Portable Air?

[Mark Young]

Hi all, if you autox or track your car you know how important getting tire pressures right can be. I don't have a trailer with my own air supply and all that (yet so sometimes I'm hunting down someone's compressor. I've seen some people with small portable tanks that they just fill up before the event and use throughout the day. I've also seen some cig. powered 12v compressors. Space is a premium because I just drive to the event, and if its a full weekend there isn't much room left in the hatch!

I just wanted to hear what others are doing in this space and maybe get some feedback before I try something.

Thanks!

 

[Serious Eric]

I have a 110v AC 'pancake' compressor from Porter-Cable ... it's probably no bigger than most static tanks. Most track garage areas have AC outlets close by and if they don't, I just carry the compressor into the lounge, pressurize the onboard tank to 140psi and use that.

Bought it at Home Depot for $250 including a pneumatic brad nailer ... which could actually be quite useful for pumping some 1.5" galvanized ego-deflators into the tires of the porsche-driving dirtbag in the garage stall next to you. Not that I've actually done that, mind you.

 

[Fred(DrivingSchool)Kinder]

Hi Mark, I use a small 12 volt system from COSTCO and it works fine.

 

[Mark Young]

Thanks everyone for your responses. I think I'll go with one of the 12v portable units. I only need it to adjust a couple psi so that should do the trick, I was just skeptical of buying one.

To 'mjr', you're right, there isn't any problem getting help from others at the track. The issue is, lets say, if you're doing autox runs and want another 2 psi in your front tires and only have 5 or 10 minutes before your next run, waiting in line to borrow someone's air is a problem. This is mainly what I'm after.
Its mostly for autox where you have a lot of drive-ins and not many trailers with air. I also run street tires, not slicks. Once I go to a trailer setup I'll probably change classes and run slicks, though I enjoy learning the limits of the car on streets.

Thanks again for your advice.