Dunlop SP Sport tires- observations

Firefly · Thu Jun 27, 2013 1:08 am

I have the 18" Sport wheels. I am near 25K miles and am noticing a difference in these tires lately. The tread seems to look ok but the ride quality has become somewhat jittery. More tramlining, and some small bumps and rough patches actually "steer" the car, as I can feel the steering wheel get pulled with the bump. There is a soft feeling in cornering and in small directional changes, as if I were riding on softer tires. Yet air pressure is correct. The weather has been warmer her lately - around 80-90 degrees during the day, not sure if that is the cause, but I did not notice last summer. Symptoms of worn tires? Tread does not look too worn...

twoqttsdad · Thu Jun 27, 2013 1:59 am

In regards to tires, tramlining tends to happen when people switch to a tire which has a much higher speed rating (H to Y) or go plus size, both ways result in a "stiffer" tire which relays more of the road imperfections to the suspension and steering.
A softer feeling in corners is often a result of low air pressure, new tires with a deeper tread depth, or running over sized tires.

I'm thinking it might be time to check the alignment? I would CROSS rotate the tires if you haven't done that yet. I like to run my air pressure at 42 psi in the front and 40 in the rear for these Dunlops. Not the greatest tires. Hope you fix the problem!

murcod · Thu Jun 27, 2013 2:23 am

Yes, when was the last wheel alignment?

smsmart · Thu Jun 27, 2013 6:48 pm

Firefly wrote:I have the 18" Sport wheels. I am near 25K miles and am noticing a difference in these tires lately. The tread seems to look ok but the ride quality has become somewhat jittery. More tramlining, and some small bumps and rough patches actually "steer" the car, as I can feel the steering wheel get pulled with the bump. There is a soft feeling in cornering and in small directional changes, as if I were riding on softer tires. Yet air pressure is correct. The weather has been warmer her lately - around 80-90 degrees during the day, not sure if that is the cause, but I did not notice last summer. Symptoms of worn tires? Tread does not look too worn...

You know, that's kinda weird because what you're describing sort of sounds like what I'm currently experiencing with the steering on my Kizashi. See my thread on steering feel in the Technical Section.

I'm also wondering whether the tires (original Dunlops) have anything to do with it as well because I've had my wheels re-aligned since my steering issues started, and although initially the steering felt better, it now feels like crap again. It has similar sensitivity to bumps on the road / jittery that you seem to be describing. My tires have ~28,500 miles on them.

Firefly · Fri Jun 28, 2013 2:25 am

Generally, the car behaves fine, nothing off-balance. It almost feels like the sidewalls have gotten squishy, giving a loose feeling like that of a softer sprung car, yet the ride over bumps has gotten harsher.

puckaveli · Fri Jun 28, 2013 1:11 pm

Get a free alignment check. It's not the tires.

Firefly · Sat Jun 29, 2013 12:18 am

I think I figured out part of the feeling. We have not had a good rain in a few weeks, and the roads had gotten slimy. Had some strong rain pass through last night, and today things feel tighter. I was tempted to describe the feeling of driving on a slick surface - at the risk of sounding crazy, but that's kind of what it was.

I'll attribute the harshness and tramilining to the aging tires. I've had that happen with other cars.

smsmart · Sat Jun 29, 2013 12:23 am

puckaveli wrote:Get a free alignment check. It's not the tires.

Free alignment check? Where at? Around here, they want $70 just to put the car on the machine

puckaveli · Mon Jul 01, 2013 7:31 pm

A lot of places do it. Most tire places will, I know all Goodyear/Gemini are supposed to.

twoqttsdad · Tue Mar 04, 2014 6:34 am

Yes I know this is an old thread but just adding to the collective.

15,500 miles on my OE Dunlops.
About 50 percent worn.
No signs of uneven wear.
The ride feels stiffer going over bumps.
The car feels very neutral entering corners under hard braking and hard acceleration out, but the tires don't grab the road like they used to. I find myself having to turn in to corners earlier to compensate for the loss of traction. Still very good balance through corners.
No issues of hydro planning.
It feels to me that the rubber compound is aging and getting harder sooner than I would expect.