There is a moral emerging to this story from both our experiences.
Buy tires that have warranty- and buy from a place that knows how to fight for that warranty. In my case Costco could not fight for the tires they sold me- but Discount Tire fought and got me half my money back on tires they did not sell me.

 

Excellent advice!

 

WOW!!!! Pictures don't lie. What was the DOT date on those?

Yours were the same A/S tires I had 2 sets of on the Super V8, first set in 2008 lasted almost 50K miles and still had tread left, but driving in rain and snow I wanted new tires, in 2011 I think it was. Sold the car before the 2nd set wore out. I loved them and were my favorites, even over the venerable Energy Plus Green X.

I have had warranty claims with both Michelin and Continental and both companies were very supportive and accommodating.

 

To set the record straight NEVER have I expressed any doubt that it happened to you Q&C or CeeJay, not in this post or previous... I've acknowledge it likely happened each time. As you've mentioned every tire mfg will attest to having some bad examples. My contention was his constantly throwing out such emotionally charged dire warnings then even worse going to the extreme of making claims that all reviews are bogus (again see post #20). If he makes such exaggerated claims as conspiracy back them or admit it's a belief not fact as presented... I've never challenged him that he had a bad time with his tires however taking liberties and creating stories/scenarios doesn't bode well for building credibility.

I'm rather surprised that Costco didn't gladly handle that better, did you try escalating it up a level or two? My experiences with Discount tire has been exceptional in both their gladly and quickly price matching Costco and their service however I've not had any need to test their return policies thankfully.

Also for the record - am I a fan of Michelin yup! My son got a recent set for his car. I've had the MPSS on my Porsche thought the world of them. Do I have them on any of my cars now, nope. When it comes time for the Jag it'll either be another set of Dunlop Sportmaxx or 4s mostly depending on price

 

Think twice about using these tires if you live anywhere below freezing. You'd have to store them in a heated location

From Tire Rack website:

Note: Tires exposed to temperatures of 20 degrees F (-7 degrees C) or lower must be permitted to gradually return to temperatures of at least 40 degrees F (5 degrees C) for at least 24 hours before they are flexed in any manner, such as by adjusting inflation pressures, mounting them on wheels or using them to support, roll or drive a vehicle.
Flexing of the specialized rubber compounds used in Max Performance Summer tires during cold-weather use can result in irreversible compound cracking. Compound cracking is not a warrantable condition because it occurs as the result of improper use or storage, tires exhibiting compound cracking must be replaced.

 

I just made a Pilot Sport 4S purchase from Tire Rack. I did so because they project them to be an even better tire than the Pilot Super Sports. I loved the PSS in the past and am hoping to be equally satisfied with these. My plan is to have these mounted and in use by this time next week.

I assure all of you here on the Forum, I will report back on my likes and dislikes accordingly. Be mindful, though, my XKR is not a daily driver necessarily. I drive it a few days a week, and have several overnight excursions planned for the near immediate future. There will be a month (mid June through mid July) that it won't have any miles on it at all, whilst we take our trip to the UK.

More to come...

 

Think twice about using these tires if you live anywhere below freezing. You'd have to store them in a heated location

That advice goes for ANY high performance summer tire regardless of mfg

 

So happy to live where it's warm...

 

Thanks, good to know (since I rarely read the fine print). My 'summer' tires do get stored outdoors in an unheated shed, but stay there until warmer spring temps return.

 

As the OP, I have to thank you all for your insightful and, in some cases entertaining, responses. I knew bringing up tires would have consequences, and yet I went ahead for the benefit of my fellow members. (Lol)

I ended up going with Falken Avenis 453s. Saving $800 vs the Michelins went a long way towards that decision. So far, after a week of booting around I like them better than the stock Dunlops. Of course the Dunlops were getting old so perhaps not a fair comparison. I will report back on these new tires once broken in a bit. Cheers All!

 

I am in your camp mate. Trust me it was hard posting evidence that supports the boy who cries wolf all the time. And there was a certain perverse gratification in depriving him of sanity by withholding the evidence, and I did for a year! lol

Yup Costco was a surprise to me. But then think about, there is no incentive for those robots to do anything. They are not on commission, nor are they incented to form personal relationships. So a cool guy like me has as much currency at costco as I would on the isle of Lesbos.

 

Point taken... I've always found Costco to go "Over the top" to please like Amazon does unlike United Airlines with Asians though no experience with faulty tires. Glad Discount fought the fight for ya, I've seen many questionable tire places but discount has done me right each time.

Back to original topic, I hope the praise process retire with the 4S, Everything I've read thus far looks extremely promising

 

The front tires were 2 years older than my rears and 2 years older than the car- go figure.

