difference
in size it could possibly damage the differential. If you have traction control I'm not sure how
it would respond to different size tires on each side.

If you have a flat on the front you could switch one of the rear wheels to the front and install the spare on the rear. You would probably need another jack or some other method to get both wheels off the ground on one side. You may be able to lift both wheels by placing a block of wood under the jack, I have never tried it but it may work.

Clifton

 

No need for another jack. Jack up the rear, swap good rear wheel with spare, move to the flat front tire, jack up, and put the former rear wheel in place of the flat.

I would definitely avoid driving with different diameter tires on the front. Besides being rather rough on the differential, the handling of the car would be rather badly affected.

You might be able to get a properly sized compact spare from a US junkyard a little more easily since all the USDM Fits have/had a compact spare.

 

Clifton and DrewE - thank you both for your responses and suggestions. I'll continue looking for a 15" space saver which matches the OEM specs rather than risk using a 14" and having to juggle multiple tires if I have a flat in the rear. Winters get pretty nasty and I'd prefer to spend the least amount of time outside on a dark winter night swapping tires (Murphy's law will cause flat tires to happen at the worst possible times !!)

 

"No need for another jack. Jack up the rear, swap good rear wheel with spare, move to the flat front tire, jack up, and put the former rear wheel in place of the flat."

You are right. I provided a dumb answer without thinking.

Clifton

 

The stock spair tire is actually smaller than the stock tires as well. By 8.6% (using the miata.net tire size calculator). With a 125/70-14 the size difference is 12.8% smaller. I would not put either on the front.

A 125/75-14 would be 10.7% smaller than the stock tires. Any of those sizes will work as an emergency spair though.

 

What year and model (DX, LX, Sport) do you have? 2009+ models have 15" tires for DX, LX and 16" tires for Sport models.

What size are the "bigger" wheels that you installed? Are they a plus zero size?

Do you need a full size or donut spare? A full sized spare will not fit in the wheel well but is useful to throw in the back on out of city trips and should be cheaper than buying a donut spare from a Honda dealership.

Or figure it out here: http://www.discounttiredirect.com/di...dTireSearch.do