Taycan Compact Spare Tire options

[Jonathan S.]

FYI, doing a test here, the Porsche Taycan little black box electric tire inflator was unable to make the collapsable spare from a Cayenne unfold and fully take shape and inflate.

Hmm…mine worked just fine.
Does the Taycan compressor work on regular tires?
And do other compressors work with the collapsible spare?

Sponsored

 

[figure1a]

Hmm…mine worked just fine.
Does the Taycan compressor work on regular tires?
And do other compressors work with the collapsible spare?

Maybe I have a bum Porsche compressor? Yes, a bigger Craftsman 12V compressor got the tire to fill up and expand just fine. Doing complete run-throughs here so that if I ever have to use it, I am not stuck because I don't have a piece of equipment, wrong bolt pattern, etc.

 

[figure1a]

So, I've gone down this journey of putting together a spare tire and tools for the Taycan. Cobbling parts from other cars works but there's a lot of caveats and revelations to be found along the way. Many people here have stated that just getting a Cayenne spare tire setup is the way to go but that did not work for me. I did a full test-run with my final parts to make sure it all works as planned.

Taycan Tires are a little bit over 28" in diameter and do about 715 revolutions per mile. It doesn't matter if you have 21" wheels or 17" wheels—if you are using Porsche spec, those are the numbers. Cayenne wheels are about 30" in diameter which get about 670 revolutions per mile. So you can see that there is a pretty big difference between the two vehicles. Will a Cayenne spare give you trouble if you use it—I have no idea but I could barely fit a Cayenne spare in my wheel well and I didn't even get around to checking if it would rub when I turned. It just seemed like it could make some trouble down the road even if just using for a spare for 50 miles. The other issue that I had was that I bought a used Cayenne collapsible spare on eBay and when I inflated it, I could see cracks in the sidewall due to age. So watch out for buying used spares as they may have aged out.

I ended up getting a brand new EZ Spare Wheel ($450) for the Panamera which has a diameter that is nearly spot-on to the Taycan, same bolt pattern, same hub size. Also, the EZ Spare is a 20" wheel which will clear the Turbo S brakes. I then got a used Cayenne jack and tool set from eBay. I am sure there are cheaper jacks out there but the modern Porsche jacks are so smooth and very fast.

My final kit has these parts:
+ EZ Spare wheel (Panamera version)
+ Porsche Cayenne jack (2017 model) and wrench
+ Cayenne to Taycan jack adapter (made this myself)
+ 2 Porsche wheel chocks
+ Porsche Lug wrench
+ Porsche Guide pin
+ Spare wheel lug bolts (they came with the wheel—Porsche lugs don't fit)
+ 17mm socket and wrench (the spare lug heads are smaller than the Porsche lug heads)—forgot to put this in the picture
+ Gloves
+ Towel to lay on (you're gonna want to make sure the jack is lined up nice and square in the car and you can only really see that when you lay on the ground)
+ Porsche wheel tote bag (I have 3 more if you want one also)

 

[figure1a]

The kit:

Cayenne to Taycan jack adapter:

Mounted and fitment check:

Wheel and tools bagged and strapped in my trunk:

This kit should work for any Taycan as the EZ Spare is a 20" wheel which is what I needed to clear my Turbo S brake calipers. All the tools pack into the spare wheel to keep it all together and it's easy enough for me to pull it all out if I think I will need the trunk space (I rarely need the space).

Hopefully, I never need this setup. A nail or screw puncture should be healed with the Taycan fix-a-flat and inflator. But I know my wife would probably kill me if we drove up to LA for the day and then I had to call a tow truck because of a ripped sidewall or blowout that the fix-a-flat couldn't fix.

Sponsored