I am baffled. If temps affect them, I wonder if every distributor stores them in the right conditions.

Wonder if it was a batch to batch problem.

 

Wow,Q&C... I feel for ya, but to be perfectly honest when I look at that front, I would simply tell you you drove it a significant distance severely under inflated.

All damage shown is exactly what would happen if your cars weight was only supported by the sidewalls. They would easily overheat and denigrate under the stress.

Vince

 

Mate, even then impossible do. The only explanation would be I did figure 8s and maintained 60mph for 4 hours. But the dead giveaway of the poor chemistry of the tire is that the wear is not how wear would look like. Look closely; its shedding rubber inside out! There is no wear in the perfectly carved out valleys where rubber fell off. Even Michelin's computer mathematically recognized this as an impossibility. They take measurements all around- they can tell by the back tires how the fronts were driven. They never actually saw the tire. PLUS both tires did the same thing.

The day I drive long distances on a severely under-inflated tire, is that day I would realize I have overstayed my usefulness on earth.

 

Not discounting what you're saying. I'm just pointing out that the images show me, in my opinion, something completely different.

We've discussed low profile tires in the past here, and the stiffer than normal sidewalls could give a driver a faults sense of normal inflation.

To many, driving 20" Low Pro is pretty new. Its only the more recent market that has moved tire and rim sizes up. Pressures for Low Pro are typically around 10PSI higher than an equivalent 19" tire. Many of use with years of driving are just now learning how critical pressure becomes with tires like yours. Never had them 15 years ago...

As for figure 8s and such.... no, not at all. If that tire was running on say 20PSI, a simple 1 hour drive or less would overheat (and I do mean Severely overheat the sidewalls, and create melting and de-lamination due to high temps and abnormal flexing. The break at the sidewall plys shows they were probably carrying the majority of the vehicle weight.

Been there and seen that, so to speak...
I myself have driven near flat tires at freeway speeds, where centrifugal force kept the center tread in contact with the road. It wasn't till I slowed down that an obvious problem existed. By the time I hit an offramp and gas station, the tire was in ruins. (And those were the days of 15" tires with tall sidewalls!)

V

 

It almost sounds like you are saying that people don't check their tire pressures and don't recognize if they are low due to their profile. Also why would any person who drives in a normal fashion use other tire pressures then recommended by the mfg. Then again there is the TPMS which will also give you a warning . So I guess I miss the point.

 

Its not meant to be offensive. I've been driving 47+ years, and Lord knows how many cars in that time. 20+ years have been directly involved with a minimum of 4+ car clubs (and I don't mean shine and show type clubs). I know tires, I know suspension and I know motors , as very few do.

I've never lived a level of financial luxury I find most Jag owners live. Although I consider it an extreme privilege, I have known many owners, that have no idea how to maintain a car, yet alone a Jag! They have lived a financial life that a problem simply means another trip to the dealership.

In my defense, I have serviced my own ( and friends) cars since age 14. I know little else, and truthfully find most dealership mechanics borderline incompetent when compared to the car world I have grown in...

My knowledge isn't perfect, and I've have been called to the carpet on more than one occasion. But I call the shots as I see them, looking with what I know of tire technology and compounds, as I have seen them in real everyday road and track events.

I cannot explain a TPMS failure (actually I can...) or why an under inflated tire would go unnoticed. But what I see here leaves me only one real answer according to what I know. This damage was more than likely self inflicted. I can apply so many different levels of physics and tire tech that better fit my hypothesis than accepting a 'manufacture flaw' of that magnitude.
The racing industry( IE every performance car club and forum) would have been abuzz with news of a compound failure of this magnitude.

Vince

 

Vince I thought you were pulling my leg, but you are serious.

Your science and logic is correct, but think of the rest of the logic. I would never run under inflated tires, not even by .5pounds. If I was that sloppy the rears would be bad. And no way on earth would Michelin's customer service, which took every measurement admit to manufacturing defect. What you cant see in the pictures is that they also started looking like they were 15 years old and been left out in the sun to dry.

BTW the only reason I buy MPS is because I cant stand soft sidewalls. So running underinflated is not even possible in my book. And jagtoes is right the TPMS would drive you insane in my car.

Also big note to others- this process took couple of days, just between driving to tire shop one day to the other, I had about 30% additional wear- no joke. Just like Cee Jay noted, once they start spitting rubber- it goes downhill quick. More proof that its the compound not inflation.

p.s Tire pressure is the first thing they check when you try to do a claim

 

They have been! that's why Michelin has changed its compound 4 times since, and never again used sunflower oil. And that was their first year to my knowledge.