'09 911S Spare Tire

[fast eddie]

DRIVING A CAR WITHOUT A SPARE IN SOFLA IS SHEER STUPIDITY. BOUGHT THE CAR WITHOUT A SPARE BECAUSE I LOVED IT. BIT THE BITTER MICHELLIN BULLET TODAY AND BOUGHT THE SPARE. NOW IT TAKES UP 30% OF MY FFFing "TRUNK".

BREAKDOWN:

JACK................................list $268.oo.....paid.....$200.06

PANCAKE SPARE...............list $683.13.....paid.....$583.48

STUPID FOAM INSERT.......list $ 74.43.....paid.....$ 51.69

PRICE OF ENTIRE CATASTROPHE........................$885.35 (incl. tax)

P.O.C.-----Josh

Champion Porsche

Pompano Beach, FL

800-940-4020

WTF!! :drive:

[gagausa]

DRIVING A CAR WITHOUT A SPARE IN SOFLA IS SHEER STUPIDITY.

Long time ago a Ferrari sales person told me "People who drives these types of cars don't change tires them selves!" so for the $800+ you paid, you could have call a taxi cab, pay for the road side assistance and still keep your boot space! Hee..Hee... :P

[fast eddie]

DRIVING A CAR WITHOUT A SPARE IN SOFLA IS SHEER STUPIDITY.

Long time ago a Ferrari sales person told me "People who drives these types of cars don't change tires them selves!" so for the $800+ you paid, you could have call a taxi cab, pay for the road side assistance and still keep your boot space! Hee..Hee... :P

Try calling a cab between Sebring and Clewiston on Sunday morning and then tell me how much standing with your thumb in your ear you can get for $800.

[berty987]

It is a similar situation with the Cayman/ Boxster and 997 gen 1. A cheaper solution is to buy a 17" 996 space saver from a breakers yard. The overall rolling radius is slightly smaller than the original tyre but it will get you to a tyre shop for repairs. I picked up the wheel, foam insert , jack and tools for just over 200 USD. For the number of times you may be unlucky enough to use it , I think the 996 option makes better sense.

Edited August 20, 2009 by berty987

[ericinboca]

Warning - shameless self promotion coming !

I have a spare, the foam insert and jack from an '04 986S that came with stock 18" wheels for sale. PM me if anyone needs a spare spare. ;)

[geoff]

DRIVING A CAR WITHOUT A SPARE IN SOFLA IS SHEER STUPIDITY.

Long time ago a Ferrari sales person told me "People who drives these types of cars don't change tires them selves!" so for the $800+ you paid, you could have call a taxi cab, pay for the road side assistance and still keep your boot space! Hee..Hee... :P

The twisty canyon roads that make Porsches and Ferraris so enjoyable often don't have cell coverage. I've seen everything from sport bikes to new F430s on the side of (narrow) canyon roads at the mercy of passers-by to call for help when they get back to an area with coverage. On some roads, I've never been able to figure out how a flat bed tow truck could get up there, let alone safely load a car with a flat tire. Blind curves, steep slope, no shoulder. I'm much more comfortable driving my 986 through the canyons near my house or in the middle of nowhere than my wife's 997 for this reason.

The fallacy in Porsche (and Ferrari) thinking about roadside assistance and eliminating spare tires are: 1) it's possible to call roadside assistance, 2) roadside assistance is able to get to the car, and 3) roadside assistance is able to load the car on a flatbed and take it some place to have a new tire installed. Never mind the time spent waiting, nor potentially the days waiting for a replacement tire to arrive. Being stuck in some podunk town for days waiting for a new tire to arrive, then watching the local tire installer try to figure out how to install a low profile tire on a lightweight allow rim gives me the willys!

[number9ine]

DRIVING A CAR WITHOUT A SPARE IN SOFLA IS SHEER STUPIDITY. BOUGHT THE CAR WITHOUT A SPARE BECAUSE I LOVED IT. BIT THE BITTER MICHELLIN BULLET TODAY AND BOUGHT THE SPARE. NOW IT TAKES UP 30% OF MY FFFing "TRUNK".

BREAKDOWN:

JACK................................list $268.oo.....paid.....$200.06

PANCAKE SPARE...............list $683.13.....paid.....$583.48

STUPID FOAM INSERT.......list $ 74.43.....paid.....$ 51.69

PRICE OF ENTIRE CATASTROPHE........................$885.35 (incl. tax)

P.O.C.-----Josh

Champion Porsche

Pompano Beach, FL

800-940-4020

WTF!! :drive:

IT'S SO LOUD IN THIS THREAD I CAN'T HEAR MYSELF THINK!

Now that I have that out of the way, today's tires don't blow out severely on a whim unless the sidewall is forcibly damaged, or severe impact occurs with an object that will probably have you calling the tow truck anyway. Porsche, recognizing this, has saved you the weight and expense of a spare by offering a can of fix-a-flat for the occasional road nail and reminding you to check your tire pressures with the label in the doorjamb.

