SC2 sidewall failure?

[Zeus]

Some background information:
I purchased this car used from a dealership in IL on November 1, 2021. Drove it straight home (WI) and parked it inside my garage. It was only driven 2 times afterwards to fill up the gas tank and one "joyride" trip less than 10 miles. The tire pressures were good and it sat all winter. My garage is insulated, no heater, but she's connected to my house and it always stays above freezing - typically around 40 degrees in winter, nothing freezes.

I took it out of the garage last month on a 60degree day and washed it and drove it less than 10 miles and put it back in the garage anxiously waiting for Spring to arrive for more than 1 day. Yesterday it was over 50 and mostly sunny so I backed it out of the garage and sat admiring it before I took the kids for a short drive. Before I parked it I looked everything over and noticed what I would call a small "bulge/tear" area on the side of my front right tire.

Immediately my mind was racing (and I was pissed). What the hell was going on and why? The car basically hasn't gone anywhere. It certainly hasn't seen <40 degree weather. The tires are basically brand new. I don't have a tire depth gauge, but they certainly appear brand new. I'm not a mechanic or a tire expert. Even after months of sitting in the garage the tire was at 31 psi.

Is this delamination? If so, how? Again, it's never been driven below 45 degrees.
Is it safe to drive? For the moment, it looks "ok", but obviously something is going on and I don't want to be driving it when it "blows".

I sat wondering about it all last night and realized that I took a picture of one of the front and rear tires last year when it was parked in the garage because I wanted to know what size and spec they were. I had never owned a GT350 and I was curious about it and wanted to look it up. Sure enough, what are the odds that I happened to take a picture of that same tire and in the upper right hand corner of that picture it shows a small "bubble/raised" area in it.

I wasn't going to post anything, but I figured what do I have to lose? I will be trying to locate if there any Michelin shops in the surrounding area (NE WI) and see what they have to say. I'm frustrated because it's almost spring and I can finally drive it and it looks like I will get to drop 2 new tires on it.

If this is delamination and an example of cold weather damage, then perhaps I will need to look at other tires. I don't plan to track the car, it's not my daily driver, it's my weekend/fun toy. It will not be operated in cold/freezing/winter conditions, but I don't want to deal with this if it's a function of that tire. Or is it just bad luck?

I want to keep the car as close to OEM as possible, if SC2's are not placed on the front, does anyone have a suggestion for something that's identical?
Dumb question, if I swap out the front to something other than SC2's I'm assuming there should be zero issues with leaving SC2's on the back in the meantime? Or do I replace all 4 with something else? I planned on dealing with this issue when the tread/life of the tires were gone, not less than 400 miles after owning the car.

Any advice would be appreciated.

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[jmn444]

It kinda looks like that tire hit something, there's a line of abrasions that seems to start around that 104y marking and goes down to the warning lettering.

 

[br_an]

How many miles are on these tires already? If the tires are new enough/very little wear, I think you could get away with replacing just the damaged one.

 

[ice445]

It kinda looks like that tire hit something, there's a line of abrasions that seems to start around that 104y marking and goes down to the warning lettering.

I agree, definitely signs of an impact in the past. Either the previous owner or the dealership got a little too friendly with a pothole. OP, you should just replace that one tire and you'll be good to go.

 

[Zeus]

I'm not sure how many miles are on them. My paperwork did not indicate new tires, but they sure appear to be very new. A local shop should be able to check them and perhaps I can get lucky and replace only one of them? I do see in both photos that "line" that was mentioned. That would make sense if it was some type of impact. That would explain why all other areas of that tire and all of the other tires appear to be in excellent condition.

 

[matthewr87]

I had something similar happen to my tire when I took delivery of my car from the dealership three years ago. The guy moving the car out onto the lot scraped a curb and took a chunk out of the sidewall. They ended up replacing the tire for me.

 

[Bluelightning]

Definitely looks like it had an impact judging by the damage on the sidewall. Doesn't look like a defect.

 

[cmxPPL219]

Some background information:
I purchased this car used from a dealership in IL on November 1, 2021. Drove it straight home (WI) and parked it inside my garage. It was only driven 2 times afterwards to fill up the gas tank and one "joyride" trip less than 10 miles. The tire pressures were good and it sat all winter. My garage is insulated, no heater, but she's connected to my house and it always stays above freezing - typically around 40 degrees in winter, nothing freezes.

