check that spare! (if you have one)
 

just a friendly reminder - check the spare tire's air pressure. i figured maybe it had lost some air but it was at 28 PSI - and it needs to be at 60...

thankfully i never needed it because it would have been next to useless.

You're ears must have been ringing !! Although I don't usually carry the spare with me, on the occasion that I take a long drive this summer, I decided to pull in out and give it a check over. It had 11 psi in it . :o This made me wonder, how many people are driving around out there with a spare tire that has little to no air pressure in it ?

Just checked mine, it was around 30, pumped it up to near 70 for a bit of a cushion.

More than you might imagine; which is why the Federal Nanny's now require TPM systems to check it for you, then drive you nuts the rest of the time..........

I always wondered what i would do if I had a rear flat, sure I can fit the spare on but where would I put the flat rear wheel? IIRC the only place it might fit is the passenger seat!

hah. good point, but i would think that once the spare is out of the frunk, there should be just enough room to get it in there at an angle - assuming you were not using it for anything else.

Everyone should have an electric tire pump in the trunk. I have the BMW M Mobility Kit, it's a very compact piece of kit.

http://images.bidorbuy.co.za/user_im...ssor_bag_1.jpg

Slime makes a number of aftermarket kits that are very similar to the BMW . In fact, I believe that Slime now provides GM with their oem version .

http://www.slime.com/product/491/Safety-Spair-(%2370005).html

I'm pretty sure they're made by 2 different OEM companies. The BMW kit is made by a German company... I found their site before but have since lost the link.

I wasn't suggesting that Slime makes BMW's kits, I was just throwing another option out there . I agree that BMW's kits are probably made in Germany . I've previously owned three "M" vehicles; all of which came supplied with the inflation kit . I think one of them may have actually contained sauerkraut .

You can also get this from Tirerack.

http://www.tirerack.com/accessories/detail.jsp?ID=38

This raises the question, how effective and dependable are these kits ? Does anyone have any experience with one of them ? Unfortunately (or, maybe I was fortunate), when I had my "M" cars I had no reason to use it .

Good call!! I never thought of that. I have to read this forum more. Thanks!

I used off-road alot in and have gone through many pumps and the Slime kit is a really nice unit for the price. It has a very good capacity, not very loud, and comes equipped with a nice hose and fittings.
I kept one in my Boxster along with a tire plug kit. The Slime pump came in a nice cloth case that fit perfectly on the little shelf behind the spare. If it's just a nail puncture, it's almost quicker to plug it and pump it up than installing a spare.

I find mine to work very well. I use it twice a year when I swap between winter/summer tires.

Oh and I wouldn't trust that tire pressure gauge on the compressor, I got the nice one from Porsche that comes in a nice stainless case.

+1 and amen to that, I have a combination battery jumper/air compressor that I keep in my cars, though it tends to bail other people out more often than me, but better to have it and not need it than the other way around. And that way, if the spare is a bit low, or very low, you can remedy that on the spot and safely be on your way, not to mention touch up the air pressure on all the tires before a drive.
:cheers:

I ripped up a rear tire pretty well a couple years back...fortunately, the rim itself survived, as there was no place to pull the car off; drove on it for a bit until I found a safe spot. Pulled out my spare and it was nearly flat. The rear wheel (10 x 18) deflated, did fit in the frunk. Drove a couple of miles at a greatly reduced pace, until I found a service station with air. Luckily, the spare didn't get chewed up and looked new after some cleaning. Probably be a good idea to carry a kit, though it wouldn't have helped based looking at my tire.

Imagine driving on a spare tire that is under-inflated and on top of that, an average of 10 years old !!! hmmm

I wonder how much a new spare would cost...?

From the dealer? No less than $500.

They're N-rated spares!!! Only approved by Porsche!!! :cheers: