As a first time P car owner, I must admit having very little knowledge about the finicky nature of the wheel/tire/suspension system in these cars (and presumably other low center of gravity sports cars).

In the first 6 months/3,500 miles:

1. Hit a pothole in Downtown San Francisco that blew out my front left tire and rim. Fortunately no suspension issues. Both tires, rim (gently used $500), and alignment. Net: $1,700
2. Briefly drifted into the fast lane shoulder yesterday and picked up a flat. Net: $600

Total: $2,300

I’m annoyed enough to re-think my desire of making it my daily driver. I also have new found greater appreciation for those of you that use their P as a daily driver - these issues can't be happening just to me. Ironically re: issue #1, I returned to the same pothole a few days later and watched dozens of cars and SUV’s barreling over it without issue. When I hit the pothole – Kaboom! Do other P car owners have similar random/pesky issues with their tires system? Do any of you have particular warranty plans on tires that provide any relief?

 

Our tires have a very low threshold for abuse (unintended or otherwise) owing primarally to the low profile sidewalls. High quality parts mean high replacement costs; welcome to our world! Please take no offense, but both incidences you describe are not the fault of the car or the tires.

 

Unfortunately the tires on our cars (or any performance car) are a weak link. Another item that is not mentioned that you can look forward to: the soft, wide and expensive tires our cars need to perform at their best, have a proclivity to picking up nails and developing slow leaks/flats. I put 33k+ miles on my car in the last year and needed tire repair or replacement on five occasions. Consider yourself lucky if you can travel 10k miles without a tire issue of some kind.
Spirited driving should not be conducted on a repaired/patched tire or suspect wheel where the resultant failure can be considerably more expensive than the cost of components. Replace with new and break them in properly before putting your life on the line.

 

I bought a set of 'gently used' Turbo wheels/tires last month and was suspicious why the right front tire looked newer than the left front. I later learned the wheel with the newer tire was bent - probably from a pothole blowout where the previous owner just replaced the tire and not the wheel.

It sounds like your wheel was bent beyond repair? I had mine straightened and it seemed to do the trick, but I think the best advice I could give is to drive carefully. I live in Atlanta, been to SF many times, and I know both cities have their fair share of street imperfections. I have a completely different driving style in my 997 than when I'm traveling in a rental car. I find these P-cars require a little more care if you want to keep your wheels/tires/suspension in check. The price we pay for high performance...if only city streets were as smooth as race tracks!

 

20,000 km in 8 months and not a single tire issue (knock wood). I drove through winter and spring and the resulting thaw and birth of potholes. Be aware when driving of all traffic and road contitions. I probably learnt much of this while riding and tracking motorcycles.

Without insult, I have found that many drivers are oblivious to their surroundings and could benefit from some improved peripheral vision and awareness.

 

I am in south Florida, not many pot holes compared to where I grew up, NYC- urgh!
I bought the tire warranty and picked up a nail in my first year with my 09 997.2; my community is building many homes and there are alot of roofing nail issues experienced by residents; to my surprise, my warranty fully covered the $550 cost for a new tire, no pro rating for the 4,000 miles, no inspection, no hassle. I took it to my local Porsche dealer and was done in no time.
The 5 year warranty-unlimited miles, for tires and wheels, was $800.............I almost got it back in year 1........................

I once had a 1987 Toyota MR2, in NY and, ran something over on the Long Island Expressway with low profile tires, and for the first time- experienced a double flat on front and rear passenger tires..................
Low profiles equals more vigilance needed by driver, you qare not driving an Escalade, need to be aware of the road. I agree with another post, my 30 years of riding motorcycles probably helped me to be more aware of the road..

 

You have a considerably wider back tires, this means more likelihood of finding something on the road that likes to puncture rubber. The low sidewalls are also part of the game for ease of blowouts in potholes. Whee...

I would offer that potholes might in fact be a bit harder to distinguish as such when you are sitting lower to the ground, say, than a passenger car, truck, or SUV.

 

for a contrasting example, on edmund's inside line long term cars, their 7-series BMW needed 4 new tires over the span of 20K miles due to pothole hits causing sidewall bubbles! It seemed that every week, they announced needing another new tire. Cruise on over there to see the pics of the damage.
I think that tires are getting pretty fragile as the profiles go lower. Sade but true, since they cost so much!!

 

Ah, interesting point I never thought of. I guess the probability of hitting a nail is roughly proportional to the surface area of the tire on the road. So our cars have 2X or 3X higher chance of hitting a nail than a little compact. And then soft rubber lets the nail right in. And then with the huge tires on the back you really can't inspect the inside part of the tire.

 

I live in NYC and pretty much started driving only during the weekends in the afternoon since it's almost impossible to pick up potholes during night driving. No issues so far on my 08 C2S that had 8000 miles and change when I bought it. Now I'm up to about 9500 miles. It's come to the point where I know when to switch lanes in anticipation of an upcoming pothole. It's the price we pay I guess. I think I'm almost due for a tire change myself. Bridgstones seem to be in the sweet spot for those of us that have high turnover from a cost/performance stand point.

 

Actually, the carcass and sidewalk on a Z rated tire is thicker and more resilliant to punctures. The rubber on the outside has nothing to do with the puncture resistance.

 

Curious with the tire issues.

How many of you used the goo and compressor to make it home (or to shop) versus calling 1 800 PORSCHE?

 

20k miles in the last year - no tire issues yet (knock wood).

 

I tried it once and it didn't work but the tire was damaged beyond where the goo could have helped. But I can see how it can work with a regular puncture. I think it's worth trying.

Now your question raised another one for me... When I had the flat, I called my insurance company and they sent a tow truck. I didn't know I could have called 1 800 PORSCHE for a tire issue. Assuming this is for CPO cars, does anybody have a list of items that are covered and when can the 800 number be called?

 

i was almost relieved when i saw the chewed up lobster forks when i bought my car... potholes are a way of life. i was extra careful with my rims on my old car, but nonetheless experienced 2 bent wheels thanks to LA potholes...

if you have a daily driver, **** happens... we try to keep all of our cars clean, but the only way to keep them truly pristine is to not drive them and that doesn't work for me.