I am curious if other Porsche owners experience a high number of tire problems. I have put 6200 miles on my 996 now (in seven months since new) and during that time have had one minor and two serious problems that have led me to replace a total of four rear tires.

At 1500 miles I picked up a nail in a front tire which I had removed and sealed, and then . . .

At 3200 miles, I was headed home from work and heard the road noise change to that unmistakeable flacid rumbling that indicates a badly uninflated tire and nearly pulled off the road before the tire blew - no wheel damage.

The mini-spare was nearly flat, too (20 lbs instead of 50): my mistake -- I never checked it for proper pressure from when I bought the car new.

I called my son (manages the service shop at the local Ford dealer) and he came in a service truck, pumped up the minispare, and we went to his shop (if they work on ford GTs they're qualified to work on my Porsche).

They discovered that both rear tires had nearly worn completely through the fabric and steel cord on the extreme inside 1/2 inch of tread -- almost impossible to see when the car was on the ground but it was rather frightening. I had both replaced and had the car re-aligned, paid my (employee discount) $780.

I then took the one tire that wasn't shredded with me as evidence and drove straight to the dealership, who were really decent about it: offered to pay for the tires and said that some cars slipped through with poor alignment from the factory. I declined to have them pay for the tires and we simply agreed "they owed me."

I should add here that the replacement tires were Bridgestones, P05s or something -- the only brand my son's shop had in the correct size that day -- and I was very dis-satsified with them. They were the right size and they looked nince (aggressive tread pattern, etc. But they were hard, noisy, with less -- call it tracking or stability in response -- just didn't feel as confidence inspiring.

Yesterday, driving home from work early (I took a half day vacation for no real reason except it was a nice Friday) I heard a rumbling from the rear that sounded exactly like a wheel bearing going bad . Pissed that my Porsche would develop any problem in only 7000 miles, I went straight to the dealer. As I got out of the car the service manager pointed to the right rear tire and asked "How in the hell did you get a bolt like that in your tire?" Sticking out of the tread, about 2 inches into tread area, was the 1 inch wide head of a 1/2 inch diameter bolt!!!

Net is, the dealership (Leith Porsche, Cary, NC) acknowledging they owed me two tires, replaced both rear tires with the correct Michelins, as from the factory at no charge. They could not have been nicer - even gave me the bolt as a trophy of my adventure. And the Michelins could not be better - what a difference from the Bridgestones.

So, besides a long story, two questions:

1) Have other owners of recent model, wide tire cars had this many puncture problems -- I've had two in 7000 miles? I've put a total of 40,000 miles on my other cars with equally extreme tires (255/295s on the Camaro, 275/345s on the vette) and neve d a puncture. I'm assuming this is just bad luck . . .

2) What about the alignment thing - anyone else have such extreme wear from new (or not)? Down through the steel and fabric in only about 3500 miles?

 

Lee:

I had read in another Porsche forum about Bridgestone tires being bad. Everyone seemed to agree that Michelins were good. I have also heard that Pirrellis (SP?) were good.

As for picking up bolts and getting more than usual punctures on the tires, I think you have just had some bad luck.

I have not heard from anyone else experiencing the back alignment problem.