flat fix versus spare tire

[mountainman]

Just returned from a few days in the mountains of west virginia where we did considerable high speed driving on some great roads. We took the 08 boxster S which as those of you that own one know, has no spare tire, but instead comes with a bottle of porsche flat fix. In the middle of nowhere, some 40 miles from the nearest small town that might have had a tire store the tire pressure monitoring system announced that a rear tire was going flat. Stopped and found a very large jagged hole that would have laughed at flat fix.
Luckily, since I have never been a fan of flat fix, I had replaced it with an actual spare tire which I put on and we drove the better part of 60 miles to a fairly good size town that had a couple of pretty good size tire stores. Was told by both of them " we ain't got no cars up here that use that size tire, but we could maybe order one and have it sometime next week".
After many calls and no other options, We were forced to drive the over 300 miles home on the little 5 inch spare tire. I really was not sure it would do that kind of milage and I am sure it was not designed to, but it made it with no problems and is not terribly worn.
Long story to say that if you are taking long trips with just the bottle of flat fix, you may want to reevaluate. Without the spare I would still be in west nowhere west virginia waiting for AAA to locate me.

[Flavor 987S]

Good job, MM. You must have been a Boy Scout. "Always Be Prepared".

My concerns when traveling (my 987 does not have a spare, the 993 Turbo does) is not so much flats, as the lack of cell phone coverage. I also carry tire plugs in both cars. I'll use that over fix-a-flat whenever possible. But for some punctures (location and size) this may or may not be successful.

[fullthrottle52]

Mountain Man,
I had a very similar situation last year. It was in my Buick csx but still very frightening.
I was on I-77 North going home on a holiday. Hit a pothole and put a big bulge on the sidewall. Drove to a pretty big town where 5 tire stores told me they had nothing in stock to fit. I ended up reading the owners manual that told me the donut spare could be driven all day at speeds up to 65 mph. I put it on and drove the 250 miles home with no issues.

I want to commend you on thinking ahead. The added frunk space is not worth being stuck somewhere. It does not take much of a pothole to bust tires with little distance between the road and rim that we use on our Boxsters.

Sorry for your ruined day out, but you got out of a tough situation pretty well.

Lesson here is we run tires that a lot of tire stores don't stock. Fix a flat will not always save you.

[ekam]

Originally Posted by mountainman

Was told by both of them " we ain't got no cars up here that use that size tire, but we could maybe order one and have it sometime next week".

Sounds like that episode from Top Gear when Jeremy needed tires on the Merc SLS. :dance:

At least you had a spare tire... you got it it from the tire store I take it?

Boxster Spare Tire Kit:Porsche Parts & Porsche Accessories - Wholesale Porsche Parts & Tequipment - Cayman Panamera Cayenn

[mountainman]

I got the spare shortly after buying the car and have carried it ever since just to ward off this type of emergency. Where we were in west virginia I was not able to find anything, new, used or anything that would fit the rear of a porsche.

[recycledsixtie]

When I go for my summer hike in the Rockies 4 hours drive from here in my 2001 Boxster base I take a couple of snow tires and leave the spare behind. If I bought a P car with runflat tires I would buy a spare tire at least...