Well, it happened late last night. My g/f and I were in the TL after a fresh wash and wax for Sat. night. I was in the second lane over doing about 60mph on the 405 freeway in medium traffic. When all of sudden, my steering wheel starts shaking and vibrating violently. I figure, FLAT!! The car starts pulling to the right and there is traffic everywhere. I put on my hazards and hold the wheel straight as best I can, but we start to drift to the right. Luckily, passing cars see me in distress and move over... I slowly exit off of the freeway and pull over to inspect the damage... HOLY SH*T!!! I couldn't believe what I was seeing!! The sidewall on my right rear "reformulated" BS Turanzas blew completely out. I mean, it looks like someone took a knife and cut the sidewall open!! I have never seen anything like this before!!

This morning I get up and inspect the tires again since it was dark last night. I found a tiny puncture mark in the middle of the tread, on top of the tire, which would explain the flat... The outside sidewall is ripped almost completely in half... I also found that the inside of the tire sidewall seems to be ripping apart!! How is that possible?? The inside sidewall looks like its about to tear apart just like the outside did!! It reminds me of the Firestone Tire problem they were having on Explorers a little while back!! Looks just like it... ???

WTF happened??? Has anyone ever heard of something like this happening before?? I've had many flats before but I have never seen a tire explode right out of the sidewall!! I have to thank god that he helped me thru the traffic last night and that it wasn't one of my front tires that blew like that. If it had, I might have been in a serious accident and seriously injured.

I am going to call Bridgestone first thing monday morning to give them hell. I'm also going to call Acura because I do not feel safe riding on my Bridgestones anymore. I want 4 NEW TIRES (not BS turanza sh*t) and I want Bridgestone to pay!! Anyone here that has any advice on how I should handle the situation or who I should call?!?! I'm open to any suggestions or help...

I will try to have pics up by tonight... My digi isn't w/ me at the moment!!
Sorry for the long vent........

 

I had the exact same problem 2 weeks ago.

I was on the 110 going over the St. Thomas bridge when I felt the same shaking and pulling to the right. Like you I figure I got a flat but I had no where to pull over on the bridge so I had to continue to drive till I hit the end of the bridge. About half over the bridge the shaking started getting worse and I looked in my rearview mirror and seeing my tire rolling in back of me. I'm thinking holy shit what kind of damage I'm gonna have now. I finally pulled off the bridge to take a look and the only left on my right rear wheel were the 2 sidewalls the entire center thread of the tire was gone. And to my surprise there were not a single scratch on the rim itself and no other damage to the car either. I can only speculate that because of all the weight being the front of the car and I had no passager and the I was also driving down on the bridge that somehow the right rear wheel never touch the ground and I was driving on 3 wheels.

Long story short, I took the wheel and remaining sidewalls to my Acura dealer and explained what happened. They contacted Bridgestone and replace my tire for free all within a hour.

Talking with my friend (the service manager) I found out that the Turanzas because of their inner design that they will shred apart when the tire goes flat. He said that the TL is a great value for the money but Acura skimp too much on the tires for this car.

Anyway, you can see if your Acura dealer can get Bridgestone to replace it like I did. You have a 50/50 chance. I'm lucky that I have friends inside Acura that can do things like this for me. Good luck.

 

It is called a flat tire - what is all the ranting about? - it happens. This has happened to me with Michelins as well - in fact, my 2002 Type-S lost a tire on the way home from the dealer - I just bought another and was done with it.


You likely struck something that caught the tire in a vulnerable spot, and once they lose air rapidly at highway speed, the tire is disintegrated. Did u save the wheel?

 

 

Sorry about that, i would be freakn pissed as hell. I had 2 flats in the Max and never had tires go out like that. The car had Goodyear eagle rsa's, good wide tires. When it was flat it will just loose air but not fall apart. and both incidents happened to me on the fwy, the 2 in glendale going 80mph and some other place i can't remember. After all the rant i heard about these tires i was afraid to drive in the rain, imo it did hold up well. I can't wait to get new rims/tires.

 

unless you have a tire hazard warranty i think you are going to pay for it. i wouldnt even bother wasting your time calling bridgestone. they didnt put the nail or whateever damaged your tire on the highway. the reason the sidewall was so torn up is because you kept driving on a flat tire.

 

I'm surprised the rim wasn't damaged. I tend to agree with nick04tl about the sidewall giving out so much in light of your continued driving on the tire. Still, my Potenzas are coming off for snows next week, and this will be my only experience with Bridgestone.

 

Most likely not the tire's fault. You ran over something in the road. Don't waste your time with Bridgestone unless you have the road hazard warranty, as others have noted. Sometimes things happen and it's nobody's fault. Live and learn.

 

Bridgestones suck wind. Always have, always will.

Tracer

 

and then get Luvs.

 

Interesting, i'm happy they changed the Tire to Michelin Pilots on my 05 TL

 

Moving to tires.

As much as I wanna blame this on the BS Terroranzas, it sounds like you ran over something and the crappy tires did badly when they ruptured. Agree with Road Rage.

 

Right - that includes the RE050 Scuderias on the Enzo, the RE050's on the S2000, and the F1 tires I suppose.

 

Actually, my S2000 has Michelin's.. much better tires than the crappy RE050's, and that's a quote from a Honda corporate engineer. Your turn again.

And of course, you can't compare the tires under a F1 or an Enzo with tires under a TL, you stupid blowhole. Go do some studying on the difference between a $300.000+ car and a $33.000 car, you uneducated lame brain... geez.. farking dumbass kids these days, i blame the schools.. yeah, that's it.. the schools..



