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Thread: Pothole got me and my new Mirage, took out my factory stock Bridgestone

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    Pothole got me and my new Mirage, took out my factory stock Bridgestone

    Arggggg!
    I was cruising up a hill on a Kentucky highway the other day. The dual uphill lanes were merging into a single lane at the top of the hill and as I was merging left (looking all around me, not another car in sight) BOOM! I hit the biggest pothole I've ever felt in my life in the middle of the road as the lanes merged. TPMS warning lights flashed immediately and I was in major flat tire trouble and it freaked me out. Maybe more than a little bit.

    I got the spare donut put on and limped my Mirage home just a few miles away.

    Wow! That hurt... I purchased this new Mirage less than one month ago and I'm already hitting potholes.

    Long story short... I was way to ashamed to drive on a donut or tow it back to the dealer more than 80 miles away and ask for road hazard protection coverage, so I bought a couple of tires off of TireRack.com. Vredestein Quattracs. I had my local 'Po Boys' business mount the two Quattracs tires on the front. At least the front tires and back tires would match brands.

    So far I can't complain. I kept my passenger side tire that that is perfectly fine and I'm thinking about buying a rim/wheel so that I can have a full size spare handy.

    When things settled down I went back and looked at that pothole in the middle of the road on the highway. Its deep, kind of elongated, but really narrow. I imagine other vehicles and trucks drive right over it with no problem at all. That pothole sucked in my narrow tire and trashed it (like I was trying to drive a bicycle through it). The county mainenance department still hasn't filled that pothole in yet. I guess every other car owner drives on wide tires and just rolls right over it.

    When forum posters ask about putting on wider tires, it captures my attention. I'm just asking....



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    You should also check your front end alignment if it was that hard of a smack down.

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2015 Mirage ES 1.2 automatic: 40.5 mpg (US) ... 17.2 km/L ... 5.8 L/100 km ... 48.6 mpg (Imp)


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    Take pics & send the county a bill for the repair. If they still haven't fixed it, maybe you have a case & can get them to pay for @ least some of,,, if not all of the repairs....
    I didn't know what to do, so I didn't do anything

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2018 Mirage GT 1.2 automatic: 37.3 mpg (US) ... 15.9 km/L ... 6.3 L/100 km ... 44.8 mpg (Imp)


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    Quote Originally Posted by dberry View Post
    Arggggg!
    I was cruising up a hill on a Kentucky highway the other day. The dual uphill lanes were merging into a single lane at the top of the hill and as I was merging left (looking all around me, not another car in sight) BOOM! I hit the biggest pothole I've ever felt in my life in the middle of the road as the lanes merged. TPMS warning lights flashed immediately and I was in major flat tire trouble and it freaked me out. Maybe more than a little bit.

    I got the spare donut put on and limped my Mirage home just a few miles away.

    Wow! That hurt... I purchased this new Mirage less than one month ago and I'm already hitting potholes.

    Long story short... I was way to ashamed to drive on a donut or tow it back to the dealer more than 80 miles away and ask for road hazard protection coverage, so I bought a couple of tires off of TireRack.com. Vredestein Quattracs. I had my local 'Po Boys' business mount the two Quattracs tires on the front. At least the front tires and back tires would match brands.

    So far I can't complain. I kept my passenger side tire that that is perfectly fine and I'm thinking about buying a rim/wheel so that I can have a full size spare handy.

    When things settled down I went back and looked at that pothole in the middle of the road on the highway. Its deep, kind of elongated, but really narrow. I imagine other vehicles and trucks drive right over it with no problem at all. That pothole sucked in my narrow tire and trashed it (like I was trying to drive a bicycle through it). The county mainenance department still hasn't filled that pothole in yet. I guess every other car owner drives on wide tires and just rolls right over it.

    When forum posters ask about putting on wider tires, it captures my attention. I'm just asking....
    That does sound sort of dangerous. Imagine a motorcycle tire hitting that hole?

    I lost a factory tire within the first year, & I did the same as you. I just replaced one pair of tires & kept the extra Dunlop tire. I haven't had a matched set of 4 tires on my Mirage since the summer of 2018.

    I just came back from a fishing trip to North Dakota (approximately 1,300 miles round trip) yesterday. I had a pair of newer Nexen N'Priz AH5 tires up front and my original Dunlop Enasave tires on the rear. I threw a brand new Kumho Solus TA31 tire mounted on a rim in my car just in case. This last trip has done in my Dunlop Enasave tires. I will most likely remove the Dunlop Enasave tires for good when I do my next oil change. At that time, I have the new pair of Kumho tires all ready to go.

