[sai_ace]

Could it be that when you filled in air, the valve probably never sat back properly resulting a slow leak?

This look less like sidewall damage and more like having driven with under inflated tyres. I have done this mistake too - but managed to recognize this and change to the spare tyre before the Tyre tore. Yet the damaged tyre was gone completely. This was a 205/55 Goodyear OEM tyre in my linea.

[PrasannaDhana]

This definitely looks like either a manufacturing defect or mistakenly driven when flat. I am not sure about the latter because you would have definitely felt it (that too on the abarth in which the steering feedback is phenomenal imo).

I have used Continental MC5 on my car for 63,000 km before replacing it for better tyres. It definitely is a great tyre for grip around corners, though a bit noisy. There is no way that it should give up at just 8000 km.

[Gannu_1]

Looking at the snaps, I am glad you are safe Amogh! Can't say for sure if a small bubble/crack on the sidewall expanded into this mess during the course of the drive.

Originally Posted by amoghchaphalkar

How hard should I pursue this with Continental?

Please involve Continental. IMHO, they should send a qualified personnel to inspect the tire in detail and do a proper analysis. You've been a returning customer too.

[Santoshbhat]

Did you check the tyre pressure with your own gauge at Belgaum? Many pumps are known to have badly calibrated gauges. Running the car at speeds always increases tyre temperatures. The heat increases pressures by about 4 to 5 psi. For example, if you started out at 30 psi cold, you will need 34 or 35 psi in a 'hot' tyre. 30 psi 'hot' translates to 25 psi cold.

Checking the pressure before journey is no guarantee that there was no puncture or leak after that. Valves sometimes leak air if the mechanism gets stuck or loses its spring action. I've had a similar experience and coincidentally I too was driving out of Belgaum . There was a slow leak from the valve, pressure dropped, tyre was unable to bear the load and speed and the sidewall gave up. Looks very similar to your tyre, doesn't it?





My experience is here

Since then I have invested in an active TPMS system that gives me a read out of pressures constantly and gives out an alarm when the pressure drops below a threshold. Ever since the above incident, I have got these systems in both my cars that do highway runs. Can't take the risk of a leak or puncture during highway runs which can potentially lead to tyre failures at speed.

[Bsimhan]

The only thing that I can think of is that the calibration of the equipment at the petrol station. It happens that the tyre pressure can vary between each bunk and i am not sure if the owners calibrate it to give you the correct reading. Thankfully you have averted a major mishap from happening.

[deepakr82]

Originally Posted by amoghchaphalkar

Hey guys,

Do you guys feel this is a manufacturing issue or just sheer bad luck? How hard should I pursue this with Continental? Do I have a case?

Glad to know that there were no untoward incidents due to the tire failure. I had a similar experience on the Continental MC5 on my Elite i20 enroute to Kukke Subramanya temple, it was raining badly and we hit a pothole hit at around 50 or 60 kmph which resulted in a sidewall tear and an immediate deflation on the Left front wheel. Brought the car to a halt immediately after noticing the car pulling towards the left. I'd got the tires replaced recently and the tires had done about 1.5K. The Continental dealer refused to entertain my requests for an in warranty replacement as it was a pothole hit. He called up the Continental regional office and gave me a discount of 30% on the replacement tyre.

[Rustom Mistry]

Hi,It is nice that you stopped safely.But from the pictures posted it’s clear that the car was driven after the air loss and the rims acted as knife.The car being on a heavier side Catalysed the damage.

[Tuisha110HP]

Firstly, Glad that you are safe.

I have a theory as something similar happened to me on my motorcycle. I filled in air before a morning ride and went for a breakfast ride. When I was in a corner, my bike behaved completely different than what it should have been. I didnot feel anything related to tyres. As soon as I got down, I saw the tyres completely flat. I went to a nearby puncture shop and the culprit came out to be a valve of the tyre. It was leaking air and within 10 mins, the tyre was flat. Maybe, just maybe, the same happened with yours as well.

[KPR]

I had such scary incident with Apollo Alnac 4G in my Punto evo in 2016. Same alloy size. If I'm not wrong same tyre size of 195 55 R16. Apollo quoted failure due to under inflation but I strongly denied as I had checked 32 psi that day just before the trip as I do before any other trip. Posting photos of failed tyre. This was driver side tyre.






In fact I have another photo focusing driver side alloy and tyre, taken just one hour before the incident and the tyre was absolutely normal and no symptom of under inflation. Couldn't find that photo. I will upload once I find it.

