Tyre Failure

[Ghostrider]

Hi Guys & Gals,

Recently a mate was travelling north bound from Wollongong, up Mount Kiera at about 80 kph in the centre lane when he heard a BANG! no warnings, no deflation just BANG! and instant flat on the n/s/r

When he stopped on the left side of the road he found a disintegrated rear tyre, see thumbnails attached.

The tyre in question: OLYMPIC SPRINTER 195/60 HR15

Fitted to stock 15 x 6 rims inflated to 30 psi.

The car: 1990 S13 180SX

A claim was made against Olympic and the results came through yesterday. The engineer Steve HOGAN from South Pacific Tyres says a sharp spiked object punctured the case and with some low pressure driving contributed to the disintegration of the tyre case.

When question/challenged about this, along the lines that the driver could tell if the tyre had gone flat as the handling characteristics would change dramatically, the engineer stated, "I have driven on tyres with pressure as low as 8 psi and didn't know I had a flat untill told by another motorist".

How many of you would know exactly when a tyre went down, or better still, couldn't tell if you had a flat when at 8 psi???

My thoughts; When a tyre can do this with just a sharp spiked object penetrating the case, HOW GOOD IS THE TYRE?

This tyre just exploded, without warning.

Just imagine if this happened at 100+ kph and or on the front!

THIS IS A WARNING TO ALL, WHAT CAN HAPPEN TO THESE TYRES and the agents claim it is NO FAULT of the tyre, make up your own mind.

[Streeter]

I dunno dude... Im no engineer but I have been driving for over 10 years and had my fair share of tyres go off. (Being a drifter and all )

By the looks of the thumb nails the tyres was flat and the sidewall flex caused too much heat and disintergrated from there.

I have had REALLY OLD tyres fail before and they have never looked like that. (Not saying the tyre in question didnt spontaneosly blow out) but from my experience they dont look like that. Eg. I got 2 flats heading back from adelaide once in a 120y and thought furk it lets see how far it will go as I couldnt be arsed waiting for someone to stop and help and it looked remarkably similar to that s13 rim.

[Ghostrider]

I dunno dude... Im no engineer but I have been driving for over 10 years and had my fair share of tyres go off.  (Being a drifter and all )

By the looks of the thumb nails the tyres was flat and the sidewall flex caused too much heat and disintergrated from there.

 I have had REALLY OLD tyres fail before and they have never looked like that.  (Not saying the tyre in question didnt spontaneosly blow out)  but from my experience they dont look like that.   Eg. I got 2 flats heading back from adelaide once in a 120y and thought furk it lets see how far it will go as I couldnt be arsed waiting for someone to stop and help and it looked remarkably similar to that s13 rim.

From BANG to stationary in 200/300M max.

[Streeter]

From BANG to stationary in 200/300M max.

Yeah but if you are driving on a deflated tyre it doesnt go bang untill it totally fails... Maybe I am a gimp but its hard to notice a flat tyre unless accelerating or cornering, otherwise as the tyre slowly goes down you subconciously ever so slowly wind in more lock to compensate (feels very much like an off camber road) and you can easily miss it, maybe it was just the old shitboxes I drove where the you had to constantly steer it to keep it in a straight line so its harder to feel a flat though? LOL

[Ghostrider]

I dunno dude... Im no engineer but I have been driving for over 10 years and had my fair share of tyres go off.  (Being a drifter and all )

By the looks of the thumb nails the tyres was flat and the sidewall flex caused too much heat and disintergrated from there.

 I have had REALLY OLD tyres fail before and they have never looked like that.  (Not saying the tyre in question didnt spontaneosly blow out)  but from my experience they dont look like that.   Eg. I got 2 flats heading back from adelaide once in a 120y and thought furk it lets see how far it will go as I couldnt be arsed waiting for someone to stop and help and it looked remarkably similar to that s13 rim.

I've been driving over 30 years and travelled more than 1,500,000 miles, done some track racing along the way but have never seen a tyre do that, or look like it in such a short distance. I can understand if he had driven on it for 10/20/30 k's but he didn't.

I have had tyres delaminate at over 100mph, had tyres go flat at similar speeds, but not explode like this one.

[Ghostrider]

Yeah but if you are driving on a deflated tyre it doesnt go bang untill it totally fails...  Maybe I am a gimp but its hard to notice a flat tyre unless accelerating or cornering, otherwise as the tyre slowly goes down you subconciously ever so slowly wind in more lock to compensate  (feels very much like an off camber road)  and you can easily miss it,  maybe it was just the old shitboxes I drove where the you had to constantly steer it to keep it in a straight line so its harder to feel a flat though? LOL

The section of road it happened on is a series of sweeping left & right turns, believe me, if the tyre was flat, the car would nearly go sideways.

[Streeter]

Hrrm well then maybe it was a shonky tyre?? still looks like it fell to pieces as though it was flat, dont you think?

[Ghostrider]

Hrrm well then maybe it was a shonky tyre??  still looks like it fell to pieces as though it was flat, dont you think?

I agree, I know what it looks like, but knowing the guy and how he treats the car, I can't believe he has driven on it flat for ages.

I think it's a crook tyre and the purpose of this thread is to let everyone know that it happens and there is no warning.

[Adam_RSX]

Why was he driving a 180SX with 185 Olympics on it?

[Ghostrider]

Why was he driving a 180SX with 185 Olympics on it?

Where does it say 185???

195/60 x 15 is standard!

[Adam_RSX]

Sorry, typo

195 is rather pissy though

But then again S13s are kinda gutless :lol

[Ghostrider]

This thread was started, PRIMARILY to warn members what happens to OLYMPIC tyres in these conditions and should be avoided.

Particularly when the tyre engineer says it is normal.

[Revhead]

I dunno how this engineer can say he's driven on 8psi and not noticed it... although I've never experienced it in my 'line (I check all five tyres regularly), in my Mum's early model Excel, I've driven it before, thought 'god that front left feel like shit', pulled into a servo and there's been 20psi in the front left. If someone like me can pick that a tyre is down on pressure, why the hell can't a tyre engineer figure it out?

It is a bit hard to tell properly from the photos, but the way the sidewall has been torn apart indicates a rather sudden let-go, not a gradual wearing-through from low pressure. That said, a sudden release of pressure accompanied by a compromise of the structural integrity of the tyre (ie something sharp piercing it) could cause something like this. He might have just been unlucky?

Regardless, it is a good warning to others to ensure that you look after your tyres. They're fuggen important, keep them at the right pressure and don't skimp on quality!!