Tracer

 

Now that i have a little less beer in my belly (hehe).. apologies Road Rage, for what i posted above at first.. been a hard weekend.. bitching wife, problems at work (i worked 32 hours over the weekend because of a f**k up of a collegue), etc.

But, even so, i still don't think you can compare the tires of an Enzo with the tires under a TL, especially since it's what Acura used to make the car a little cheaper. Bridgestones for NORMAL cars have never been that great, including those under the S2000 (if the Honda engineer friend basically ordered me to replace them immidiately, it can't be too good right? And i did indeed notice a big difference once i replaced them for the Michelin's), of course, they're fairly cheap compared to other decent tires.

(The original Michelin's under my 99 TL weren't that great either tho.. there's always two sides to a coin.. the tires under the 05 RL i should be getting any day now seem decent, but i only got to drive one for three hours so i'll have to see.)

Tracer

 

Some people just don't know what they are talking about.

Bridgestone builds some of the best tires in the world. Blame Honda for selecting a tire that should have been tested more throughly on this application.

I would have been perfectly happy if my TL came with Bridgestone SO3's but I'm sure many would have complained they wear out to fast.

 

Probably true, but i was obviously talking about the lower end of the spectrum considering the BS tires. Of course you can buy a couple of $350 tires from BS that are very good, but that goes for Michelin as well or any other brand.

Point in fact is that the $250 a piece Michelin's under both my S2000 and my 99 TL beat the crap out of the original tires for both cars (the RE050's and the original Michelin's under the TL).

But yes, they do wear a little bit faster. Not a problem for me cause i replace tires on cars after 25,000 miles, no matter how much tread is left. (i drive into the desert 4 times a week, and after three blow outs in the middle of nowhere on 'older tires' i keep em as new as possible)

Tracer

 

Ahhhhhh, nothing but nothing can beat the Bridgestone S02 on the S2000 unless you go to R compound tires. Sure people said the S02 sucked in the rain, but I contend those drivers really had no business in a rear wheel drive car or are just plain crummy drivers.

 

hehe, i don't care much about rain, i live in LA, we get maybe a week worths of rain.. and then i drive the TL (and soon the RL) or my wife's MDX anyway.

A lot of it is up to personal preference of course, i like the Michelin's, they're a good compromise between comfort and grip (the ones on the S2000 are like frikkin glue tho, Mulholland Drive without going below 65mph ). One reason i am sorta not into the BS tires is because two pair of those three blow outs i had were Bridgestones (the third were Yokohama's), and not the cheap kind either.

Tracer

 

Wow knock on wood, in over 20+ years of driving I've never had a blow out.

I do like Michelin's as well. I bought the Hydroedge for my Odyssey and it is amazing in the rain. I'm running with the Bridgestone LS-Z on the TL for winter weather Jan-Mar, Falken 512's for the A-spec summer tires and I will be purchasing a set of 17" R compounds for the track as I do plan on taking the TL to several road courses next summer. I think I've narrowed it down to the Michelin's, Kumho's, or Yokohama's. Any input?

 

The same thing happened to my TL, my rear driver side tire blew out on I-66 in VA and the sidewall had a tear in it. Took it to the dealer and told them what happened and had all 4 replaced as a warranty defect as the old EL42's. That happened at 4000 miles, I have 13,000 now, and switching to Pirelli Zero Nero's this month.

 

Dgunsuh,
Thanks for the reply. I wasn't sure whether I should go to the dealer and see if they can do anything or I should call Bridgestone?!? Did you have the "reformulated" el42's or the older version tires?? I wonder if they will replace them since mine are the "reformulated" el's... Reformulated.

I only have 5,000 miles on these things!! Maybe I will give my dealer a call today! Thanks.

I HAVE PICS READY... CAN SOMEBODY HOST?? I tried using the links in 3G Garage but when I tried to upload the pics it didn't work?!?!?!

 

lookin4tl,
I took them straight to the dealer and i had the older version tires on them originally. They switched me to the newreformulated ones, but they are just as bad in every way possible. I'm getting new wheels soon, go with the Pirelli's P Zero Nero M&S or the Michellin Pilot Sport M&S (but these are really pricey tires). Also, the Falken Azenis are nice tires for our car as well.

 

well here are the pics... I finally got another member to host them for me! thanks dude! the pics are big cuz I wanted eveyone to get the detail on how badly these tires ripped apart...

give me your feedback!!....

http://www.hawaiianshirtday.com/tl/bsturanza001.jpg
http://www.hawaiianshirtday.com/tl/bsturanza003.jpg
http://www.hawaiianshirtday.com/tl/bsturanza008.jpg

 

I went straight to Firestone and they replaced my EL 42's with LS-Z's

 

I went to my local Bridge/Firestone dealer today and they were not aware of anyone having any problems with the EL42's. WHAT?? I told them I had vibration issues but the tech said they cannot replace any of my tires. I asked if I could upgrade to the LS-Z and he said yes, but they would only give me roughly $100/tire, since mine have 5000 miles on them!

So... HOW MUCH??? He said that the LS-Z goes for $299/tire which, to me, is rediculous for a 17" tire!! I then ask what it will cost just to replace the one blownout EL42 with another EL42... He says they go for $264/tire, which is COMPLETELY OBSURD for these pieces of SHY-ZA!!!!

So I don't know what to do... Either way I'm out to spend a grip! Sounds like a good time to upgrade to the A-Spec 18's... christmas is around the corner!! :blaze:

 

lookin4tl, you should check out tirerack.com , they have the POS EL-42's for like $116 or something like that. i hate our tires so much, that i'm changing all 4 of them really soon, gonna go with the Pirelli P Zero Nero, also on that site, as the cheapest i could find at $122, normally $200 a tire. Hope that helps.