This is my first car without a spare so I'm a little nervous especially knowing that our high performance tires are relatively fragile. I'm interested in knowing your experiences when you got a blowout. Did the factory sealant work? Do you think it's a good idea to carry more than one can? Are there better sealants out there such as that stuff called "Slime" that I always see at Wal-Mart and please don't tell me you won't shop at Wal-Mart anymore just because you drive a Porsche, although I totally understand if you won't drive your Porsche to Wal-Mart. I won't either.

So let's get back to that emergency tire blowout. If you couldn't successfully seal the tire yourself how well did Porsche roadside assistance handle the situation? Did they tow the car to the nearest Porsche dealer or someplace else? I'm sure those of us who haven't been through this yet could learn from those who have.

 

Sealant didn't work for me on my flat, and it destroys the TPMS (which wasn't covered under my tire warranty). Porsche roadside was good, paid for the car to be towed to my house (got the flat in the evening, dealer was closed) and then to the dealer of my choice in the AM (not the closest dealer).

 

AJag,

Thanks for your post. Good point about the TPMS sensor and if memory serves those suckers are about $150 a pop, right? So in this case it totally wasn't worth it because the sealant didn't even allow you to get home and it cost you money just to try it. Wow, that really sucks.

 

I agree with AJag. In addition one should have a tire puncture repair kit and use it if appropriate.

 

What should be in a tire puncture repair kit and how does one use it?

Should it be put together out of various parts or are they available pre-made? If so, by whom and how expensive?

How much space does an adequate kit take?

 

This would work if you got a nail or screw puncture.

http://www.tirerepairkit.com/whichkit.htm

This also looks pretty good, especially the gun style insertion tool:

http://www.stopngo.com/automotive.asp

 

Here is a good one - Griot's. It comes with a bag (the pic looks bigger than reality) with extra space for other stuff one carries in the car). The one to buy, of course, is the one without the compressor, since you already have one.

 

That looks good but I wonder if it will be easy remove after to repair properly with a patch from inside? I wouldn't drive around with that in there beyond the drive to get it patched properly...

 

What else can you do roadside? Either you try to repair it or not. Call road side and have them drag your car up the bed-that could hurt.

There is a nice thread about a Porsche spare tire kit that fits in the frunk. If I remember correctly, its about $700 for all the tidbits. That might be a good option if taking a longer trip.

If you are local, you can always jack the car up, take the wheel and try to have it repaired then come back to the car with it fixed.

In the end, there are not many options, so think it out, make a decision and be comfortable with it should you have a puncture/flat.

Good luck.

 

Checking tire pressures regularly can also help spot a problem prematurely when it could be more convenient to deal with. These gauges have worked well for me:

http://www.getagauge.com/Accu-Gage-HSeries.cfm

 

Those gauges are nice and I have one, but they lose accuracy over time (mine is off by 4PSI). The digital gauges AccuTire are far more accurate over time.

.

 

Nothing fixes a blow out. Tire repair kits are nice for minor punctures, BUT, you'll need to be able to see the foriegn agent and probably need a jack. Spare tire kits are available but bulky (no donuts that I'm aware of).

I've had a blowout and two punctures; pretty much just dead meat if you are on the road. Some roadside assist is great and others terrible even when sent by Porsche - I had one who did not know about the tow hook until I showed him and then did not have the straps to tie the car down properly. Bottom line is hope it does not happen but 'grin and bear it' if it does. Lastly, remember that Porsche garages will not repair a tire,

 

I don't know why but it seems like any time I ever face a flat tire in general it tends at night and in an unfamiliar area .

Luckily for me on my most recent flat the Flat Tire warning came on and there was a service station right there . It was not a full blow out but a nice enough leak. I evaluated the fizzing sound a bit, overfilled it. and was about 3 miles from my house and somewhat late.Then I slowly drove with it leaking (hazard light on) and made one refill (nearing 20 PSI) stop before arriving home with 19 psi . The next day I called roadside and the tire was replaced.

 

I got a small nail in my front tire and the tire was slowly leaking air. When I tried to remove the nail I could hear air escaping too fast so pushed the nail back in. Drove it to tire repair store and had it patched.