NHTSA Complaint #10104400 — 2005 SUBARU LEGACY

VEHICLE: 05 SUBARU GT LIMITED SEDAN (PURCHASED) 11/30/04) TIRE: BRIDGESTONE, POTENZA RE92 (215/45 ZR17. MY WIFE AND I SKIDDED AS WE APPROACHED A STOP SIGN ON A LEVEL, SNOW COVERED ROAD. I BROKE GRADUALLY AND MY SPEED WAS LOW, ABOUT 10 MPH AS I STARTED BRAKING). INSTEAD OF STOPPING, THE CAR JUST KEPT GOING EVEN THOUGH I APPLIED MORE BRAKE PRESSURE. IF THERE HAD BEEN A CAR AHEAD OF US, I WOULD HAVE REARENDED IT. I DISCOVERED VERY NEGATIVE REVIEWS OF THIS TIRE ON THE FOLLLOWING 2 CUSTOMER SURVEY BASES: TIRERACK.COM AND 1010TIRES.COM. THE MAJORITY OF CUSTOMERS RATED THIS TIRE AS POOR FOR WET TRACTION AND VERY POOR (DANGEROUS WAS USED IN SOME REVIEWS) FOR SNOW TRACTION. I HAVE CASE #S W/SOA & BRIDGESTONE. THEY AND THE DEALER HAVE REFUSED MY REQUEST TO CREDIT MY OE TIRES FOR NEW ONES. MANY CUSTOMERS (AVE OF 2.6 OUT OF 10) ANSWERED NO WHEN ASKED WOULD YOU BUY THIS TIRE AGAIN. I AM VERY CONCERNED THAT THERE IS A SAFETY ISSUE WITH THE RE92 FOR WET TRACTION, ESPECIALLY SNOW TRACTION. CONSIDERING THAT SUBARU AWD VEHICLES BUILT A REPUTATION AS A CAR THAT WILL BE SURE-FOOTED IN INCLEMENT WEATHER, WHY WOULD SOA EQUIP THIS CAR W/TIRES HAVING A 160 TREAD RATING? TIRE DEALERS I'VE SPOKEN TO ABOUT THIS ISSUE SAY THAT THIS TIRE IS THE EQUIVALENT OF A SUMMER TIRE. SOA SHOULD REPHRASE THEIR SLOGAN FOR CARS W/RE92S TO: FROM THE WHEEL THAT SLIPS TO THE TIRE THAT SLIPS.*AK