Unless you're a rally driver, run on Warsaw Pact-era pavement, or park on a bed of nails every day this precaution is probably unnecessary. I can't imagine South Florida exhibiting the degree of weatherbeaten and pot-holed roads we have here in upstate NY, for instance.

But when I'm calling AAA and you're pulling away at 54 MPH on a skinny red spare within 50 miles of your home or mechanic I imagine your purchase will be justified. :)

Here's a cool idea for the next person buying a spare: get a roof rack and mount it in the middle. Dress it up a bit, and stick a pic-a-nic basket atop for a classy look...

Mark

[gagausa]

I still think having a spare tire is like having a condom in your wallet; you thinks about it but never use it! (no offense, just for laughs!) ;)

But I agree with Mark; today's tires don't blow out severely on a whim, so carrying a can of fix-a-flat is good enough for me.

[MWS]

Will the fix-a-flat repair kit ruin the tire pressure monitoring sensor?

How much does replacing the TPM sensor on one wheel cost?

On my Lexus SC430 I think the TPM sensor was a couple of hundred dollars. Lexus TPM sensors cannot be mounted on the valve stem hole.

At The Tire Rack you can get an aftermarket TPM that mounts to the valve stem hole for $88.

[berty987]

I saw a tyre carcass sitting in the center of the autobahn in Austria, plenty of tread on the tyre...a few hundred feet in front a cayenne parked at the side of the road with one rear rim minus its tyre. Tyres can and do explode or become damaged beyond tyre glue fixes , unless you have a TPS system its easy to drive a few hundred miles with an under inflated tyre. Not all repair shops will work on rims with tyre glue repairs as the glue gets everywhere and is a pain to clean off their equipment. For long distance touring when you are away from the track and weight isnt an issue , I think carrying a spare wheel makes sound sense.

[White987S]

Fast Eddie, make sure you pack a large, thick mil, garbage bag with your spare tire supplies. This may come in handy to put the damaged tire in to keep your leather clean.

[antinul]

Fast Eddie, I'm interested in having a spare as well, any chance you could elaborate on where to get the spare, foam, and jack?

[fast eddie]

Fast Eddie, I'm interested in having a spare as well, any chance you could elaborate on where to get the spare, foam, and jack?

Howdy antinul,

Call Champion Porsche in Pompano Beach, FL, 954-946-4020. My total layout was about $850.00.

They ordered the stuff for me and had it in 48 hrs.

I posted the breakdown earlier in this thread.

Good Luck!

[355bhp]

Can anyone recommend a good aerosol flat fix-it kit, or is there an official Porsche part number for one? I've resigned myself to replacing the tire if it goes flat at speed. It looks like it would not be much more expensive than buying a spare, appropriate tools and a jack.

[355bhp]

Can anyone recommend a good aerosol flat fix-it kit, or is there an official Porsche part number for one? I've resigned myself to replacing the tire if it goes flat at speed. It looks like it would not be much more expensive than buying a spare, appropriate tools and a jack.

After an exhaustive search on a subject beaten to death in this forum, I've found that an aerosol flat repair kit should be used only as a last resort. My local Costco tire center will patch the tire from the inside under their tire repair warranty, unless the sidewall is damaged. They also recommended against using the aerosol sealer. I understand that there should be a can of the stuff included in my Porsche standard tool kit, but the manual states that any flat repair is only temporary and recommends replacing the tire as soon as possible. Depending on the wear, one might even have to replace the one on the opposite side as well.

Nobody ever said that these wonderful toys are inexpensive to maintain!

[number9ine]

Can anyone recommend a good aerosol flat fix-it kit, or is there an official Porsche part number for one? I've resigned myself to replacing the tire if it goes flat at speed. It looks like it would not be much more expensive than buying a spare, appropriate tools and a jack.

After an exhaustive search on a subject beaten to death in this forum, I've found that an aerosol flat repair kit should be used only as a last resort. My local Costco tire center will patch the tire from the inside under their tire repair warranty, unless the sidewall is damaged. They also recommended against using the aerosol sealer. I understand that there should be a can of the stuff included in my Porsche standard tool kit, but the manual states that any flat repair is only temporary and recommends replacing the tire as soon as possible. Depending on the wear, one might even have to replace the one on the opposite side as well.

Nobody ever said that these wonderful toys are inexpensive to maintain!

Your local Costco probably doesn't want to clean up the goo once they've dismounted your tire. :)

The fix-a-flat is a stopgap measure; of course, a patch or a replacement is the permanent solution to a flat tire.

And as for the Cayenne blowout above, if the tire hasn't been damaged, no road rash was involved and the pressure was at recommended levels I severely doubt that the tire just "gave up the ghost." If so, I'd have my lawyer on the phone to the tire company.

Mark

[BoxsterG]

I purchased the tire warranty for $650 which covers me for 5 years. It will cover the tire or the rim if bent. I had a flat in my last car and it cost me $425 installed for a Michelin PS2 235/35/19. I figure if I hae a flat or bend a rim it is well worht the money.