Front tire blows out on f@80mph.

[dghii]

No drama! Amazing.

We were returning from Orlando yesterday and just south of Ocala on I-75, the passenger side tire gave way. We were able to safely, and easily get to the side of the road. After putting the spare on, I didn't see any road hazard damage so I think the tire just flat out failed.

The tires are Hankook Ventas 17" on stock turbo twists, less than three years old with about 15K miles.

I'm not bashing the tires, just pleased that the car stayed composed during the event.

A couple of items to think about.

1. Although I made sure to pack a minimal tool kit prior to the trip and made sure I had the wheel lock socket and correct tire pressure, I failed to check the spare's tire pressure. Once mounted to the car I found the virgin spare to be very low on air. I was able to proceed slowly to the next exit and get some air in the spare (cool!)

2. It was early Saturday evening so we found it difficult to find a shop that was open. Our first stop was Sam's Club, who would not help us as the didn't have a tire with the correct speed rating and their policy forbid them from installing anything else. The did point us in the direction of Discount tire, who had closed two hours earlier.
We found a Pep Boys who had three different choices. I had a tire mounted and balanced and we were back on the road.
It's amazing that these days, a flat tire could strand you in a town overnight. It wouldn't have happened back in the day. Thank you EPA and lawyers.

On a good side, we drove a bout 850 miles round trip, down on Friday morning, back on Saturday night. The car turned over 118K miles and ran great as expected. No issues at all other than the tire. The car averaged right at 30 mpg.

[rdass623]

glad to hear everyone is ok, and the sheet metal survived as an added bonus.

[DrCactus]

Lucky your alive for one and secondly, stay away from Hankook tires - cheap tires to buy but the information I found about them show very low safety rating.

[Topless]

Sounds like you were pretty fortunate. If a tire goes down on these cars they get spooky pretty fast.

I am actually a pretty big fan of Hankook tires but if yours were not "speed rated" to 150mph it may have been the wrong Hankook tire. Have all of your tires inspected and make sure you are running the proper speed rating and the tires are less than 5 yrs old.

Hankook RS-3 and V12 Evo are widely used on Boxsters and have a speed rating exceeding 168 mph.

[mountainman]

Originally Posted by DrCactus

Lucky your alive for one and secondly, stay away from Hankook tires - cheap tires to buy but the information I found about them show very low safety rating.

I have 2 boxsters and a C4 and have been running hankook V12 evo's on all of them for the last 5 years ( at least a dozen sets by now ) and have never had a problem. In fact, I am totally happy with all aspects from price to performance. On the other hand my last set of Michelins (at twice the price ) had 3 failures before 3,000 miles and they do not stand behind them. After being a loyal Michelin buyer for 40 years I now buy hankooks for everything.

[crod]

Originally Posted by DrCactus

Lucky your alive for one and secondly, stay away from Hankook tires - cheap tires to buy but the information I found about them show very low safety rating.

Well all my tires on the Boxster and on the Lamborghini have always been Hankooks. Not even a single problem with them. Wear could be better (last longer) but for what you pay they are the best bang for the money out there by far.

CR

[litespeedp]

You are very right to remind everyone about maintaining the spare.

I was lucky to discover that the spare in my 2000 Boxster S was flat before it was needed.

Although it had never been on the ground,time had taken its toll on the valve stem!

I'm now repaired and ready in case of a flat.

[dghii]

Thanks everyone.
My tires were purchased in Nov. 2011 and looking through my records, the tires had 14K miles on them. Tires are Y rated (186 mph).

Just about all my driving is around town, with an occasional, rare trip to Atlanta, Tampa or Orlando, roughly 300-400 miles each way.

I'll most likely buy another matching tire and call it good.

[Paul]

When did you check your tire pressures last?

[SoCalBlackbox]

Originally Posted by DrCactus

Lucky your alive for one and secondly, stay away from Hankook tires - cheap tires to buy but the information I found about them show very low safety rating.

Where is this information? I have Hankook Ventus v12 evos on two cars and I love them but if there is something I should know please tell me where I can find it.

TIA

Rick

[Topless]

Originally Posted by dghii

Thanks everyone.
My tires were purchased in Nov. 2011 and looking through my records, the tires had 14K miles on them. Tires are Y rated (186 mph).

Maybe just hit something sharp that cut it down. It happens.

[Pdwight]

FWIW , every fall I pick a day with good temps and dry conditions and do oil changes on all my cars, change the wiper blades, rotate the tires and take out the spare and check the pressure. I got stranded about 25 years ago due to my spare being almost fully flat at the time..never again. Any thing else that has been lingering around that needs to be repaired I make sure the cars are ready for winter....never let me down yet. I also maintain a excel spreadsheet on my cars listing the service records so at a moment I can find out when and what and not have to guess.

[dghii]

Originally Posted by Paul

When did you check your tire pressures last?

Last Friday, before we drove to Orlando.

[dghii]

Originally Posted by Topless

Maybe just hit something sharp that cut it down. It happens.

Maybe. It was hard to tell, looking at the tire after the fact. Sidewall was torn but I didn't see evidence of damage anywhere on the tread.

Man, that thing was hot when I pulled it off!

[dbansal]

you are very lucky!! I had a michelin pilot sport blow out on me (rear driver side). The car spun and it was a total loss!

[Topless]

Originally Posted by dghii

Maybe. It was hard to tell, looking at the tire after the fact. Sidewall was torn but I didn't see evidence of damage anywhere on the tread.

Man, that thing was hot when I pulled it off!

A really hot tire with blown sidewall is often a sign of running under low pressure. I ran over a piece of pallet once and a staple punctured the tire. It leaked really slowly and the tire overheated with sidewall failure before it went fully flat. That was in my work truck and not the Box though.

[Perfectlap]

i keep a portable inflator in the trunk, along with a full size lug wrench, can of flat fix (last, last resort), and a utility knife. I should keep one of those patch cords with the punch tool as well...nail in tire is pretty common.

also, in hot humid weather that sees a lot of rain and then intense sun/heat, you have to really stay on top of the tire pressure and avoid having the tire sit for long periods. Sidewalls get mushy.

[BYprodriver]

Originally Posted by Perfectlap

i keep a portable inflator in the trunk, along with a full size lug wrench, can of flat fix (last, last resort), and a utility knife. I should keep one of those patch cords with the punch tool as well...nail in tire is pretty common.

also, in hot humid weather that sees a lot of rain and then intense sun/heat, you have to really stay on top of the tire pressure and avoid having the tire sit for long periods. Sidewalls get mushy.

Air psi rises 1psi with any 10 degree F rise in temp of the tire, regardless of the cause.
Higher psi = firmer side wall & reduced deformation of tire shape whether stationary or driving.

Tires rarely ever fail from defects. Almost always from insufficient psi to support the weight & forces being placed on it.