[rahulskumar]

Great that nothing happened and all are safe. Never fill air during a long journey and most of the pumps don't have proper calibrated units. Always use a portable pump to check before you start your journey when tires are cold. I usually check for nails or remove stones whenever I stop but will never ask these pump guys to fill air. Sometimes they even damage the valve and we have to suffer at unexpected times.

[sagarpadaki]

Could be air filling valve issue. In case dirt/debris get into the air filling area and get jammed on the valve spring, depending on the centrifugal force exerted by the wheel rotation, the debris may push the valve pin slightly so that the air starts leaking.

Just a wild theory, in case your valve do not have dust caps. Not applicable if you ensure that the valves always have dust caps screwed on.

[kaushik.genius]

I am a very finicky driver, even if there is a slight pull due to an uneven road bank I stop the car to get down and inspect the tyres. This got frustrating in long drives as I used to get down multiple times.

Found TPMS to be the most economic solution for the predicament. I got a very cheap one from China for around INR 2k and it has helped me have peaceful drives since the last 3 years.

High probability that after your check there was a puncture and a leak which caused your alloy edge to cut thru the tyre as mentioned by many TBhpians. A TPMS unit would have warned you of a leak much earlier.

[Latheesh]

Looks more like due to under inflation and weak side wall. May be Pressure loss happened due to valve issue or hitting a foreign object/pothole. Do you have picture of other side of the tyre?

[Living2Drive]

I have had similar experience, I usually check pressure once in 5 tank fills or the day before highway drive. One instance i had it set 33 and 40 the previous day as i was about to travel with 5 adults and a big rice bag. however ever the plan changed and 3 adults dropped out. Since it was too bumpy i pulled over to a fuel station and readjusted to 32 in all and proceeded. After around 100 odd kms of drive noticed the vehicle was going little off coarse while changing lane. I did not stop to inspect. After 40 odd kms further i pulled over for breakfast and noticed the rear left was fully flat and was running on sidewalls. swapped spare and proceeded. when i changed with new tyre and the same day evening i noticed the new tyre ran low from the set pressure. later noticed that the air valve was leaking and a small grain of sand was struck inside. Then recollected the scene while adjusting pressure that i had to wash my hands with soap after adjusting the pressure as the hose tip was muddy and greasy.

In my case, the sand particle on the hose tip was trapped in between the air valve which deflated the tyre slowly. Since the tyres were any way due for replacement so it was not a pinch.

[amoghchaphalkar]

Originally Posted by Rehaan

What condition is the other (engine-facing) sidewall in? Do you have any pictures?

Maybe you had a puncture (or leak) after that? Inspect the tread for a perforation or nail etc that could have caused a drop in tyre pressure?

I have attached pictures of the inside and there is a cut. A friendly neighbourhood tyre shop guy claims this cut could also happen after the outer sidewall was damaged. The treads are absolutely fine. (The damaged section is highlighted in red)

Originally Posted by Turbanator

I will agree.

Is this the rear tyre? It’s not uncommon to miss a small leak initially which deflate the tyre and low pressure damages the tyre as we keep moving without noticing.

I don’t think, this reflects quality of tyre or a manufacturing defect.

Bad luck perhaps.

Rear left tyre. I agree this does not reflect the overall quality of the manufacturer or the tyre.

Bad luck? Maybe
Driver error? I am not sure (lack of TPMS makes that a possibility)
Manufacturing error? Need to find out and hence this thred.

Originally Posted by reignofchaos

There might have been a small sidewall bubble that was almost invisible which grew due to speed and heat cycling and finally caused the side wall to come off.

A very distinct possibility and impossible to know now.

Originally Posted by Sebring

Has continental responded? Are their tyres in India any good? This is a serious product issue, and could have endangered lives. Please keep us posted

I have not gone to the tyre dealer yet. Unfortunately, his showroom is in a micro containment zone and this happened a day before Lockdown 1.0 started.

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Are the other tyres from the same batch period? Check them minutely and if you notice any early warning signs that can be an indicator to highlight to Continental.

All four tyres are from the same batch. Give and take a couple of months.

Originally Posted by Kosfactor

It looks like this. Zipper failure caused by puncture /leak.

https://www.tirebusiness.com/article...y-embarrassing

Thanks for the link!

Originally Posted by sai_ace

Could it be that when you filled in air, the valve probably never sat back properly resulting a slow leak?

This look less like sidewall damage and more like having driven with under inflated tyres. I have done this mistake too - but managed to recognize this and change to the spare tyre before the Tyre tore. Yet the damaged tyre was gone completely. This was a 205/55 Goodyear OEM tyre in my linea.

