Another thread just made me wonder:

Has anyone on this forum ever successfully used the Instant Mobility kit that came standard with all of our RX-8s?

I've used the compressor, but that was just to fill the tires on my Uncle's Buick, and I went out and bought the spare tire fearing that the kit was worthless, but has anybody ever had success with it (stories of failing to use it would be interesting too)?

 

no luck here, the compressor takes years to fill out a tire.

 

The compressor rocks on a bicycle tire. On a car tire, you could walk home before it gets it up to driving pressure.

And the "instant mobility" goo might as well be labeled "instant tire ruination" because regardless if your tire was repairable, it won't be after you use that crap.

That kit came out of my trunk, the goo went in the trash and the compressor is hooked to a DC adapter and is used by kids to fill their bike tires and soccer ***** in the garage.

 

Yup, that's about what I think of it, but what I really want to know is:

Has anyone ever used the Instant Mobility Kit on a car for its intended purpose of fixing the tire?! Say, on the RX8! Or any other car.

 

I've used it on someone elses car. It is what it is--don't have any complaints. nor accolades of it.

 

id rather just call road side assistance and get them to tow it for free then use that junk

 

I bought a plug kit for 7 bucks and threw in a pair of pliers. Good to go!

Bob

 

Yup 24/hr road side assistance for 7 years

 

Used the tire repair kit once.

First of all, you have to remove the inflator valve. A hassle if you are on the side of the road and traffic is zooming by at 100 kms/hr or if it's -10 degrees outside and you have to work with gloves. The valve has to come out because the tire repair goo is not pressurized and is quite liquidy.

The compressor works better than those cheap mini inflators, but won't fill a completely flat tire to full pressure in any reasonable length of time. I don't think that these small compressors are to be run for more than 10 minutes at a time without letting it cool in between.

A tire repaired with the kit is to be driven at low speeds to a dealer proper tire repain and inspection. Some threads here suggest that the tire has to be scrapped and a new one purchased if you use the flat. My Mazda dealer repaired the tire no problem. That was almost a year ago. I've had the car up to about 160-170 kms/hr. No problem. I probably wouldn't want to run it at those speeds for a couple of hours though. If I was racing the car, I would get a new tire. But for everyday driving, it should be fine.

What shocked the hell out of me is that a bottle of the repair goo from Mazda lists at C$80. WHOA! What's in there? Gold dust?

 

OK. For the two guys who actualy used the kit. How long did it take to so the whole procedure and be driving again? Please do respond. I'm really curious.

Interesting that the tire COULD be patched by the dealer after the use of the kit. The Owner's manual is adamant that the tire must be trashed. Guess that isn't necessarily true.