Space Saver Spare???

[ocho]

Being fairly new to Porsche ownership, I've never had reason to use one of these before. It's always struck me as being a little on the small side when compared to the 4 regular wheels - in the unfortunate case where you have to use it, does it need to be inflated, in which case should I have something to inflate it with?

Reason I ask is I read somewhere, I think in an ad for someone selling an unused Space Saver, that they quoted it as being "collapsed" or something like that, implying that it would need some air in it...

[davemiddleton]

Space Saver is deflated normally, to "save space".
The tyre is inflated for use by a small compressor (supplied as standard) which plugs into cigarette lighter.

[silver993tt]

Should come with an air pump that you plug into the ciagerette lighter. This is standard on my 993 turbo.

[ocho]

Thanks guys. Does said compressor by any chance look like this Ebay article...

S:ES:28">http://cgi.es.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4505448569&ssPageName=ADME:BS:ES:28

[silver993tt]

photo is a bit dark but it looks like the item.

[ocho]

Thanks - better get busy!

[Melv]

Look at the reality......when a Porker tyre is punctured you can't get the sodding jack under the car anyway.....and then what do you do with the mucky deflated spare? Well, if you are lucky you have the original kit which includes gloves, pinny (I kid you not!!) and a large plastic bag to put the wheel in....onto your passengers lap....have fun!!

Mel

[ocho]

Thanks, Melv - you've got a good point.

Moreso in my case - to say the Mrs is petite would even be exaggerating, so the 19's would dwarf her, she'd be better off sitting on the wheel herself.

That aside, with the compressor went the jack which is also missing, so I think I'll just stick with RAC Espana...

[Melv]

But, bare in mind that the space saver is also part of the crash protection...

Mel

[McNab]

Melv said:

Look at the reality......when a Porker tyre is punctured you can't get the sodding jack under the car anyway.....and then what do you do with the mucky deflated spare? Well, if you are lucky you have the original kit which includes gloves, pinny (I kid you not!!) and a large plastic bag to put the wheel in....onto your passengers lap....have fun!!

NOT!!

Had a rear wheel puncture on the Turbo a couple of months ago. Happily set out to do the necessary, but the jack wouldn't fit under, so had to put the jacking point over a pothole. Couldn't undo an overtightened wheelnut, couldn't jack the car high enough to fit the spare, couldn't.....and so on until total fury and despair.

Without the help of my son they'd have had to bury me at the roadside. He drove 40 miles to my rescue, and in the end we managed to fit the punctured wheel into his Audi estate. No way was I going to ruin the inside of the Porker trying to get a filthy monster wheel in with a shoehorn!

Enough ranting...the point I wanted to mention is that driving with the space-saver is alarming because the PSM gets confused. With hindsight I should have switched it off, but in the heat of the moment it never occurred to me. So the PSM applied a bit of braking to various corners of the car half way round gentle bends at 50, and it felt like driving a demented wheelbarrow. All this because the space-saver isn't a matching size, and sends a message to the central brain saying that you've lost it ton up.

Be warned - if you can get them on, these things work well enough to get you home (just), but when they say 50 mph max they mean it!

Progress...

[mutt k]

Carry one of those aerosols that fill your tyre with foam. Assuming you haven't shredded the tyre should get you home or to a place of safety where you can get the space saver spare on.