vistabluevert

After 35,000 and 7 years, it was time to replace my OEM Pirelli tires. Actually the front right tire had blow out--and I mean blown. Anyway after debating whether to get Pirelli's again, I read in a leading consumer magazine that the Michelin Pilot AS3 was the top rated ultra high performance all season tire. I went with the AS3 tires. After driving on the Michelins for several weeks, these are great tires. They really grab the road, and you can really feel the car launch when going through the gears--no tire slippage. I would definitely recommend them over the OEM tires, but keep in mind, I'm comparing 7 year old tires to brand new ones, so my memory of how the OEM tires performed when new is a distant memory.

Also, one other thing to mention, is that the tire shop noticed that I used tire shine products on my OEM tires. They strongly recommended against using any tire shine products because it breaks down the tire sidewalls. So I wondered if this is what may have caused my OEM tire to blow out, as the side wall was completely shredded. After an Internet search, it seems that water based tire shine products are okay (Aerospace 303 was highly recommended), but that petroleum and silicone based products are bad. It's hard for me to believe that reputable car care product companies would produce a product that could break-down your tire sidewalls. Tires are such a critical safety and performance component on our cars. Comments, thoughts, suggestions?

Goldenpony

I have used a product called "More Shine Less Time For Tires" by Stoner for years. I have never seen any degradation of the sidewall rubber from using it. I will continue to use it, works great.

kn7671

7-year old tires were likely the cause of your blowout, not what you put on them.

As for the Michelin Pilot AS3's, I too installed a set of these about 6,000 miles ago and really like them. The ride well and don't trammel on uneven pavement much at all.

Back to the tire age, there was someone or some company attempting to introduce a law that would force tires to be replaced when they reached 5-years old. While I think this effort died, it brings to light that most blowouts are caused from the tires age, and not necessarily external factors such as debris or tire pressure.

Here is a tech article on TireRack's website talking about tire age.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete...jsp?techid=184

In other words, just because tires have tread on them does not mean all is well.

Criticalmass

Tire companies use chemicals / oils to keep the rubber from hardening and eventually dry rotting. Those chemicals / oils tend to disappear after years of being out in the weather. Your issue was with the age of the tire. 7 years is pushing it for any tire.