Tell me if this is weird? Got a new pair of front tires today (warranty from the dealer), Z is at close to 15K miles. This pair lasted 11K miles. Here is the weird thing. You know how the new Bridgestone RE040's have the solid thread ridge which is different then the RE040's that came stock on the 2003 Z's? Well my first replacement RE040's had the exact thread pattern as the OEM tires that came on my Z and they were installed 11 months ago, so I thought they just had some of the old thread design tires left over. Well this new pair of RE040's are the same thread design as my original OEM tires "no solid thread ridge" like the RE040's on the 2005 350Z's that I've looked at. The dealer sent my Z over to the local Firestone to have these tires mounted and then brought it back to the dealership to have it aligned. So what's the deal? Are there two different thread patterns available on the RE040 tires? Or does my local Firestone just have a 1 1/2 year old inventory of RE040's? Also is one thread pattern any better then the other? I figured they went with a new thread pattern on the RE040's for the 2005 Z's to help eliminate the feathering. Did I just get "kinda" screwed by getting the old thread pattern??? Maybe I'm just being too ****? By the way in the past 14 months and 11K miles my toe setting change a bunch. I think I will have the alignment checked on these new tires every 3-4K miles.

 

Wouldn't be too hard to believe that they had some old stock laying around as no one seems to replace with OEM on these cars.

I'd try to find some pics of both to confirm your suspicion then take to dealer with the Nissan Feathering TSB that states tread patterns were changed on these tires to "solve" the feathering. I know my 04.5 Z came with the newer tires, i.e. connected inner tread blocks.

 

Firestone/dealer is trying to pass off old stock on you. See the TSB...it clearly states.

 

Where can I read this current TSB so I can take a copy to my dealer? So these "new" tires I just got are over 1 1/2 years old???