Mike Frye

Hey everyone, I was reading up on some PCA DE rules and regs for the Niagara Region PCA, and found this:

I know lots of people remove them and put other stuff in there, usually a subwoofer. It doesn't say anything about this in anything I've read, but I wanted to check and see if anyone knew for sure one way or the other.

Does anyone know if the 928 uses the spare as an 'integral part of the car crashworthiness design'?

Cameron

What a great question. I was planning on removing my spare today, to make room for the subwoofer. Now I am keen to see peoples opinions on this topic.

Vilhuer

That is reason why spare should be in at PCF track days also. Not sure how important it is in rear collision.

nosnow

When I was an insurance adjuster we use to take note of whether spare tires were removed. According to the auto industry, via the insurance industry, spare tires help absorb rear impact. That is why VW went back to a full size spare tire (use a big rubber donut full of air to absorb the impact). Without speeking to a 928 engineer it would be difficult to say, but after seeing a few bad rearend accidents I'd be hesitant in removing it. That being said our cars are so low to the ground a greater concern is having a Chevy bumper hit you in the back of the head

worf928

It's a catch-22 situation. If you leave the spare in the DE tech inspector may get panties in a wad because they cannot check the battery tie-down. If you take the spare out so that they can check the battery tie-down they moan about the lack of spare. Leave the spare loose in the hatch so that they can check the tie-down easily and also see the spare and they go ballistic.

BIMMERMIKE

YES !!
When doing a vehicle sales presentation, the location of spare tire(VW/AUDI) is a feature/ benifit.
The 'inflated' spare tire, in most vehicles, is there to take rear end collison impact.
I'm a sales representative for VW/AUDI.

Mike Frye

Thanks for all the responses.

Here in the land of lawyers, I wouldn't be surprised if I could be found to have 'willfully removed factory safety equipment' or some such BS if there were an accident and the spare wasn't there. I also want to do DEs, so it doesn't make much sense to keep it in my garage if I need to keep the space available anyway.

Paul,

You got that right. Do people in trucks enjoy pulling up so close at a light you can feel the heat of their headlights on the back of my neck or what?

Thanks everyone, I'll just keep the spare in there I guess.

PorKen

Wuss. I suppose you're going to keep the aluminum bumpers too.

dpritch

While I am not certain, I think the factory spare would be useless with non 16" rims on the other 3 wheels.

Course, wouldn't be the first time I've been wrong.

Regards,

_dan

hinchcliffe

Ever picked one up. Precious weight saving there, ha ha ha. I remove mine.

Must be bolted down to be allowed at a DE.

Vilhuer

Why? Of course its useful. GTS spare is 16" while normal wheels are 17". Diameter must and is same unless someone installs wrong size tires.

Jim bailey - 928 International

The ONLY crash standard was the 5 mph bumper standard at the time the 928 was being designed. So I doubt they were worried about rear end collisions which would get in far enough to hit the spare especially since the early spare is NOT bolted in...

Mike Frye

Wow. What did I do to **** you off, Ken ?

I may be paranoid, but NJ is passing law after law after law about what you can and can't do while driving. Over and above that, the insurance companies can deny coverage for any number of reasons that they defend in court as being 'unsafe operation of the vehicle'.

The small print becomes a big deal in these cases, aside from my own piece of mind that when it comes to the design of this vehicle, Porsche did a pretty damn good job and I don't plan to second guess things like the crash safety. I don't know of a lighter alternative that's just as safe, so I'll just lug it around with me and make my car faster some other way .

Jim,

Your opinion has more weight on this (IMO) than most others, and the stuff in Project 928 would seem to prove your statement. My concern was that just because there was no mention of the spare specifically being part of the design doesn't mean it wasn't.


There is also the issue that our opinions may not matter if I'm in an accident and don't have a spare. The 'law' and the ins. co. are going to rule based on their opinion and if it's there, it's a non-issue. If it's not there, it could potentially become an issue.

Vilhuer

Jim, have you checked wavy area in body inside rear fenders right in same lenght from rear bumper as spare is? That is there to provide crumble zone in rear end collisions. 928 was probably one of earliest mass produced cars which had such features build into body.

mark kibort

i think this only applies in 911s, but in our cars, as Jim mentioned. if you have someone plowing into your car making it passed the spare area, you got other issues to worrie about!

the bumper and car structure are protecting the rear of the car and the gas tank.
mk