denniscasey

Looking at Cayman S or possibly older 911 and just wondering about experiences forum members have had with effectiveness of compressor/tire goop Cayman uses for tire repair? I don't know what 911 has for spare.

My travel can be in states where there are no Porsche dealers and towns can be few and far between (i.e. North Dakota, Montana, etc). Accordingly, a flat tire can be a real problem. If you have something in tread area I guess you need to use tire goop and compressor for temporary repair to get you to some place that can fix tire. If you cut sidewall I guess you are well and truly stuck until a tow truck (flat bed) can reach you.

This is of interest to me because I have recently had two tire issues: On Lexus IS350 in Williston, ND tire went flat on Friday night. At least Lexus came with doughnut and jack so I could replace tire to get to Goodyear store Saturday morning. BMW however has gone to run flats with no spare of any kind and no jack, etc. Had slow leak with run flat but happened in Minneapolis, MN where there is BMW dealer so could limp to dealer and get it fixed.

At least with BMW there is trunk space so you can carry a spare tire/wheel and buy jack as an option if you have flat tire in wilds of North Dakota.

With Cayman/911 it seems you are totally dependent on tire goop/compressor and hope you don't cut sidewall. Although maybe there is room for doughnut spare so has anyone bought spare and jack to remove replace tire?

All these cars are designed in high population density countries where car dealers and these cars are common; not necessarily the case in wide open spaces of USA--in a week of driving recently in North Dakota saw no Porsches, two BMW's and several Lexus. So being stuck somewhere without a spare is not of concern apparently. Dennis

Tom Tweed

Flat tires are much less common than they used to be, but if you don't want to wait for assistance out in the boonies, there is room in the frunk for a collapsible spare and jack, and they are readily available. I would carry a cordless impact driver as well as a 19mm socket and a 90-100 ft.lb. torque stick as part of the kit, just to make things easier. Or get run-flat tires if you're worried about being stranded and don't care about performance.

TT

thomapa1

AAA

denniscasey

Tom and thomapa, I will see what I can find about collapsible spare (was not aware of those) and I have used AAA or Lexus or BMW "roadside assistance" effectively in past. However, those occasions were in city or town and not out on remote roads in North Dakota/Montana. I would still be curious to hear from anyone who has actually used the Porsche goop/compressor or used whatever form of roadside assistance Porsche offers (if they offer anything). Dennis

Spokayman

I have never used the goop so I cannot comment on it's effectiveness, but I wonder what kind of mess this causes when the tire shop has to dismount, fix, and remount the tire. Maybe its not that big of a deal.
In an effort to avoid using the goop, I carry a tire plug kit which is supposed to plug a nail hole and most screw holes. If the plug can stop the leak, the compressor can be used to re-inflate the tire and you are good to go. It would probably be best to have the hole professionally plugged from the inside as soon as it is convenient, but the plugs work well.
If the tire has sidewall damage, then only a spare will work. I priced out a small spare (kit) for my Cayman awhile back at a Porsche dealer. If I recall correctly it was a Boxster part #. If I traveled a lot in remote areas, I would probably buy this kit which I think included a lug wrench and a jack.

This is the type of patch kit I carry.

denniscasey

Spokayman, thank you for input. I do travel in "remote" areas so am more aware of delays/hassles problems with unique cars can create (probably stemming from blown head gasket in Jaguar XKE that occurred in Glendive, Montana). Sounds like a good idea to invest in "insurance" of the small spare and tire changing kit. Dennis