Just had a horrible experience with The ever famous TIRE RACK. I have an X that is standard with the 16 inch wheels. I ordered the Dunlop M2s. I also ordered them mounted on steel wheels. They were delivered to my door. I put them on, placed the car in reverse and the car would not move.

I found out that the rims were hitting the brake calipers which wouldn't let the wheels spin. I called and bitched and they said that they would take the tires and rims back with no charge.


What am I to DO....

I need snow tires asap.. My father told me to look into studded tires.

 

Huh? I have Dunlop M2's also. I had them put on my stock wheels though at NTB. Car with these tires is awesome in the snow!!!

 

The problem that i had was with the rims. I purchased black steel rims. 16" and they don't fit over the calipers.

What did you pay for the tires mounted and all?

 

how is that a horrible experience with tirerack? they said they'd take the tires and rims back with no charge. sounds like good customer service to me. did you pick out the rims or did tirerack recommend them? can they send another set with different rims before you ship the other tires ans rims back? that may buy you some time. good luck!

 

In the heat of the moment when I was fuming, I told the guy "Chase" to take the tires and wheels back. Now that I have thought about it. I think that I am going to call him and ask him to sell me the tires. Then I will mount them on the factory rims.

The rims that I got were just steel winter wheels. I really didn't have anything to do with the size. I just told him what they were for...

Can anyone think of another place to deal with that would have cheap tires.

 

try www.justtires.com ?

 

I live in Minnesota and the snow tires are a must! I got my RX8 last January and I had to leave it in the garage until I found a set of snow tires. They are hard to find this late in the season. The factory tires are just imposible to drive in this weather, it is just imposible. I found a set of Dunlop M2 245/40 18". I had them installed in the factory rims. I can drive without problems, even when we have 4" of snow and temperatures below zero. Add a couple of sand bags in the truck for extra traction....good luck

 

by last jan you mean 2004? i thought the first delivery was in july 2003..



i do like the sandbag idea. BTW

 

Last January 2004, size 18" snow tires are gone by this time. I was lucky to find this Dunlop. You could place size 17" that are easier to find.

 

Sand bags throw the weight distribution off and will not help with a summer performance tire. The main reason the stock tire doesn't perform is due to the composition of the tire, it hardens in the cold weather and that doesn't allow the tread to give allowing traction. It's like putting steel tires on ice. Siping does help in lightly covered snowy conditions but don't help at all on ice or hard snow packed slickened roads. Park it until the roads are driveable, that's what I have to do until next fall when decent prices on winter tires and extra rims become available again. Another alternative is an Ultra High Performance All-Season Radial in a size that would fit your rim. This tire increases traction for winter and allows a slightly less than stock performance in the summer. It all depends on how you are planning to drive in the summer. Extreme, keep the stocks and get new rims that fit for your winter tires. A bit less than extreme, get Ultra High Performance All-Seasons and keep them on all year long.

 

Thank you all for the replies, you have help alot..

Update since last post:

What a hell of a time I have had with this situation. I had the dunlop tires mounted onto the factory rims. The Tirerack said that they would reimburse me for the cost of the mounting.. The tires were mounted, I drove the car 1/2 mile and the front drivers side tire blows out. I had the company that mounted the tire come and take the tire and wheel off and mount the factory tire back on. The tire that blew off completey was destroyed. It looked as if you took a knife threw the entire sidewall and through the bead. I called Tirerack and they said that they would sell me a tire at 1/2 off so I had them do this. I called Dunlop and they told me to go to sears b/c Sears is a authorized dealer of the tire. The guy there told me that the tire was a factory defect and that he would fill any paperwork out that need be. Dunlop said that they would reimburse me the cost of the replacement tire...


What a story HuH.