Front tires Gone @ 4,500miles Help!

[amgnsx]

Hello

Just wanted to ask fellow NSX'ers my car is almost 1 year old in 07-03-05. :biggrin: But the front tires are almost gone... :redface: is that normal???
Does anyone think i may have a allignment problem? the inside of the front tires have about 5% left but the Rear is still good about 40% left/
Looks like it's too late for me to save the front tires by having them reverse mounted, :redface:

Can anyone recomend some shops on where to buy the tires and mounted?
I live in Daly City (SF), also what's the average running price for the OEM Front tires 215/40/17???
Also what is the OEM tire name? Reason is I just called american discount tire and I asked for (Potienza RA-040) they adviced me that they dont carry that and they dont know what tire came with the car?
(faq: did not have anyinfo on 02+ tires)
help...

thanks in advance...

 

[EK]

I replaced all 4 stock Yoko for my '92 recently after 5,038 miles (rear) and 10,xxx miles (front) + a few track events. I got replacements from NSX Prime member RP-Motorsports at a slightly better price than the Tire Rack .

 

[Osiris_x11]

change alignment specs to less aggressive settings

Hello

...Looks like it's too late for me to save the front tires by having them reverse mounted. . . :redface:

hmmm... The OEM tires on a NSX are not only uni-directional, but also side-specific. They possess a 'bias' (weighted sidewall, I believe) that makes them corner specific. So swapping a front left tire for a front right tire isn't possible, even w/ remounting to the corresponding wheel. Now, w/ other aftermarket tire brands that are not corner/side specific, swapping can be done periodically to prolong tread wear. Example: Front Left <---> Front Right and Rear Left <---> Rear Right. Keep in mind that most high performance tires are unidirectional, so remounting must be done when shifting tires to the particular wheel. :smile:

Usually the front tires give 2-3x longer treadlife than the rears. The 'grippy' OEM tires w/ aggressive toe-in, negative camber OEM alignment settings usually yield anywhere from 9k to 12k miles for the fronts and about 4-6k for the rears (I've observed). Changing your alignment specs' to less aggressive settings will increase treadlife in the fronts & rears, but of-course it'll also diminish the crisp-tight handling that the NSX is heralded for. :redface:

BTW, the inner portion of the front tires do show very aggressive wear. However, your front tires seemed to have worn prematurely. It's worthwhile to check the alignment as soon as possible!

 

[amgnsx]

Re: change alignment specs to less aggressive settings

Usually the front tires give 2-3x longer treadlife than the rears. The 'grippy' OEM tires w/ aggressive toe-in, negative camber OEM alignment settings usually yield anywhere from 9k to 12k miles for the fronts and about 4-6k for the rears (I've observed). Changing your alignment specs' to less aggressive settings will increase treadlife in the fronts & rears, but of-course it'll also diminish the crisp-tight handling that the NSX is heralded for. :redface:

BTW, the inner portion of the front tires do show very aggressive wear. However, your front tires seemed to have worn prematurely. It's worthwhile to check the alignment as soon as possible!

So if let's say if my alignment is off will the dealer cover that as a factory deffect and get me new tires? and also correct my alignment? providing they appear to be worn prematurely like u said?

 

[mickeylex]

Try the dealer you bought it from (or service dealer) first. The fronts should not have worn out that quickly. It sounds like an alignment issue. If they don't take care of it for you, work up the escalation path to the Honda/Acura DSM.
If all else fails, get new tires. Try the America's Tire in Dublin (close to your office - its on Dublin Blvd). They know their stuff and take good care when I take my NSX there. For alignment go to Auto Innovations in Milpitas (www.autoinnovations.com). They offer Saturday appts for alignment. Reasonable prices, great service.

 

[Osiris_x11]

Let the dealer do the alignment check, and go from there...

So if let's say if my alignment is off will the dealer cover that as a factory deffect and get me new tires?

hmmm... There are certain specs' for the alignment to be within. For instance, the 1991 NSX had a rather aggressive toe-in & camber setting which caused relatively faster tire wear than many owners had anticipated. So in 1993, alignment specs' were revised & dialed out to be less aggressive in order to give better treadlife. Original owners were also given tire vouchers for compensation. This was many, many years ago.

