Odd thing happened on the way home from The Tail of the Dragon yesterday. My Wife and I pulled into fill up the tank near our home (about 250 miles from the Dragon) and I get the TPS warning. Right rear tire is obviously low. Hmm, I add proper PSI and head home. It is almost flat when I arrive, (about 3 miles away). So obviously must have picked up something sizable, right. Nope can't even find a mark or nail, bolt, NADA. So I pull off wheel/tire and get water on it, clearly the inside sidewall has a leak. No visible signs of injury or marks of any kind.

The markings are my grease pencil


I had purchased these from Discount tire on 10-7-20. So one year old and about 5200 miles on them. I drop them off at Discount Tire and explain I believe this to be a manufacturing defect and want a Pirelli Rep to call me and/or replace the tire at NC. Naturally I expect static, but we shall see how this progresses. There is no way mileage or age contributed to this failure. I believe the heavy side forces put on during our spirited "dragon run" were too much for this particular tire! WTF, what about the other 3? This is only a 4.2 vert and although I have significant competition (road racing) under my belt, with my wife sitting shotgun I was well below maximum velocity/g-force. Worrisome to say the least.

I have a friend who says of course, its Pirelli. Really, I have never had a problem previously. I tend to be a Michelin man, but Pirellis were always my second choice. Others or thoughts I might be missing? By the way, this was Yesterday and if you do a search for Ferrari crash on the Dragon, you will see what we came very close to tagging! safe link here Driver Flips Ferrari 488 on Tail of the Dragon | The Drive

Thanks in advance to all whom can enlighten this discussion.
Bond

 

Maybe something punctured and then pulled back out again? Like backing onto a board with a nail in it, puncturing the sidewall, and when driving forward the nail stays in the board.
(Dragon bite?)
Maybe when they look inside the tire, they’ll get a better idea what happened.

 

Looks like you hit something, there seems to be a diagonal line going down from the puncture and to the right. Course that could be just a shadow or ??

 

What you wrote - "No visible signs of injury or marks of any kind." - isn't what you meant, as evidenced by your photo that shows an apparent puncture in the sidewall that you didn't see at first glance.


If that puncture occurred while you were driving the Tail of the Dragon, you wouldn't have gotten very far. I suspect that it happened shortly before or when you stopped to fill up, as you explained that the tire was almost completely flat when you got home 3 miles away.

On the last leg of your trip home, did you leave your car unattended where it could have been vandalized? It looks like an ice pick puncture.

Discount Tire should replace it if you bought their road hazard insurance. But if they dont, you may have a claim under the Comprehensive coverage of your auto insurance policy subject to the deductible (which may be more than the cost of the new tire).

 

Thanks, yes the photo does show more than my naked eye could see, but before I marked it and water tested with close inspection nothing was visible. I expected it to be the valve stem. But as KJ suggested once I get a good look inside I will have a better idea. I think my initial pissed off reaction was premature Will update.

 

What I see:

 

CJ, I have to agree this does look molested. It is I think highlighted by my grease pencil, but never the less in this photo it does not warrant trashing Pirelli. Update, no inside photos have been sent from Discount Tire, but they are offering to replace the tire for $36.00 (installation and balancing cost) as good will. Pirelli is supposed to contact me, but I haven't heard from them yet.

I no longer have the tire in my possession so I cannot inspect with a more exacting eye to argue to my original insertion. To be fair to Pirelli, moderator can you remove this post?

Thanks to all who replied.

 

"Good tires, Bob mused, casually lighting a cigarette, "but certainly not great tires."

 

Funny, I actually remember that from Car and Driver, I think Ferrari (Dino?) in ditch??

 

I dunno, I'd leave the post. No one is going to avoid Pirelli based on your post and in fact is has some value regarding others insights and you shifted your position, no harm no foul.

On a side note, how much tread is on the other side as compared to the new one?

Discount Tire is doing you a solid, but not knowing your driving habits and how much wear is on the other side vs a new tire would be of concern to me if significant. One can burn a lot of rubber in 5000 miles. Something to think about.

 

I'd be more concerned about the wheel ......





...... close encounter of the rocky kind? The associated marks on the tyre wall would suggest this.

Graham

 

The wheel damage is old and prior to my ownership. No fresh markings anywhere I can see.

 

Easy enough to check with a tread depth gauge. Just ask Discount Tire to do it. If the car doesn't drive squirrely or throw an ABS code, I wouldn't worry about it. Check the tire pressures before you test drive it at both city and highway speeds to be sure it's OK.

If it's not, there are tire shops that can shave a wee bit of tread off to match the desired depth.

 

I have P Zero Nero's on my Aston and had P Zero's on my Lotus and couple of other cars. Never had a defect and had consistent grip through the life cycle of the car. Pirelli Cintaurato's; that's another story. Worst tire I have ever owned. Bubbles and defects one after the other. Went through about 5-6 tires on XE. Luckily had tire/rim insurance. The rode well enough, but way too fragile.

 

My Lotus ate up the pirelli's like a snack, I am either a Michelin or Continental guy, depending on what my car likes best.

 

YIKES. We are tackling The Dragon on our Goldwings in May '22. Will now take extra care to watch out for Ferraris.