ccannizz11

OK, so I was washing my car this afternoon and she was lookin pretty nice until my gf noticed a bubble in my stock tire sidewall on the left front So I've read some threads on here that talk a little about the dreaded bubble, but I'm looking for everyone's opinion on this....

I was planning on getting some new wheels (18's w/ 235/40's) eventually, just not this soon. And I've heard the stock tire can cost around $200. So do you think I should just go for the new rim and tire set now (I do have a few choices in mind and will post if necessary), or should I just get a new stock tire, and do all the other mods I was originally plannin on doing first?

EricL

Go for the set of nice lightweight rims and sticky tires. (Make sure there light -- if you want good acceleration).

If you with some max-performance rubber (some really sticky stuff), you'll know what you've been missing.

At $190 a pop -- the OEM tires aren't exactly cheap. (But the tread lasts a long time)

Slimey

A lot of people, including myself, have posted that their OEM Michelin's bubbled.

I think it's too common of an occurrence to blame it on bad luck -- I suspect bad manufacture. I told Acura (phone & letter) and they told me to tell Michelin. I wrote Michelin about 1.5 years ago and am not holding my breath for a reply.

I did post my concern for this tire on the NHTSA site. I suggest everyone that has a problem with this tire do the same.


Off of rant mode, consider this an opportunity to upgrade the tires and wheels, just like EricL suggested.

NSX-Tuner

I've had three tires bubble on the sidewall; 2 on my '01 CLS and 1 on my '03 CLS. Each time I had hit a pothole. Each time it took several days before the bubble (rupture) show up. I switched to Michelin PS A/S 225/50ZR17s and put about 23k miles on them without anyone bubbles.

As of Thursday, I had new rims (18x7.5 +48) and tires (235/40) installed without any rubbing issues. And yes, I've got the CT drop.

ccannizz11

any pics?

NSX-Tuner

As soon as I get my BBK installed next week, I'll post some pics.

SCTL-SS

One of the things you can do, if you still have some tread life from your other 3 tires is get a good used tire and drive on it until you are ready(financialy?) for the new purchase. A used tire usually runs 15-20 installed. MY

Scrib

Regardless of what you decide, get that tire replaced ASAP. You'll really be running a risk if you continue to drive on that tire.