At about 2800km, not even broken in yet, I allready have a screw in my left rear tire, in the tread pattern. Do you guys have such things fixed/plugged or is this new tire ? (I don't want it unsafe, but new tire after 2800km is ... damn)

 

I always get two new tires with a flat . Since 2800K is somewhat marginal for uneven wear what I do in situations like that is save the one good tire as a potential spare for the future .

I feel that fixing or plugging a flat will always have a weak spot. The tire will never be perfect . On a 911 which is a high performance car I want no doubts with safety.

 

It really depends on the size of the breach, location and what it has done to the tire. My tire seller (who supplies huge numbers of PCA, BMW and SCCA members for road and track tires) has advised me that if it is not near the edge and has not damaged anything structural in the tire (which requires inspection after removal from the wheel), a plug and inside patch should be safe and all that is needed.

 

Agree.

 

My experience is that a repair plug inserted in the TREAD works great.

I carry the "Stop-&-GO" ......not just for motorcycles either.

There are a ton of videos - here's one:

 

Just put a plug in it... as long as it isn't near the edge of or in the sidewall it is just fine.. It's worked fine for millions of tires.... yeah its a high performance tire and car.. but get real.. you drive 170mph very often? If so, then go ahead and replace them... And a screw with a plug fix in the tread doesn't damage anything structural.. The plug fix is probably stronger than the rest of the tire around it.. At worst you slighly unbalance the tire..., and if you and it is significant then you will feel it... but you won't..

If you are really worried about it go have the tire checked on a dynamical balance.. I doubt very seriously that the weight plug will change much..

But if you like to waste your money, go and replace the tire, or better yet all 4...

 

As long as your puncture isn't too close to the sidewall you'll be fine. Just make sure they pull off the tire and patch it from the inside.

 

Always buying 2new tires after one gets a flat is extreme overkill in my opinion. I had a slow air leak on the way to the track once, kept pumping the tire up to get to my hotel the night before, got up in the am, pumped it up, got to the track, looked for the cause, found a screw dead center in my rear tire. Borrowed a sticky plugger thingy, fixed it, ran 2 track days - no issues. If the screw was off to the side, closer to the wall or if it was a bigger hole, I wouldnt have run on the track. Was a stressful hurdle pre-track-day but worked out ok. I now have one of these plugger kits in my car just in case.

 

Another option if you just want 1 new tire is to get it shaved down to match the wear on the other tires, so of the big on-line tire dealers can do this. Just send them some tread depth measurements. I think they charge about $25 for this.

 

Based upon the exact same experience, when I had less than 3000 miles... do NOT plug the tire if you ever want to track the car.

While Porsche's official policy is to replace the tire, they will patch the tire from the inside as they realize replacing a tire with 3K miles on it is to be avoided if possible. The service manager said a plug was fine if you were not going to track it.

He urged the patch and completed the repair onsite in 30 minutes when he heard I was planning on tracking in the near future. Hope this helps.

 

If the screw is in the tread, and you are not losing any air, then the screw may not even have penetrated the thickness of the tire. I would not worry about it in that case. I have had cases with past cars where a screw is in the tread, but is is a short screw and the tire still holds air. Never plugged or patched and everything was fine. Just replaced the tire when it needed it.

I would take the car to where you would get it fixed/replaced, then have the screw removed and if the tire still holds air, then you are good. If not, then you get it plugged or replaced.

The above would just be for everyday driving. If you track the car, then I can't say, as I don't race and don't know what the requirements of racing tires would be.

 

porsche doesn't recommend plugging or patching. if the tires are more than 30% worn, then replacing both is necessary per porsche.

in your case, you can change 1 tire since it is very new.

or you can just plug it. if you plug it, you can also patch the inside too. patch and plug is a good idea if you drive in rain or snow a bit.

i personally have just plugged nail holes myself. i have had a shop do it with a patch on the inside too before. patch or not won't make that much difference for high performance tires since you'll wear the tire out before the plug deteriorate.

i have also taken a plugged tire to the track. if it does leak, tires will drop pressure as if you hit a nail on the track. tire won't explode and send you into a spin or wall. having said that, i understand some people aren't comfortable and will happily get a new tire. i will say that if you track in timed events or in advance group, then driving with plugged tires wouldn't be advised due to the additional stress and pressure with heat.

 

I thought of this exact thread as today my Boxster S suddenly said -4 on my drivers side front tire . The dealership was closed and even if I tried I may not have made it there . I found myself at a local tire shop who was very helpful and as a temporary fix I patched it . I will not drive the car hard though and when i go to pick up my Turbo (getting new KW noselift suspension) I will discuss replacing all 4 of my tires with PS2 .
I detest the Pirelli tires . of course its not the reason mine got a nail but it is a good enough time to get the tires I really want.

 

I just had this happen on my C4S at 1300 miles. This was also the first car I had purchased the tire, wheel, and ding damage warranty. I brought the wheel into my local dealer thinking they would patch it and the service guy said "Porsche won’t allow that". They replaced the tire under warranty. Now if I had not purchased the warranty I may have just had it patched, but would always be thinking of that.

This is a tough one to call and also as others have said really dependent on the specific damage, mine was not so much a nail but something wider which could have damaged the inner belt more that a nail.

 

Funny that Porsche recommends throwing away otherwise good tires (don't know that but I'm taking at face value) and also sees no need for a spare and thinks it is ok to just pump up your flat tire and drive...

I'd be happy to take anyone's tires off their hand (including the matching undamaged tires in the pair or set.. I hear folks suggesting replacing) that have a nail/screw.. I'm not proud or as rich as some of the folks around here apparently are..

There are things in life I worry about, a plugged tire isn't going to be one of them... (granted I'm never going to track my car)..

If anyone can point to a documented failure (catastrophic or otherwise) of a properly plugged tire in the tread I'm all ears.. The plug will outlive the tire...