My day gone bad

Went out this morning to meet up with (UConn Husky) and a new guy in the "hood" with a Noble (Myslow1). Climbed out of bed and found it raining. Second guessed myself and decided not to go. Called the buddies to cancel, they said the sky was cloudless and a perfect day was emerging. Checked the weather radar and found that a quick shower had passed through my area only. Changed my mind (my car needs a wash anyway) and called the Noble guy. He didn't want to take his car out in the wet so he decided to ride with me to see Jays 355.

Picked him up, drove for 20 minutes at 65 - 70 mph up a local highway (good to excellant asphalt) and heard a noise...louder...louder braked to pull over and felt a wiggle in the steering, mirror was filled with white smoke....Ohhh crap...this can't be good.

Got safely to the shoulder and hopped out to investigate. Driver side rear tire flat. I figure it blows my plans for the day but could much worse. I pop the bonnet to get my "fix a flat". I'm reading the directions and preparing to use this stuff. It says try to find and remove the cause of the flat. I reach under the fender and start feeling my way around. Hmmm...something doesn't feel right....what's missing...The inside tire wall is kaput.

I call the wife and have her load up my stock wheels with (thankfully) the Pirellis on them. She brings them to me along with the appropriate lug bolts, tools, and a floor jack. I mount them up and drive home.

After my heart rate returns to normal I take a closer look at the problem. It seems I picked up a piece of a steel band strap causing the tire to go flat. My relatively slow and comfortable cruise on a smooth road with these extremely low profile tires prevented me from noticing the flat. Some miles later it was all over but the invoicing.

I'm prayng the wheel is not damaged but I'm not sure yet (it looks ok). The Vredestien Tire is no longer in production in that style requiring me to replace all 4. I hate the Pirelli's. I've heard good things about the Michelin Pilot Sport. You guys have any other recommended sneakers for me to consider? Who can speak about the Vredestein Sessanta's.

I have 3 good Vredesteins available if anyone is interested.


Lane
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Sorry to hear about this Lane.

Lucky you and your passenger did not get hurt. Thats the main thing.

 

I just put the all-new Goodyear Eagle F1 Assymmetrical shoes on my 355 Spider and couldn';t be happier. I found these tires a few months ago after they were introduced and put them on my BMW 330ci ZHP. They handle amazing and are the quiestest tire for road noise--much moreso than the Michelin PS and PS2s.

Hope this helps!

Sorry about your day!!! :/

 

Sorry to hear about your misfortune today.

Actually, I have never heard of these tires before, are they a new company?

 

Vredestein tires are from Holland. www.vredestein.com They fairly recently became available in the US. I'd guess at 8 to 10 years. I believe they started in the 2 wheel tire industry and have blossomed since then. They are imported by Vredestein USA in New Jersey. It remains difficult to find local distributors which would be why your not familiar with them. The dreaded "highline" wheel company in Florida ships their wheels with this rubber exclusively. That's how I got them. I liked them much more than the PZero's. I found them fairly quiet, reasonable sticky, and they warned me (slip and recover) before letting go in a corner. The PZero's were downright scarey. They would let go all at once.

What are you running Chris?

Pap...Thanks for your thoughts...Thank God it wasn't a front one, but then I probably would have felt that go flat.


Anyone know if there is an aftermarket TPMS. Seems prudent after this affair.


Lane

 

TPMS lots on ebay.

 

Thanks again for the ride today, Lane. You have a very nice 348. I was just settling in for the ride to Rocky Hill when the tire blew. I had no sense of a flat tire until you were just getting to the shoulder and we could then smell the burning rubber. Sure glad you had some spare wheels and tires close by. You're right. It could have been a lot worse, that's for sure. Oh well, hopefully the weather will be better for our next outing and we can run our cars togehter.

The offer still stands, if you want to bring your car over to put on the hoist to inspect for any unseen damage underneath.

BTW, this is Lane discovering that the tire is a goner.
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Gee thanks craig....such a flattering photo

Here's what I was looking at from my crappy, foggy cell camera.
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

That's a good profile, huh?

 

Lane that is awful good thing you guys were safe. It never rained at all here in Glastonbury today--although I thought it was supposed to. Half the reason I decided today would be a lounge day. There has certainly been some strange weather this summer in CT. Oh yeah-- what a nice wife

 

Ouch, poor tire! Road hazards don't discriminate, they don't care what tires they cut into. No doubt it turned out 'good' having that extra set of wheels and not damaging anything else (or getting hurt).

Myslow1 - please, a better angle for the next pic! aagghhh, look away!

 

Sorry this happened Lane, and glad nobody was hurt. Surprised PAP didn't say he was glad your 348 escaped damage
PAP - you're not going over to the DARK (Goth) SIDE are you?

 

Lol!! No no.

I would have actually thought the blown tyre would have damaged the inner wheel well, but it didnt.........thankgod for that.

Never say NEVER about crossing to the dark side though.....

 

Bridgestone Potenza

295 rear
225 front
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Sorry to hear about the tire----I have the Michelin Pilot's and love them

 

I've more or less wittled it down to the Potenza's, Eagles, or Pilots sports. Does any one have experience with any 2, or all 3 of these for comparison purposes. The Michelins seem to garner the most favorable comments but come with a cost premium (about +$100 each). Not terrible in the big picture but "is it worth it?". As stated above, I hate the Pirelli's. Having had to remount them and drive I now remember all the reasons why. They break loose without warnig, they grab every road groove and track terribly. I understand from a fellow chatter (that has the Pilots) that the Michelins grab road grooves also. This absolutely sucks on a non power steering 348 and would be a major consideration. The Vredesteins did not do that at all.

Brock - did you mean to say that you have driven both Michelins and Goodyears and find the Goodyears superior?

As an alternative...how would you guys feel with new Vredestein Sessanta's on the back with Old Vredestein Ultracs on the front. Same tire, dramatically differant tread pattern. It coukl save me alot of cash and I do like the tire. I'm just concerned about 2 tread patterns.

Lane

 

I have AVON tires on my 348, and have no issues whatsoever with them. Nice price, too!

 

I have also just fitted the new Goodyear F1 Assymmetric (348 with 355 alloys) and found them so much better than Pirellis, cheaper too. Sorry to hear about your bad experience, no harm to car or person though, fix it and enjoy!

 

I went to Michelin Pilot Sports on 360 rims, from the stock rims with P-Zeros. The difference was stark, amazing, fantastico! But it would be tough to say it was just the tires, and not also the wider track, wider rubber, etc. But I do love those Michelins. I put a set on my M5 (sadly, no longer in the stable) and they were a vast improvement, again, over P-Zeros.

 

Wanted the Michelins, too much money, settled for Bridgestones, waited 1 month, out of stock, tried Eagle's, pricey and also out of stock....got frustrated and bought Toyo T1R's. I guess we'll see if their any good.

 

I have Avon tyres (they are from the UK!) on my Jag I just bought. I also had them on a Porsche a few years ago. Very happy with them. They seem like they have a lot thicker and beefier sidewall than alot of tires I've had before, but they still have a nice ride and no road noise. Perform great in the dry and wet. Also had Potenza's on a Porsche and currently have them on a Honda too. Great tire, but I've found tire life is fairly short. Very sticky, but also wore out fast on both cars.

 

anymore pictures of these wheels on your car the bbs looks awsome.

 

Avons were on my stock 348 wheels when I bought the car. I've only put about 1300 miles on it since and have no other experience with tires on this car but I think the Avons are a very competent tire. I'm not sure this qualifies as an endorsement but I've had no problems with them at all. A local indy mechanic told me to avoid directional tires on the 348.