New Tire Question

Make sure they both have the same tire pressure in back. I'm presuming they are the exact same tire/brand/size correct?

Soft performance tires do tend to wear pretty fast. Depending on how you drive, you can burn through a set of rear tires in 7500 miles on a Ferrari. By contrast, on your SUV, a harder compound street touring tire might last 40,000 miles without too much trouble.

Usually a puncture can be repaired as long as it's not actually in the side wall. I've repaired several tires with nails on the very outer edge, where it starts to roll over into the sidewall a bit - never had any problems. Tires are incredibly durable. Just use those kits with the plug (the ones they sell from Autozone - just make sure you get the T-handle style). Heck, my brand new 488 had a puncture in it when I drove home from the dealer. On the way home (about 125 miles) I heard a strange rattling in the engine compartment. At first, I thought it was a turbo impeller loose or something. After a while it stopped. About a week later, driving out of the mall, as I was going by a concrete wall, I heard a ticking sound coming from the tire. Sure enough, a screw. And not just any screw.. but a Ferrari style Torx black screw. Lovely. As near as I can put together, someone at the factory dropped a sheet metal screw into the motor compartment (or something along those lines) and didn't bother to retrieve it. When I got on the freeway with the car, it finally rattled around back there until it fell out - right into the path of the on-coming rear tire.

Anyway, the dealer said if I brought the car back, they'd put a new tire on at charge. I ended up just using a plug kit and repairing it myself. Not even worth the drive up to the dealer for something like that - and plus I'm not super fond of people messing with my cars once I take ownership of them.

Never a dull moment with Ferrari though!

Where was your puncture? Do you have a photo?

Here are a couple of photos from the fun I had

Ray

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Ryan,
You made the right choice. Not worth the risk, and don't forget that tires age with time as well as mileage.

 

If you cant feel it pulling dont worry about it is my opinion. You were right to replace the tire. Peace of mind at the speeds these cars are capable of is worth it. The pulling could be anything including tread wear, alignment, pressures not exactly right, rim being out of round. At 1610 miles it shouldn't be that much of a difference especially not being tracked.

 

It's always a good idea to buy tires in pairs - especially when differentials are involved and/or electronics that depend on knowing that the tires are the exact same diameter. Theoretically, having two different size tires on something like a limited slip differential can produce extra heat and slipping, but in your case (with only a difference of 1000 or so miles) I would say it's a non-issue.

You might, however, take a depth caliper or digital tread gauge and measure the tread depth between the two. If it's within something like .020 or .040" between the two tires, then I wouldn't lose any sleep over it. You can also lower the tire pressure a couple of PSI if one or the other tires seems to be hooking up better, but I wouldn't drive too many miles like that either.

As long as the tread depth is similar, then you're probably fine. Ideally, replacing them as a pair would have been the best option, but with only 1000 or so miles wear on them, I'd have done as you did and just opted to replace one, not both.

Ray

 

New tires have mold release compound left over from manufacturing. It is relatively slippery compared to a tire that’s worn in. It will go away in a hundred miles or less, depending on conditions. The tech may have felt that, but by the time you drove it, it was enough so that it was no longer that slippery.


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Well generally speaking you'd only buy tires as a pair as the ride most likely can be affected with mismatched tread wear, arguably even with as little 1600 miles.
Sporst cars are equipped with very soft rubber to enhance handling and could last only 10k miles depending on how you drive.I'd get 2 new if it were me.