2013 CHEVROLET VOLT Tires Problems

THIS NOTE IS SUPPLEMENTAL TO NHTSA #10940031 OF 1/1/17. THE TIRE THAT HAD JUST REPLACED THE SECOND FAILED TIRE ALSO SUSTAINED DAMAGE DEEMED TO BE UNACCEPTABLE TO REPAIR ONLY ABOUT 200 MILES AFTER IT WAS INSTALLED. GIVEN 3 OF THESE TIRES FAILED VERY PREMATURELY OVER 7.5K MILES, NEVER MIND 2 IN 200 MILES, THIS SUGGESTED TO ME A POSSIBLE ATYPICAL WEAKNESS IN THE DESIGN OF THESE TIRES SO I SCRAPPED ALL 4 FUEL MAX TIRES AND REPLACED THEM WITH THE FAR SUPERIOR GOODYEAR ASSURANCE TRIPLETRED TIRES. HAVING PUT 70K+/- MILES ON A SET OF PREVIOUSLY OWNED TRIPLETRED TIRES WITHOUT A SINGLE FAILURE UNDER VIRTUALLY IDENTICAL CONDITIONS TO THOSE I USED THE FUEL MAX TIRES UNDER I CAN STATE WITH CONFIDENCE THAT THEY ARE MUCH MORE DAMAGE RESISTANT TIRES THAN THE FUEL MAX VERSION OF THE ASSURANCE LINE IN ADDITION TO HAVING NOTICEABLY GREATER/SAFER TRACTION IN RAIN AND SNOW. *TR

THESE TIRES ARE SHOWN AS BEING THE ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT TIRES GM PUT ON THEIR VOLTS. IN MY EXPERIENCE THEY ARE SEVERELY BELOW NORMAL DURABILITY. MY VOLT'S FL TIRE WAS REPLACED AT 17K MILES (SLOW SIDEWALL LEAK) FOLLOWED BY THE RR FAILING AT 24K MILES (CATASTROPHIC). DESPITE THE USUAL POTHOLE AND ROAD DEBRIS ENCOUNTERS MY PREVIOUS SET OF PIRELLI P4 TIRES RAN 115K+ MILES FAILURE FREE AND THE MICHELINS I HAD BEFORE THEM LASTED 64K MILES WITHOUT A FAILURE. ADDITIONALLY, I SEE MY TWO REMAINING FACTORY TIRES ARE DOWN TO 6/32 TO 7/32 OF AN INCH TREAD AFTER ONLY 24K MILES WHICH MIGHT EXPLAIN THEIR DISTRESSINGLY POOR GRIP IN RAIN AND SNOW. TO PUT THAT WEAR IN PERSPECTIVE, THE PIRELLI TIRES STILL HAD FROM 5/32 TO 7/32 OF AN INCH TREAD LEFT WHEN AT 115K MILES. THAT THESE TIRES SEEMINGLY NEED REPLACING AT THE RATE OF ONE TIRE ROUGHLY EVERY 6K...

I'VE LEASED MY 2013 VOLT FOR 1 1/2 YEARS. JULY 3RD I GOT 2 FLAT TIRES (BOTH DRIVER SIDE, REAR AND FRONT). I BOUGHT 2 NEW TIRES AND THE SERVICE AT CHEVY PUT THEM ON THE 2 FRONT WHEELS. EXACTLY 2 MONTHS LATER, I GOT 2 MORE FLAT TIRES (PASSENGER SIDE, FRONT AND REAR). I FIND IT INCREDIBLY HARD TO BELIEVE THAT 4 NEW TIRES ARE NOW FLAT. I'VE BEEN DRIVING FOR 40 YEARS AND HAVE OWNED MANY DIFFERENT NEW CARS, AND THIS HAS NEVER HAPPENED! I FEEL THERE IS SOMETHING EITHER ABOUT THE CAR BEING ELECTRIC OR THE TYPE OF TIRES THAT IS CAUSING FLATS. BESIDES BEING VERY EXPENSIVE, IT IS ALSO VERY UNSAFE TO DRIVE ON FLAT TIRES. *TR

GOODYEAR ASSURANCE TIRES. 2ND FLAT AT LOW SPEEDS IN TWO MONTHS. CAR TIRE JUST BLOWS OUT IMMEDIATELY GOING FLAT. NO KNOWN OBJECT WAS DRIVEN OVER, FLATTENS OUT INSTANTLY. SECOND TIME IN TWO MONTHS THIS SCENARIO PLAYS OUT. SHOULD THIS HAVE BEEN AT A GREATER SPEED, THE SCENARIO WOULD HAVE BEEN FAR WORST. *TR