Guys I need to make one thing absolutely clear here. If you check my first post, I DID NOT fill air at Belgaum. I only checked the tyre pressure. There was no need to fill air in any of the tyres. The pressure was fine in all of them. I am pretty confident I have never driven with an underinflated tyre. Anyone who has driven a Punto will tell you that it is very easy to detect an under-inflated tyre in the Punto. And this is my third Punto! I don't want to sound overconfident but I am pretty sure I was not driving with an underinflated tyre.

Originally Posted by PrasannaDhana

This definitely looks like either a manufacturing defect or mistakenly driven when flat. I am not sure about the latter because you would have definitely felt it (that too on the abarth in which the steering feedback is phenomenal imo).
.

Your spot on about the steering feedback on the Punto. It is very difficult to miss uneven tyre pressure in a Punto.

Originally Posted by Gannu_1

Please involve Continental. IMHO, they should send a qualified personnel to inspect the tire in detail and do a proper analysis. You've been a returning customer too.

Yes! I am going to involve them. Not as a retaliatory measure but I genuinely want to find out what went wrong here (At least make a genuine effort!)

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

Did you check the tyre pressure with your own gauge at Belgaum? Many pumps are known to have badly calibrated gauges. Running the car at speeds always increases tyre temperatures. The heat increases pressures by about 4 to 5 psi.

My experience is
Since then I have invested in an active TPMS system .

Please refer to one of my replies. The tyre was cold when I checked the pressure. The pressure was checked after a 90-minute halt at Belgaum. Car was parked in a hotel parking (shaded). I have ruled out "hot pressure" as the cause.

TPMS is next on my list. I am a little bugged at myself as to why I did not install one earlier.

Originally Posted by deepakr82

Glad to know that there were no untoward incidents due to the tire failure. I had a similar experience on the Continental MC5 on my Elite i20 enroute to Kukke Subramanya temple, it was raining badly and we hit a pothole hit at around 50 or 60 kmph which resulted in a sidewall tear and an immediate deflation on the Left front wheel. Brought the car to a halt immediately after noticing the car pulling towards the left. I'd got the tires replaced recently and the tires had done about 1.5K. The Continental dealer refused to entertain my requests for an in warranty replacement as it was a pothole hit. He called up the Continental regional office and gave me a discount of 30% on the replacement tyre.

WOAH! Now, this is starting to sound a bit concerning. I can completely relate to what you are saying. Although I did not hit a pothole I know how the sudden deflation feels like. It is almost as if we experienced the same thing and at eerily similar speeds!

Originally Posted by Rustom Mistry

Hi,It is nice that you stopped safely.But from the pictures posted it’s clear that the car was driven after the air loss and the rims acted as knife.The car being on a heavier side Catalysed the damage.

I can assure you that the car was not driven for a long time after the air loss. The air loss was not gradual, it was sudden. I know how a gradual air loss feels like.

Originally Posted by Tuisha110HP

Firstly, Glad that you are safe.

I have a theory as something similar happened to me on my motorcycle. I filled in air before a morning ride and went for a breakfast ride.

Maybe - but here is the thing. I never filled air in Belgaum. I only checked the pressure.

Originally Posted by KPR

I had such scary incident with Apollo Alnac 4G in my Punto evo in 2016. Same alloy size. If I'm not wrong same tyre size of 195 55 R16. Apollo quoted failure due to under inflation but I strongly denied as I had checked 32 psi that day just before the trip

Similar story! I am almost tempted to bash FIAT now

Originally Posted by rahulskumar

Great that nothing happened and all are safe. Never fill air during a long journey and most of the pumps don't have proper calibrated units.

Again, I did not fill air in Belgaum. I only checked the pressure. There was no need to fill any air.

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki

Could be air filling valve issue.
Just a wild theory, in case your valve do not have dust caps. Not applicable if you ensure that the valves always have dust caps screwed on.

Did not fill air. Only checked the pressure. Valves have caps.

Originally Posted by kaushik.genius

A TPMS unit would have warned you of a leak much earlier.

Yes! TPMS is on my shopping list. For all the cars in the house.

Originally Posted by Latheesh

Looks more like due to under inflation and weak side wall. May be Pressure loss happened due to valve issue or hitting a foreign object/pothole. Do you have picture of other side of the tyre?

Posted above. I have driven over 100,000 km with Continental and never felt the sidewall was weak. This is the first time I am facing this issue.


Gentlemen,

Thank You for your responses. I am grateful. I want to make it absolutely clear that I have no intention of maligning Continental. But I am genuinely concerned. This just might have been bad luck for all I know but that does not mean I am not going to make an effort to find the root cause. I am most definitely sure this was not a driver error and I was not driving on an underinflated tyre for a long time.