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?

 

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)

 

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.

 

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.

 

any pics?

 

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

 

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

 

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.