Wear-&-tear items are very subjective when it comes to being compensated by the dealer. Tires, windshield wipers, rotors/pads, weather-stripping, etc generally fall into such a category. If there is somewhat of an amicable relationship w/ the dealer, they may do a one-off goodwill gesture for the part that prematurely wore/failed provided that they were at fault w/ the matter (in your case, alignment specs'). I had purchased a brand new Accord and within 4-6 months, the front rotors showed such significant wear that upon any sort of braking, the steering wheel vibrated alot. I presented my case to the dealer, and they goodwilled the service to me of machining the rotor surface.

Going over uneven payment at speed, pot-holes, road debris, jumping a curb or driveway, inadvertant curbing of tires/wheels, improper tire inflation/pressure, and other numerous things can cause the alignment to be off, albeit slightly; therefore affecting tire wear.

I think your best bet maybe for you to get Bridgestone to prorate your next tire purchase (if that even is possible as high-performance tires don't come w/ a treadlife warranty) based on your dealer's insight & recommendation. Just a thought. Otherwise as aforementioned, tires & alignment are wear-&-tear parts/services, not inclusive of warranty or dealer assistance... :frown:

 

[ANYTIME]

Re: change alignment specs to less aggressive settings

So if let's say if my alignment is off will the dealer cover that as a factory deffect and get me new tires? and also correct my alignment? providing they appear to be worn prematurely like u said?

Maybe you should have them check the alignment before you do anything. If it's off, then I would ask for replacement tires. If not, then try to get them prorated.
BTW, the original tires are Bridgestone Potenza RE040.

 

[amgnsx]

Re: change alignment specs to less aggressive settings

Maybe you should have them check the alignment before you do anything. If it's off, then I would ask for replacement tires. If not, then try to get them prorated.
BTW, the original tires are Bridgestone Potenza RE040.

WOW!!!
Thank you everyone!!! Good to know i could count on u guys, very fast replies.

I just spoke to the Acura Dealer Service Mgr (where i purchased my car). Reminded them that i got the car from them and my car only has 4,500miles, and the front tires are almost gone. What he told me is that he's going to talk to the Acura Rep and see what they can do for me. He advised me as far as the alignment it can be covered under the warranty but not sure about the tires.

When this Service mgr get back to me and tells me that the tires wont be covered i might just have to take this issue to the upper management. Because I just came across this thread ALIGNMENT and he got free tires and alignment.

We’ll see and keep u guys updated. He'll be calling me back tomorrow.

 

[D'Ecosse]

....Try the America's Tire in Dublin (close to your office - its on Dublin Blvd). They know their stuff and take good care when I take my NSX there.... For alignment go to Auto Innovations in Milpitas (www.autoinnovations.com). They offer Saturday appts for alignment. Reasonable prices, great service.

I agree on the Auto Innovations alignment - Orlando offers great service. I would actually consider having my tires mounted there too - his shop is spotless & he has a great attention to being particular, treating customers car like he would his own.
America's Tire Dublin? ... well, despite advising them of how paranoid & sensitive I was about my rims, they managed to wreck my Works Equips. Have to say their after-the-fact support was good - they paid for rebuild with new lips by the Works rep in SF. They were good on the restitution, however my car was down for about 4 weeks with the holiday delay etc over the Christmas period. I'd just rather not have had the experience to deal with. I do continue to use them for my other cars but I won't ever take the NSX back there.

 

[Litespeeds]

I agree on the Auto Innovations alignment - Orlando offers great service. I would actually consider having my tires mounted there too - his shop is spotless & he has a great attention to being particular, treating customers car like he would his own.

I also agree that AI is the place to go for tire/wheel mounting and balancing and wheel alignment but Ken, do you really think their shop is "spotless". That is a very bold statement that even I find hard to believe.

I just don't want people going their and having their expectations too high with what you say is an ultra clean shop. Their workmanship is 2nd to none but their place does need a little cleanup. :wink:

 

[Litespeeds]

Hello

Just wanted to ask fellow NSX'ers my car is almost 1 year old in 07-03-05. :biggrin: But the front tires are almost gone... :redface: is that normal???

Hey Ariel,
Maybe you just had too much fun on the NSX drive after Hooter's. :biggrin:

Seriously though, it does sound like an alignment issue as the front tires usually last 2-3 times longer than the rears. Did you lower your car yet? If so, you definitely need to get it aligned. If you didn't, then I am sure Acura will take care of you but you will need to bitch a little to the service manager if you want to get them to cover you on the tires. They just might since you bought the car brand new. If not, you should look into some aftermarket tires. I have some Bridestone S-02 in the size 215/40/17 and have driven about 13,000 miles and the inside just started to look about 40% treadlife while the outside and middle looks like 70%. I figure I will probably have to switch them inside out and try and get another 10K miles out of the 2 tires. Good luck with Acura.

