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On the tire wear problem...

Old Feb 21, 2004 | 04:03 PM
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johnsZ
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From: Phoenix
Unhappy On the tire wear problem...

There has been a lot written about the tire wear and feathering problem. Up to now, at 10,000 miles, I was OK. However, I had the tires swapped side to side (fronts) by the dealer. For a bit, things seemed OK. Today, I was washing the Z and found that one of the tires was throwing pieces of the tread blocks on the leading edges of the blocks (like a superball when it starts to disintegrate), and the tread has started to crack and separate from the belts!! This is a first--- in roughly 35 years of driving, I have never seen this type of an impending catastrophic failure. Now I understand why people have been complaining. Called the dealer, who said bring it in first thing Monday. I presume I will get new tires out of this...
Upon checking more closely, I saw that the wear rating of the tires (Bridgestones OEM Potenzas) was only 140- so Nissan put on a tire that on average will only go about 10000 miles or so. Yes, stickier tires tend to have a low wear rating. BUT, on my Ferrari, the tires are Z-rated, with a 320 wear rating, and our Lexus has Michelins with a 420 rating. So, in the (nearly) immortal words of an old buddy-- "we were huzzed". Personally, I am really disappointed- yeah, it is my fault I did not check to see that the tires are made of leftover balloons, but it is a bit unexpected to see such a marginal piece of rubber on an otherwise really fun automobile. (Come to think of it, I also had really big problems with rapid wear on Firestones- stopped using them 15 years ago. Maybe some learning here.)
Good luck to the newbies....!
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Old Feb 23, 2004 | 05:16 PM
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johnsZ
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Well- I took it in today (2.23), they took one look, and said- we will replace both front tires. Alignment is fine. I suspect the Bridgstone tires are just not "made" for the car.
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Old Feb 25, 2004 | 02:02 PM
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I haven't seen any feathering, and at 10,500 I still have some decent tread remaining, but they howl like wolves in heat.

I took it into the dealer today - they said they're beginning to hear more and more of the problem and will check into it and get back to me. They suspect Nissan will recommend swapping the front tires.

What did they give you as replacements - another set of Potenzas?
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Old Feb 25, 2004 | 03:55 PM
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From: LV
Default Whoa...

What kinda tires come on that Ferrari? I haven't seen many Z rated that can last up to a treadwear of 320!
NzZ
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