skl

My son was driving the CS this afternoon on a busy local interstate about 75mph when he heard a LOUD bang and a lot of smoke and !!!! air suspension workshop warning- luckily his racing experience paid off and he got it to the shoulder- don't think the wheel is shot but I sure wonder about the rest of the tires! A year old with 7K miles on them... calling Costco tomorrow...

(Michelin Diamaris)

charlieXS

I think you were cornering a bit agressively and they won't warranty them.

JFScheck

Come on - he was on the track...

henna gaijin

Exactly what size and load rating were the tires?

skl

Porsche NO spec tires- Costco wouldn't sell anything for the Cayenne that wasn't OEM spec. I'm religious about checking tire pressures as well. You know, an **** Porsche driver...

38D

Pressure was too low + cornering hard = failed sidewall

skl

Tire pressure was fine and he was going STRAIGHT on a 6 lane interstate!!!!

(Interesting as earlier this summer we did do lunchtime lapping on Road America- with other cars- and it did fine...)

pdxjim

Had a similar result with my 05 BoxSter. Heard a loud noise when changing lanes and kept driving a little bit. By the time I realized it was a flat, the sidewalls looked like yours. I called the dealer and they said to put the bottle of tire fixer in. I told them I did not believe in miracles. Bought new tire and was on my way again.

charlieXS

actually... probably a simple flat (nail) and driving on the rim for a couple miles did that.

pdxjim

I am with you charlieexcess

ltc

I doubt that a driver with track experience like skl's son would drive for a couple of miles with a wheel/tire in that condition.
Furthermore, I doubt that a nail would lead to that type of damage to the sidewall; that is a structural failure in the sidewall.

pdxjim

ltc, must humbly disagree (ONLY on this issue) with you. When I had my blow out, with 18" rims, did not really notice any BIG handling issues as it was a rear tire. Finally figured out what the problem was when I stopped and looked. Prior to that I was doing a quick weave within the lane and it was not obvious what the problem was. I race spec racer ford (13 years) and thought I should have been able to discern what the problem was. My tire looked that the one pictured above. Think he drove too far on a flat :-(

cobalt

I would argue that.

I had exactly the same thing happen to me. I was driving along and suddenly the tire just went boom. I did not drive more than 200 yards to pull off to the side where I would not be hit.

The tire blew because I hit a bolt which punctured the tire. The sudden loss of air caused the rim to run on the side wall of the tire which cut the entire tire apart just as you see there. I was convinced it was a structural failure. I spoke to my tire guy who is quite knowledgeable. He was actually part of the Perelli Tire team at LeMans this past year. He claims he sees this happen quite often and it is the rim cutting the side wall. Unfortunately, there is nothing that can be done and it is not covered.

I also found the tire to be incredibly hot because of the short distance I drove on it. I had to wait for a while before I could touch it to change out the spare.

MadFox

Actually.. Ditto CharlieXS, PDXJim, and Cobalt. This spring coming back from Master's.. Michelin Diamaris.. good tread left.. got a bolt/screw puncture in the passing lane of I-20. BAM! Warning sound and literally saw the TPS system count down the pressure.. by the time I slowed got over two lanes, the tire looked bad but not like the picture.. Then I drove 100 yards to the off ramp because I couldn't get far enough over to use the goop and by that time, it looked like this.. was told that this was typical.. makes the goop worthless and I have a BETA model with no spare.. FOUR FREAKIN HOURS LATER... on my way with new tire (luckily have a tire policy so only cost $50 as the tow was $100 and policy only pays $50).

Did I mention that 800 Porsche was zippo help? Out of warranty and it was tough luck buddy .. took a hour to get a tow truck!

ltc

OK, let me re-clarify:
I don't think he drove "a couple of miles" on that tire; that would be an awful long time with the tire in that condition.
I don't think it was a nail, as it would be very difficult for a nail to go into the sidewall and/or the tread/carcass and cause sudden/total loss of pressure.
If it was such a failure, then you should be able to find the entry point in the belts.

Moot point at best, the good thing is no one was injured and car control was maintained.