 

[amgnsx]

Hey Ariel,
Maybe you just had too much fun on the NSX drive after Hooter's. :biggrin:

LOL. it was the wing's that made me drive like a mad man. he he he LOL
HOOTER's gave me wings!!! (just like the Redbull comercial)

 

[D'Ecosse]

I also agree that AI is the place to go for tire/wheel mounting and balancing and wheel alignment but Ken, do you really think their shop is "spotless". That is a very bold statement that even I find hard to believe.

I just don't want people going their and having their expectations too high with what you say is an ultra clean shop. Their workmanship is 2nd to none but their place does need a little cleanup. :wink:

I stand by my experience Sid - my observation was there was a place for everything & everything in its place. If you want to take the literal definition of "spotless", Ok - it's a working shop, but from my definition in this context I thought it was definitely high on my scale of comparable type businesses. As far as needing a "clean-up" there was nothing from my perspective I could attribute to your comment. I remember this clearly because I specifically commended Orlando at the time on my observations - tire & alignment shops are normally the dirtiest of all services - I used to work in a tire shop in my college days. The equipment was all clean & all tools etc were stowed where they should be - the floor was clean & swept there was nothing untoward visible.
Lastly, I have no reason to promote this business other than I enjoyed the service I receive & willing to pass that experience to the others.

 

[Litespeeds]

Sorry Ken. I misunderstood your definition of spotless. Yes I do agree that they are very well organized and do have everything in its place.

I do promote their business as they are good friends of mine and we have established a good working relations as I send people to them and they return the favor.

 

[Litespeeds]

LOL. it was the wing's that made me drive like a mad man. he he he LOL
HOOTER's gave me wings!!! (just like the Redbull comercial)

That's a good one! :biggrin:

 

[mickeylex]

America's Tire Dublin? ... well, despite advising them of how paranoid & sensitive I was about my rims, they managed to wreck my Works Equips. Have to say their after-the-fact support was good - they paid for rebuild with new lips by the Works rep in SF. They were good on the restitution, however my car was down for about 4 weeks with the holiday delay etc over the Christmas period. I'd just rather not have had the experience to deal with. I do continue to use them for my other cars but I won't ever take the NSX back there.

I remember when your Equips were damaged. So it was the Dublin store, huh? No wonder they were so careful with my car when I took it in a few months ago - they probably didn't want to make the same kind of mistake twice. The service manager told me "we take extra time with these cars, so it will take longer than normal" (but maybe that was just sales BS). I guess I'll be going to Orlando for alignment AND tires from now on for the NSX.

 

[Cairo94507]

I agree with Nalesh about the alignment issue and Acura putting 2 new fronts on the car under warranty IF they alignment is found to be off. I hope that is the case and you get 2 new tires courtesy of Acura.

I also agree with Ken on AI, they did my alignment and installed my Bilsteins, great shop, neat and clean. They took great care to make sure my car was not damaged at all while being worked on. Terrific people and I strongly recommend them too.

 

[amgnsx]

Going to Acura Dealer this sat. will let u guys know what happns.

 

[spartan2-3]

Ariel, I agree with everyone. If its an alignment issue, Acura should replace your 2 front tires. You are well under 12 months and 12K miles, most manufacturer will cover alignments and adjustments under these circumstances.

Keep us posted of the outcome.

 

[Meeyatch1]

Tire and warranty are a touchy subject with Acura and the NSX. You have to be sure to let them know that while you are aware that the NSX has very agressive tires that wear out more quickly than normal tires, getting 4,500 miles to a set of FRONT tires on this car is far below normal. If it had been the rears it would not be that shocking, but the fronts indicate that something was wrong with the alignment when you bought the car new (assuming you did buy it new).

 

[mickeylex]

Going to Acura Dealer this sat. will let u guys know what happns.

Ariel,
Hopefully this worked out in your favor. Any updates?

 

[amgnsx]

Thank you for being soooo patient..

