In buying the 911 GT3, I had only one intention: to drive it as much as possible. My car won’t be one of those parked long term and only serves to look pretty, even though the GT3 can fulfill that roll extremely well, too. Rather I subscribe to the mantra of cars being meant to be driven, and a big reason why I specced for the extended-range fuel tank was so I can go longer between fill-ups on road trips.
Still have yet to do one of those in the GT3, but it’s barely Spring yet.
A potential problem on any road trip is tire punctures. Just about the worst case scenario is to be stranded somewhere with no recourse to at least get to the next nearest town. Automobiles have for decades been fitted with spare tires to avoid such situation, and the system have worked really well: you get a flat tire, pull over to the side, put on the spare, and onwards you go.
The modern car, especially sports cars, have been inexplicably doing away with the spare tire. The reasons are many; most manufacturers will say it’s for economy reasons: less weight to carry equals better fuel mileage. I’m skeptical about that explanation because a spare tire kit can’t possibly be more than 60 pounds altogether. Eliminating that in a sports car I can understand - every less gram counts – but in a 5,000 pound German saloon, the weight savings amount to nil.
My guess is drivers these days are too inept and lazy to physically change a tire; add to the fact tire technology have rendered punctures much less frequent, manufacturers must have crunched the numbers and decided the usage of a spare tire is too minuscule to warrant fitting it to each and every car. A can of fit-a-flat is far less expensive comparatively, because of course it’s about the bottom line for automakers.
Indeed, the GT3 comes equipped with only an emergency tire repair kit: a can of fix-a-flat, a 12V-powered tire inflator, and nothing else. There isn’t even an emergency jack; not that one would do any good because the GT3 is equipped with center lock wheels, and the typical breaker bar is powerless against the 440 foot pounds of torque securing the single “lug” nut.
Porsche’s directive in the event of a tire puncture: use the can of tire goo and the electric tire pump to secure and re-inflate the offending tire, then drive the car to the nearest Porsche dealer for proper repair. In the situation when the puncture is too big for the fix-a-flat, the owner is advised to call Porsche roadside assistance for a tow to the nearest dealership – because regular tire shops don’t have the requisite knowledge and tools to handle center lock wheels.
I am to do follow the procedure even if it’s just the typical errant nail on the tread block, causing a relatively slow leak. Basically, if I suffer any sort of tire damage on a road trip in the GT3, the trip is effectively over.
That sounds like a massive hassle: a small nail in the tire that can otherwise be plugged shouldn’t mean the end of a trip, and from perusing online forums, other 911 owners agree. Those guys instead have put together their own emergency tire repair kit, all to avoid having to use the dreaded fix-a-flat or call roadside for the smallest of incidents. Their kit is simple: a set of tire plugs/tools, and a compact scissor jack.
The first item easy: any auto-parts store will have tire plugs readily available. I’ve been using them ever since I started driving, and not one have failed (knocks tremendously on wood).
The emergency scissor jack however is slightly trickier to acquire. As mentioned, the GT3 isn’t fitted with one from the factory, and due to its extremely low ride height, I can’t simply buy any random unit from other brands, because most likely it won’t fit underneath the car. The jack will have to be a Porsche part from similar model.
It turns out the 911 – of any trim – hasn’t been fitted with an emergency jack since the 996 generation - nearly 20 years ago. The can of tire goo or call roadside assistance have been the standard procedure for that long a time. Nevertheless, later generation 911 owners looking for a scissor jack, one that will work perfectly with the jacking points and lowness of the vehicle, can buy the one from a 996’s emergency kit.
Thankfully, the 996 scissor jack seems to be one Porsche part that isn’t subjected to the infamous Porsche tax – provided you buy it used from a dismantler. I did just that via eBay, and four short days after paying 100 dollars, this superbly sturdy box showed up:
Purchased from qualityporscheparts, this particular spare jack is from a 2002 911 Cabriolet that’s being parted out. Porsche claims 70% of all its cars ever made are still on the road; this 996 convertible must be the other 30%.
I really appreciate how well the item was packaged. It makes sense: car parts can often times be heavy, so dismantlers have to be extra attentive to ensure things arrive to the customer intact. Being made almost entirely of aluminum, the 996 jack is the lightest spare jack I’ve handled out of all the cars I’ve owned. Fitting, for a Porsche.
Notice the part number starting with ‘996’, indicating the jack indeed belongs to a 996 era 911. Porsche uses the numerical generation code of its cars to begin the part number sequence of its associated components. For example, parts specific to my GT3 will have ‘991’ as the beginning identifier. A uniquely special and brilliant system.
Upon closer examination, the jack looks brand-new. The hook part of the handle and the oblong nub on the jack-head don’t show any sign of abrasion from use. For 100 dollars, this turned out to be quite the steal. I guess the owner of the 996 Cabriolet couldn’t be bothered to use it ever.
Here’s the jack in its extended position, likely for the very first time since it was made.
And here it is back into its protective foam holder. It’s fortuitous the foam piece came packaged with the jack; the GT3 obviously doesn’t have a cavity for this, but because the jack and handle fits so snugly in there, I can simply turn the entire kit upside down on its flat side into the trunk. It won’t slide around all over the place during hard cornering.
Of course, my hope is to never have to use this jack and the tire plugs, but seeing the GT3 is my ‘forever car’, the likelihood of that happening is incredibly slim. Better to be prepared than having to call roadside assistance, or worst, use the can of tire goo.