I have a 2008 911 S with a flat. The owners manual says all tires are N rated and N rated tires must be replaced as they can't be fixed! Is that true or can I find someone to repair the flat? If not, can I get replacements that are not N rated? I hate to buy 4 new ties but with 50% of the tred gone it would not make sense to get just one new tire.

 

most reputable shops won't repair a speed rated tire....you do need to replace it with an N rated tire for best performance...don't see why you need to do all four unless it is a front tire and your rears are shot too..50% tread is a close call and probably would be best to replace both and keep the 50% tire for an emergency replacement should you find yourself in this situation again...N rated tires are Porsche specific...you can however go to a different tire if you replace all four

 

Thanks for the information. Kind of crazy to spend 90 K on a new car and then complain about tires, but the in town prices are nuts. Tire rack has all 4 for $1,654 which is not bad but then agin you have to find someone to put them on.

 

One more question; if I get all 4 do you think N rated are necessary?

 

Tire Rack will provide you with a reputable tire dealer in your area who will install the tires. Most tire shops refuse to mount tires that weren't purchased in their store due to liability reasons. That's also why they won't 'hot patch' a tire.

 

thanks ...

 

FYI. One of my rear tires is patched. (not plugged)

I was worried about it at first, but now never even think about it even at triple digit speeds.

 

Make sure you get the tire insurance policy when you get a new set. Well-worth the $$.

 

One of my 305's was patched, lasted for 11k miles without a hiccup. Most shops I know have no issues in patching a speed rated tire depending on location. If it was at the end of the tires life I would have replaced both tires, but it only had 3k miles on the darn thing. If I was tracking the car with that tire I might have had concerns, but on the street none what so ever.

I even repaired a runflat once on my 328i, lasted the life of the tire.

Dave

 

Just curious what brand of tires have you all had to get patched? I've heard the Michelin PS2's are very resistant to nails and road debris. I've had these tires for about 11k miles with no problems. It's funny to me because my other car with similar driving habits using BFG's gets a nail about every 5-8k miles.

 

Just patched my Contis and everything seems just fine.

 

My tire was a Pirelli Pzero N1

Dave

 

No I don't think it is necessary just match speed and load ratings. Keep in mind though that if you are leasing and turn in the vehicle they are going to expect N tires on the vehicle.

Dave

 

I had my right rear PS2 305 patched (not plugged) at 2,000 miles. It had a small (1/32") screw right spank in the middle of the thread making me loose about 2 psi a week.

I used a well recommended high end shop and I looked at the guy doing the patch an I really do not see how this could go wrong as he made sure there was nothing left in the tire and that the patch is actually vulcanized (fused) to the inside of the tire and pushed against it by the air pressure.

I would not take it to the track but for cruising around it seems just fine.

Just my 0.02,

T.

 

I had my PS2 patched as well after I found a screw in the middle of the rear (305) tire and was also slowly losing air pressure. If the tires weren't so expensive I might have replaced it as the manual advises. Since then I've driven another 5k miles and had no problems.