I was trying to keep my mouth shut until the deal went through!!!
Here's the whole spill…


Last week 06-07-05: I called Steven’s Creek Acura where I got the car. Spoke to the Service Mgr Paul Somali, advised him on what’s going on and that I was advised by “Don Hilltop Auto Service” who performed my 1st service and 1st oil change and told me that my front tires looks like wearing out prematurely.
I received somewhat of a cold welcome, but never the less he was still helpful and took my claim. Paul told me that he will present my case to the Dealer General mgr and also to the Acura Representative and will call me back to let me know what the outcome may be.
(I made sure that he mentions to the General mgr and remind him that I purchased the car from them, it’s only 11mo old, the car ONLY has 4500miles, front tires are gone, but rear tires are still good.) So the following day I received a call back as promised from Paul and advised me that they will cover the alignment under warranty but “NOT” the tires. At this point I felt really upset that my tires wore out prematurely due to misalignment. And the Acura Dealer where I got my car from was not even trying to help me. Paul knew that I did not like result I heard from him and he also agreed that the decision by his upper management didn’t seemed fair. So he then gave me a number for “Honda/Acura Client Services” where u can complain if u are having some problems with your local Honda/Acura dealer. They would open a case# for you and document what happened. When I did call it was really worthless all they could tell me was to contact the tire manufacturer and see if they will cover and or replace with new tires.
So I called Bridgestone… and as you guessed they redirected me back to Acura. They told me that Acura should cover and replace my tires due to misalignment and the car is still under 1year and they told me that they receive may call’s from customers just like mine case and the dealer did in fact gave customers new tires. Bridgestone cant really do anything for me since the tires were theoretically not defective.

So at this point I was hesitant on calling Steven’s Creek Acura. I decided to call Serramonte Acura.

Called Serramonte Acura on 06-09-05 Spoke to the Service Mgr Chris. I advised him about what’s going on with my tires, and that I was advised by Don Hilltop Auto service that my NSX is possibly misaligned (I DID NOT mention that I was previously in contact with Steven’s Creek Acura). Chris arranged an appointment for me to take the car and see if the alignment specs are with in range.
To our surprise we found that my car was way of alignment. Front left and right were off by at least 3degrees each side on caster and my right rear was also off alignment in toe. So What does Serramonte Acura does??? They did the right thing… they got me and coved a new set of front tires and also aligned the car and was written off as factory error and under warranty.
I asked the service Mgr why would the factory be off specs by soo much.??? The best explanation he received from the Acura Rep was that they alignment rack in the factory maybe have been off and now they are suspecting there might be a few more 04 nsx’s that are off alignment that came out of the factory.


Now the bad news....
In the process of the Dealer remounting the new tires they managed to scratch not one of the front tires but both of them!!!
When the tech advised Chris (Srvc. Mgr) on what happened he immediately called me @ home and requested for me to come over and take a look @ the rims, they were even willing to ship the rims that day to a repair shop and heat up the rim for repair and repaint…. They were so scared and though I’d get really really pissed upset… but hey I’m sure it was just an accident, and I told them that I can live with that scratch (it truly was very minimal). There were surprised and saw the relief in their eyes..
My first drive…. The car seemed fine but when I hit some high speeds I can feel a vibration on the steering wheel…
Looks like I’d need to take the car to a Pro shop who would do a good wheel balance and another alignment, Oh well

Lesson Learned!!!
DEALERS SUCKS!!!! Unless you trying getting free stuffs. Other than that I wont go back to another dealer for my NSX. :biggrin:

 

[amgnsx]

Ok. Looks like I’m going to miss out on the July 9th meet (Stockton).
So might as well take advantage of the weekend and get the car serviced.
I will be taking the NSX to Auto Innovations this Saturday for another wheel balance and alignment.
Since I’m not a morning person and my appt is on Sat 10AM and to be @ "AI"....
Is there Starbucks around the area of "AI" I have never been around there???
I'll probably get some coffee before or while they are working on the car. They told me the service will take about 1hr. he he he :biggrin:

 

[D'Ecosse]

Orlando's a good guy - pick up your coffee before you go & he'll probably let you watch the proceedings up close which will help your education of the process & make the time enjoyable.
There's a Starbucks I know for sure at 880/Dixons landing exit which isn't too far away, then just come on back down Milpitas Blvd on to the shop) - for your route, take 101 S, then 237 E, 880N to the next exit which is Dixon's; get your coffee, back onto Dixon Landing (S) then right on Milpitas on down to Minnis & Autovations.