SideWall Tear After 20 Miles! -- Advice Requested

[Owner]

I went ahead per this forum's advice and bought the Pilot Super Sport's for the rear.

After only 20 miles of driving, I got a crack in the sidewall. A very long detailed story around this saga, but I will leave that to another day.

I discovered upon investigation that there was a pothole less than one mile away from the point where the tire pressure gauge hit in. But I did not hear or feel the pothole, so I likely just scrapped the edge.

I am now concerned about the durability of this brand, and may just switch back to the Continentals. Michelin's 800 number is not available on the weekends.

Here is a photo of the cut. Advice more than welcome!

 

[Electric700]

Looks bad and it could be a quality problem as you suspect, not something you did. Can you take the tires back and exchange them for ones you like that are well rated?

I went ahead per this forum's advice and bought the Pilot Super Sport's for the rear.

After only 20 miles of driving, I got a crack in the sidewall. A very long detailed story around this saga, but I will leave that to another day.

I discovered upon investigation that there was a pothole less than one mile away from the point where the tire pressure gauge hit in. But I did not hear or feel the pothole, so I likely just scrapped the edge.

I am now concerned about the durability of this brand, and may just switch back to the Continentals. Michelin's 800 number is not available on the weekends.

Here is a photo of the cut. Advice more than welcome!

 

[Rainbow]

With so few miles I would wonder if it was damaged before or during mounting?

I would take it right back. Ask them to replace it at their cost otherwise they better have a very good explanation. Unless you know you hit a pothole severely, which doesn't sound like the case.

 

[Owner]

The only thing I could *potentially* get would be another tire of the same genre.

We’re confident you’ll love your new MICHELIN replacement tires. Soconfident, in fact, that we back your purchase with a 30-Day SatisfactionGuarantee. If you’re not 100% satisfied with your new tires, just bring thetires and original sales receipt back to the place where you bought thetires within 30 days of your purchase and we will gladly exchange themfor a new set of tires of equal or lesser value. Original Equipment tires notincluded.

Looks bad and it could be a quality problem as you suspect, not something you did. Can you take the tires back and exchange them for ones you like that are well rated?

I'm leaning towards just eating it as I don't like the weakness of this tire. In 12,500 miles with the Continentals, I surely hit a lot of bumps in the road without any problem. And 20 miles with these. I'd rather not hassle with it as it was a huge hassle.

 

[Jason S]

I'm pretty happy with the Michelin Primacy MVM 19" tires. The 21" stock Contis were pretty nice too.

For the Super Sports? Meh. I think the PS2 and PS3s are improvements from everything I've read. No personal experience for any of those though.

 

[ckessel]

I'm leaning towards just eating it as I don't like the weakness of this tire. In 12,500 miles with the Continentals, I surely hit a lot of bumps in the road without any problem. And 20 miles with these. I'd rather not hassle with it as it was a huge hassle.

You got unlucky, it should be covered. It doesn't mean there's anything fundamentally wrong with the tire or brand. I think this is over reacting, akin to saying you want to go back to ICE because an electric car caught fire somewhere.

 

[Owner]

I did get the line from Tesla "these are not the recommended tire list"…. And the cost of the tire is not all that much.

I just don't like having two flats in a week! And I had to wait 2 hours for a tow….

You got unlucky, it should be covered. It doesn't mean there's anything fundamentally wrong with the tire or brand. I think this is over reacting, akin to saying you want to go back to ICE because an electric car caught fire somewhere.

 

[Doug_G]

I've used the Pilot Super Sports before on my G37 and they were great tires. Maybe this is just random bad luck?

 

[JST]

The Super Sports have been around for a couple of years now and have been widely praised for both their performance and longevity.

I know several people that have used them at track days and had nothing but good comments. I've not heard anything to suggest that Michelin tires generally or Super Sports in particular are weak or delicate; quite the contrary.

I think you just got unlucky.

 

[jerry33]

I went ahead per this forum's advice and bought the Pilot Super Sport's for the rear. After only 20 miles of driving, I got a crack in the sidewall. A very long detailed story around this saga, but I will leave that to another day.

That has the appearance of a typical pinch shock. Your only protection is to keep some air in the tires. A good practice is not to drive much that day and check the pressure the next morning with a good pressure gauge. Some places still believe no car tire should have more than 25 or 30 psi, and shop gauges get a bunch of abuse.