I took it out of the garage last month on a 60degree day and washed it and drove it less than 10 miles and put it back in the garage anxiously waiting for Spring to arrive for more than 1 day. Yesterday it was over 50 and mostly sunny so I backed it out of the garage and sat admiring it before I took the kids for a short drive. Before I parked it I looked everything over and noticed what I would call a small "bulge/tear" area on the side of my front right tire.

Immediately my mind was racing (and I was pissed). What the hell was going on and why? The car basically hasn't gone anywhere. It certainly hasn't seen <40 degree weather. The tires are basically brand new. I don't have a tire depth gauge, but they certainly appear brand new. I'm not a mechanic or a tire expert. Even after months of sitting in the garage the tire was at 31 psi.

Is this delamination? If so, how? Again, it's never been driven below 45 degrees.
Is it safe to drive? For the moment, it looks "ok", but obviously something is going on and I don't want to be driving it when it "blows".

I sat wondering about it all last night and realized that I took a picture of one of the front and rear tires last year when it was parked in the garage because I wanted to know what size and spec they were. I had never owned a GT350 and I was curious about it and wanted to look it up. Sure enough, what are the odds that I happened to take a picture of that same tire and in the upper right hand corner of that picture it shows a small "bubble/raised" area in it.

I wasn't going to post anything, but I figured what do I have to lose? I will be trying to locate if there any Michelin shops in the surrounding area (NE WI) and see what they have to say. I'm frustrated because it's almost spring and I can finally drive it and it looks like I will get to drop 2 new tires on it.

If this is delamination and an example of cold weather damage, then perhaps I will need to look at other tires. I don't plan to track the car, it's not my daily driver, it's my weekend/fun toy. It will not be operated in cold/freezing/winter conditions, but I don't want to deal with this if it's a function of that tire. Or is it just bad luck?

I want to keep the car as close to OEM as possible, if SC2's are not placed on the front, does anyone have a suggestion for something that's identical?
Dumb question, if I swap out the front to something other than SC2's I'm assuming there should be zero issues with leaving SC2's on the back in the meantime? Or do I replace all 4 with something else? I planned on dealing with this issue when the tread/life of the tires were gone, not less than 400 miles after owning the car.

Any advice would be appreciated.

OP - I agree with the others that it looks like there was a hit in the past on the sidewall. You can see this sort of long "chaffing" line under that tear, like the sidewall was scrubbed on a curb or something.

Another question - your sig says you have a 2019 GT350, which should come with Michelin Sport Cup 2s ("SC2's", as I assume you're referring to in your post) from the factory.

However, correct me if I'm wrong, but the tires you have look like Michelin Pilot Super Sports, which came on the MY2015-2018 non-R. Your wheel spokes (just based on the close up pic) don't seem to be the high gloss finish of the MY19 GT350 Non-R wheels, which have a different spoke design from MY15-18.

Can you confirm?

 

[jmn444]

ha, just noticed the 300tw marking, definitely not cup 2 tires... but either way, the issue is likely from the impact not defect.

 

[Zeus]

OP - I agree with the others that it looks like there was a hit in the past on the sidewall. You can see this sort of long "chaffing" line under that tear, like the sidewall was scrubbed on a curb or something.

Another question - your sig says you have a 2019 GT350, which should come with Michelin Sport Cup 2s ("SC2's", as I assume you're referring to in your post) from the factory.

However, correct me if I'm wrong, but the tires you have look like Michelin Pilot Super Sports, which came on the MY2015-2018 non-R. Your wheel spokes (just based on the close up pic) don't seem to be the high gloss finish of the MY19 GT350 Non-R wheels, which have a different spoke design from MY15-18.

Can you confirm?

You are correct. Pilot Super Sports were put on and I can assure you it is a MY2019. Someone previously decided it was cheaper to install PSS's than the factory cup 2's.

Brought it in today, only had to replace the one tire. Closest one was ordered from Indiana and will be to the tire shop next week.

Immediately upon seeing it without any hesitation tire guy said "yeah, that's impact damage".

Sucks, but I guess it could be worse. I am truly blessed to only have the problem of putting a tire on such a nice toy, there's worse things out there.

Thanks everyone and have a Happy Easter.

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