Tyre repair kit a good effort

It was the first in a very long time, and the first I can remember when I was not doing something silly like driving down a rutted forest track making pacenotes for a rally.  This time I was driving an Audi TT RS and there was no warning. No pop, no bang, nothing nasty on the road, but when I got home the left- rear tyre looked a little unhappy.

Less than 30 minute later the rim was down to the road and I knew I had a problem.  At this point, having paid more than $130,000 for their hot new German coupe, the vast majority of TT RS buyers would pull out their iPhone and call the Audi emergency number.

But I resist the temptation and decide to investigate the brave new world of 21st century tyre changing.  Except there is no way to change a tyre on a TT RS. It doesn't even have a jack.

Instead, it has a compressor you plug into what was the cigarette lighter - now called the power socket - and a can of pump-in tyre sealant goo. But there is a wheelbrace.

Since this is an experiment, I borrow a jack from another car and remove the wheel to check the puncture, discovering a nine-millimetre cut through the tread.  I'm not optimistic - I can still remember a nasty motorcycle flat and a can of useless goo in the 1980s - but I hook up the repair kit and pump away. And the tyre inflates and the rush of air from the slash slows to a dribble . . .

It's a good effort and I'm impressed. The tyre holds on the run back to the Audi dealer for a replacement.  I'm still not entirely happy, and I would prefer a spare in any car, but the pump-up repair seems like a reasonable system and it means you don't have to suffer the harsh ride of far too many runflat tyres.

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