Have you ever had a flat with the S2000? I recently picked up a sharp piece of metal in a rear tire.

It was noticed while parked at my office, so I called the AAA for help. The guy who responded was pissed when I told him he had to replace TWO wheels, and demanded that I show him the owner's manual. You know, the part where they state that, if a rear tire is bad, you have to move the same-side front wheel to the back and install the temporary "donut" tire on the front, to prevent problems with the ABS.

The car handled poorly, pulling slightly to the right, with throttle steer each time I upshifted. I was also supposed to keep the speed at 50 mph of less, according to the label on the donut.

Not only that, you have to remove the tool kit and cover from the bottom of the trunk to fit the flat tire/wheel in the trunk. That didn't leave much room for my junk, and I had to carry the tool kit and other stuff in the passenger seating area.

I could hardly wait to put things back to normal. Since the rears were almost bald anyway, I decided to replace both.

 

Shouldn't the donut go on the front?

 

He made a typo. He even described moving the front tire to the rear. I'm sure he meant to say, "put the donut on the front" since you can't have two wheels at the same spot. Give the guy a break, eh?

 

It's a pain, isn't it? I once had a flat rear tire as well. I don't have AAA, and jacking up the car w/ the oem jack is no fun...

After that, I up'ed my insurance to include towing; then got rid of the spare tire and tool altogether (save weight). I figure if I get another flat, I don't want to drive it until I get the full-size tire either repaired or replaced.

 

I thought the tool kit should fit where you usually store the spare tire.

Also, mounting the donut in the front prevents damage to the diff.

 

Oops, I edited it to say "front," thanks.

Buttoned up the donut compartment right away so the fasterners wouldn't get misplaced, and never thought to store the tools there afterwards.

 

It has nothing to do with the ABS, it deals with the diff. The tires are an unequal size, making one spin faster then the other. This makes the diff run constantly and can cause damage or excessive wear.

 

That's right - it will burn the diff clutches fast because of the heat buldup. Diff size tires are a problem on AWD cars like my Outback - important to rotate and use same tires all around.

 

Tell me about it. I've had 2 flats, and both were in the rear. The first time I changed it myself, and the second time I waited for Roadside Assistance because I was at my office. I told them over the phone about the switching f/r tires, but I still got slack from the guy. Plus he couldn't get his jack under the car because it's lowered, so I had to get my reg jack to get it high enough for him to get his jack under.

 

I've gone through two flat rear tires. The first one actually was a damaged sidewall and didn't go flat, but had to be replaced. The second was on the freeway and went flat so fast that the tire sidewalls were shredded by the time I could get pulled over to change it.

Yes, it's a bother to have to change two driver's side tires on the edge of a freeway. Still, you guys who call AAA just to change a tire are wimps. The tire that got shredded on the freeway was one of the above rear tires, just 300 miles after this photo was taken. At least I didn't have to worry about the replacement tire not being an exact match as with the first tire I had to replace.