New Continental tires - vibration
 

Hi all,

Was having some service done at the local Porsche dealer and had it arranged so they would also mount some new Continental ExtremeContact DWSs I had shipped from TireRack.

Picked up the car after work and was disappointed to discover a vibration in the steering wheel at 65+ that didn't exist before the new tires.

One of the reasons I had the tires done at the dealer (besides scheduling convenience) is because they have the Hunter Road Force balancer which is supposed to be the best.

Going to call them tomorrow morning. Anyone here ever get a bad balance from the dealer?

Ask them what the read out of the "road force balancing" was ? If the tires didn't balance below 20 lbs., or better yet into single figures, chances are that you may a tire (s) that is out of spec (out of round). This is not uncommon with low profile, high performance tires. It's what's commonly referred to as radical force variation . I went through this with a couple of new rear tires, wherein they wouldn't balance below the mid to upper 30's . And, ultimately they had to be replaced by the manufacturer .




Hunter GSP9700 Wheel vibration Control System solves wheel vibration and tire pull problems that balancers and aligners can't fix

I purchased the same tires from TireRack last year for my 01 Boxster S and really like them. Cost me $40 apiece to remove old and mount and balance new from a specialty wheel shop that also has the Hunter balancer. They are perfect with no vibration at any speed. I'd be going back to the dealer that balanced yours.

I put 16" DWS on my first Boxster because my tire dealer said they had a 60 day "love them or leave them" deal at the time. The tire was great in a straight line. The grip was awesome on dry, wet or snow just as advertised.

Whoa !!!!

On the twisty roads forget it. If you press a little in the curves look out. Under steer was scary. I had to get them off the car. I would not put them on any of my sports cars.

I have these tires on front but previous owner installed 215/45/17 never had any steering wheel vibration, very good treadwear rating (400) and Made in USA.

The balance is only as good as the tech who does the work and in my experience its not uncommon to get a sloppy job. Return and ask for the tires to be re-balanced and 99% of the time you'll be fine.

I had the same problem with these tires on my wife's RSX, rebalancing solved the issue. The tread does seem to squirm a ton, but they were bought due to the excellent snow rating for an all-season, so of course we got no snow this winter!

Update:

Brought it back to the dealer and they said one rear needing rebalancing but that the fronts were fine. Took it.for a.drive with the tech and the vibration was maybe 50% better but still there. Got back and I told them that I needed the roadforce #s (which they didn't have). They took the car back into the shop, somewhat reluctantly, and got me the #s.

Oddly, after that, absolutely no vibration issues. Hmmm?

Road Force Balancing requires patience and diligence . It sounds like the dealership's initial goal was to get the max for the minimum . Why is that not surprising .

I know why - you didn't tip them! (inside joke)

A person can have the perfect tools in the world, but if he/she can't use it properly...