21" tires are particularly vulnerable because there is little sidewall to absorb the shock. Unless there is something that I'm not seeing, you just got really unlucky. This will be covered under road hazard if you purchased the tires from a place that offers a road hazard warranty (tirerack, discount tire, etc.)

The Model S' suspension does a good job of isolating the driver from road irregularities so it's entirely possible to damage a tire on a pothole and not feel it--particularly if the air pressure is low.

 

[Owner]

Sounds like I just got very unlucky.

The garage (not Tesla) that put in the tires is a fabulous and well reviewed and respected place, so I am sure there was the right amount of air etc… in them. The Tesla aligned the wheels a few days later (it was free and part of the 12K service I needed anyways). I actually did not drive the car in-between "just in case".

I did buy them through tirerack.com and in looking through the terms I have found this!

Also note -- If you did not purchase the Tire Road Hazard Service Program when you originally ordered your tires, you can do so within 14 days from original invoice date by contacting one of our sales specialists at 888-541-1777.

 

[yobigd20]

This kind of thing is just going to keep happening as long as your running around with low profile tires. Only solution is to have a bigger sidewall. Try switching to 19s.

 

[ckessel]

This kind of thing is just going to keep happening as long as your running around with low profile tires. Only solution is to have a bigger sidewall. Try switching to 19s.

There are an awful lot of cars with an awful lot of miles on low profile tires that haven't had an issue that would disagree with you.

Now, if you wanted to rephrase that as this sort of thing is more likely with low profile tires, that'd be accurate.

 

[Kraken]

You should get a free replacement. They might only give you the same type of tire. If you are thinking of eating the cost of the one that tore and getting a different tire, you might as well take the free tire first.

 

[dsm363]

This kind of thing is just going to keep happening as long as your running around with low profile tires. Only solution is to have a bigger sidewall. Try switching to 19s.

14,000 miles on 21" tires and no problems. Your overall point that it is more likely is accurate though.

 

[jerry33]

14,000 miles on 21" tires and no problems. Your overall point that it is more likely is accurate though.

Right, sometimes you have bad luck and sometimes you have good luck. You can help "good luck" by making very sure (make that very, very sure) that your tires are never ever below the vehicle placard pressure. The vehicle placard pressure is not a maximum, it's a minimum for the vast majority of driving situations.

 

[Owner]

Turns out you can't buy the road hazard warranty within the 14 day period if you already had a road hazard.

They did sell me a replacement tire at 50% off though.

You should get a free replacement. They might only give you the same type of tire. If you are thinking of eating the cost of the one that tore and getting a different tire, you might as well take the free tire first.

 

[linkster]

This kind of thing is just going to keep happening as long as your running around with low profile tires. Only solution is to have a bigger sidewall. Try switching to 19s.

+1 yobig !

Anybody driving around on 21's with a 2.25" nominal compressed sidewall height is just "looking for" future issues (I should know, I have 21 silvers, 21 silver staggards, 21 grays, and a set of 20's (14 total)). At some cumulative price point and time spent dangerously stranded on the side of the road, my fellow "S" owners will realize just how easy it is to damage the gorgeous 21's and how brutally practical the 19's truly are.

 

[Gizmotoy]

Turns out you can't buy the road hazard warranty within the 14 day period if you already had a road hazard.

They did sell me a replacement tire at 50% off though.

What did the Michelin shop say when you showed them the tire? I kind of expected, with 20 miles, they would have concluded it was a quality control issue and replaced it for you.

 

[Owner]

Well since the pothole was the likely culprit along with potentially a weak sidewall near the rim? I thought 50% was fine, and I did this over the internet. Here is a photo of another Model S driving by the pothole the next day and a close up of the pothole. As you can see from the Model S photo, it is very easy to hit your left wheel in the rim. This intersection is quite busy with cars and cyclists, so folks aren't likely to notice the pothole. I was driving at night.

I also find it odd that this driver's left light is out or my iPhone has some very strange timing lag properties.

What did the Michelin shop say when you showed them the tire? I kind of expected, with 20 miles, they would have concluded it was a quality control issue and replaced it for you.