I got a tire bubble my first night :( Thoughts on how to avoid in future?

I bought a used 2011 VW GTI Thu night. I took it for a spin for about 20-30 miles. The next morning I brought it to my mechanic so that he could check it out, and he found a bubble on my front, left tire

The car has Pirelli P Zero Nero All Seasons of varying ages. The tire that got the bubble actually is the newest one: 2015 with 50% life left on its treads. The front, right tire is a 2010 and pretty much completely worn down while the two rear tires are 2013's with 30-40% life left. The tires are 225/40/18.

Any thoughts on how to avoid bubbles or other tire issues in the future? Maybe a different tire size or brand? I live in the Boston area, and I often find myself on roads that are in poor condition. I don't know quite how to describe it, but many times I find myself driving over rough areas with many dips and cracks in the road that I kind of rumble over. I believe that it is these road conditions and not a pothole that caused the bubble as I do not remember hitting a pothole on Thu night.

Any thoughts or assistance that can be provided would be much appreciated. Thank you

I feel like the pzero neros are a pretty trashy tire. A better quality tire shouldn't give you that problem.

If your roads are really bad you might want to consider switching to 17" wheels. You should have less problems and it'll make it feel a little smoother in the bumpy areas.

Your fronts are two different tires? Jeeze. First thing's first, buy at minimum a matching pair of tires. Preferably all four - especially since your rears don't have much life left - but people got things to pay for.
As sterkrazzy said, a 17" wheel with a thicker sidewall will help protect you from bubbles from those unavoidable holes that seem to jump at you sometimes, no matter how careful you are.

A tire made in 2010 is well past its age limit, and even the 2013s are pushing it. Tires should be replaced after 6-7 years regardless of wear, since UV and ozone degrade rubber over time.


I'm also not a fan of the P-Zero Nero all-seasons. I had pair on the front, maybe 50% tread wear. One, they were really noisy, and two, I didn't like their slip characteristics. I recently got new Continentals and so far they've been great.

Thanks! Would going to 17 inches affect the performance/fun of driving the car?

If I stay with 18 inches, as of right now I am looking at 3 different tires (price for 4 in parentheses): MICHELIN PILOT SPORT A/S 3 PLUS ($870), HANKOOK VENTUS S1 NOBLE 2 H452 ($720), Continental SureContact RX ($680). The following link compares the Michelin and Hankook: https://www.townfairtire.com/clicktocompare.aspx

Thoughts? ... From what I've heard, Michelins seem to be the gold standard for tires that everyone can agree on. The Hankooks were recommended by my mechanic who drives an old GTI and said that their "softness" would help prevent bubbles. The Continental SureContact just have a good deal on them at National Tire and Battery - buy 2, get 2 free (its cost approaches the Hankooks only because you have to buy a 1-yr alignment plan). From my research online Continental ExtremeContact DWS06 seems like a good buy, but neither of the tire stores I have looked at (NTB and Town Fair Tire) sell them in my size. I should be able to find one that does, however, if people recommend them.

Also, if I stay with the 18 inches (which I am leaning towards right now), my research indicates that varying the size of the tire might help prevent bubbles. The standard size for the GTI is 225/40, so I've gotten a recommendation to go to 215/45. Or - is 225/45 possible?

sterkrazzy said:

I feel like the pzero neros are a pretty trashy tire. A better quality tire shouldn't give you that problem.

If your roads are really bad you might want to consider switching to 17" wheels. You should have less problems and it'll make it feel a little smoother in the bumpy areas.

Click to expand...

You will not sacrifice that much performance going to a 17" tire. I believe you give up a bit of grip due to the taller sidewall, but choosing a better tire will fix that.

So you live in Boston, I would do the following:
-Move to 17" wheels
-Get the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S at the correct fitment

But, if you have storage and $$:
-Get a set of summer tires and a set of winter/snow tires. Given you just got a new car and want to enjoy it, go with high performance summer tires. You give up a lot of performance by going with all seasons. Look into the Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 (great value/$) or splurge and get the Michelin Pilot SS or the new 4S tires.

Also - did you get the car looked over by a VW mechanic / indy shop? I just completed a ton of long-term maintenance (at 110k now), so I have some opinions as to what you should look out for.

gichoke said:

You will not sacrifice that much performance going to a 17" tire. I believe you give up a bit of grip due to the taller sidewall, but choosing a better tire will fix that.

So you live in Boston, I would do the following:
-Move to 17" wheels
-Get the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S at the correct fitment

But, if you have storage and $$:
-Get a set of summer tires and a set of winter/snow tires. Given you just got a new car and want to enjoy it, go with high performance summer tires. You give up a lot of performance by going with all seasons. Look into the Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 (great value/$) or splurge and get the Michelin Pilot SS or the new 4S tires.

Also - did you get the car looked over by a VW mechanic / indy shop? I just completed a ton of long-term maintenance (at 110k now), so I have some opinions as to what you should look out for.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice! I will be considering this as I make my decision in the next couple days.

Yes, I have had the car looked over both by my local VW dealership (which has decent reviews) and my mechanic, who I have recently discovered is a VW guy. It had low miles for a 2011 (about 40K) and I am taking it to my mechanic for the routine 40K maintenance. He is not recommending that the transmission fluid be changed until 60K, which has me a little nervous because I have read on several posts here and on the Reddit GTI forum that it should be changed at 40K on GTIs. VW also recommends changing transmission fluid at 40K.

I would love to hear any tips you have on long-term maintenance!

thepunju said:

I bought a used 2011 VW GTI Thu night. I took it for a spin for about 20-30 miles. The next morning I brought it to my mechanic so that he could check it out, and he found a bubble on my front, left tire

The car has Pirelli P Zero Nero All Seasons of varying ages. The tire that got the bubble actually is the newest one: 2015 with 50% life left on its treads. The front, right tire is a 2010 and pretty much completely worn down while the two rear tires are 2013's with 30-40% life left. The tires are 225/40/18.

Any thoughts on how to avoid bubbles or other tire issues in the future? Maybe a different tire size or brand? I live in the Boston area, and I often find myself on roads that are in poor condition. I don't know quite how to describe it, but many times I find myself driving over rough areas with many dips and cracks in the road that I kind of rumble over. I believe that it is these road conditions and not a pothole that caused the bubble as I do not remember hitting a pothole on Thu night.

Any thoughts or assistance that can be provided would be much appreciated. Thank you

Click to expand...

Tire Bubbles can be a defective tire or you may of hit a sharp edge i've seen this from people going over a curb entrance and hitting the curb and pot holes can be another tire killer stay clear especially with low profile tires.

thepunju said:

Thanks for the advice! I will be considering this as I make my decision in the next couple days.

Yes, I have had the car looked over both by my local VW dealership (which has decent reviews) and my mechanic, who I have recently discovered is a VW guy. It had low miles for a 2011 (about 40K) and I am taking it to my mechanic for the routine 40K maintenance. He is not recommending that the transmission fluid be changed until 60K, which has me a little nervous because I have read on several posts here and on the Reddit GTI forum that it should be changed at 40K on GTIs. VW also recommends changing transmission fluid at 40K.

I would love to hear any tips you have on long-term maintenance!

Click to expand...

Absolutely change the DSG fluid at 40k miles! Do not wait until 60k miles whatsoever.