    Whenever I take longer trips, I put a full size spare tire in my car. Having 8 steel rims (4 with sensors that be cloned) is allowing me to change up tires with ease. I will probably go into the winter months with my Nokian Nordman 7 snow tires up front and my new Kumho Solus TA31 tires on the rear.

    I look forward to your impression of the Vredestein Quatrac 5 tires after driving on them for some time. They are next on my list to try. At this current rate, I don't see myself have 4 matching tires on my Mirage for quite some time!

    If you desire a wider tire some day, a 175/65r14 tire is the most logical choice for your 14" x 4.5" rims. I say this for a number of reasons.

    1. 145-175 mm tires are recommended for 4.5" wide rims. Some have done 185 wide tires without issue, however.
    2. 175/65r14 tires have an outside diameter of 23", which is under 3% variance from any of the factory 14" or 15" tires. Most tire shop would recommend staying with 3%.
    3. 175/65r14 is a very common tire size for small cars. There are 95 tire options when I just looked up that size @ Walmart. Tire Rack doesn't offer that many options, but they do list what I consider some very good 175/65r14 tires with better than average UTQG ratings.

    The next logical 14" tire choice would be a 185/60r14 tire. This tire is 22.7", which is almost identical to the factory 175/55r15 tire (22.6"). Once again, Walmart offers 72 tire option for this size. Tire Rack offers fewer options, but they have some very good tires in that size (Hankook Kinergy ST, Uniroyal Tiger Paw Touring A/S, Cooper Evolution Tour, Vredestein Quatrac 5, General Altimax RT43, & Firestone Champion Fuel Fighter).

    It pays to compare prices, too. A 185/60r14 Uniroyal Tiger Paw Touring A/S is only $59.50 @ Walmart tonight. Whereas Tire Rack has the same tire listed for $74.25. Walmart charged me $15 to mount/balance one of their tires last week. That price includes free lifetime balancing. I don't rule out Walmart, because I don't have any tire chain stores near me. I've taken tires purchased from tires-easy.com & simpletire.com to my local tire shops for mounting/balancing, too!

    I really do feel 165-185 are good tire widths for a Mirage. If someone drives in snow, 165-175 tires may do better. If that's not an issue, 175-185 tires may be a good choice for some.

    My first generation Honda CR-V had 205 wide tires. I can't imagine tires that wide on a small car like a Mirage. 195+ tires have been done, but some have also caused rubbing issues for some members, too!

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    Dirk Diggler (07-14-2021)

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    Quote Originally Posted by inuvik View Post
    You should also check your front end alignment if it was that hard of a smack down.
    Thanks Inuvik, I agree with you. I feared for my alignment, I feared that I bent my wheel, actually I feared everything.

    Inuvik, I'm not a car guy. I'm asking for your opinion.

    About the alignment.... After I put the new (I should also add cheap) tires on the front, I've taken the Mitsubishi out on the highways, byways and interstate here in my area. The only way I know to check car alignment (without going to the shop) is to get it up to speed and let go of the steering wheel and see if it drives straight. All I can say is that it drives straight, just like the day I bought it. Is that a good sign?

    The reason I ask is that when I was shopping and test driving 'nice' used cars (20,000 ~ 30,000 miles) I would do a steering wheel release test and these cars would immediately pull left or right. I even told the used car dealer I'd buy his 2017 VW jetta if he would give it an alignment. He said "no deal, take it or leave it".

    The next day I bought my new Mirage.

    Even after the pothole from heck, the Mirage doesn't drift one bit when I release the wheel for a few seconds. That's a good sign isn't it?

    Just asking....

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    It's a good sign. Look for odd tire wear in about 5,000 miles too. If no odd wear, put it behind you.

    Oh and, THANK GOD that dealer wouldn't do an alignment on that VW. You dodged a bullet there.

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2020 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 42.4 mpg (US) ... 18.0 km/L ... 5.6 L/100 km ... 50.9 mpg (Imp)


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    Quote Originally Posted by Mark View Post
    That does sound sort of dangerous. Imagine a motorcycle tire hitting that hole?

    I lost a factory tire within the first year, & I did the same as you. I just replaced one pair of tires & kept the extra Dunlop tire. I haven't had a matched set of 4 tires on my Mirage since the summer of 2018.

    I just came back from a fishing trip to North Dakota (approximately 1,300 miles round trip) yesterday.

    Whenever I take longer trips, I put a full size spare tire in my car.

    I look forward to your impression of the Vredestein Quatrac 5 tires after driving on them for some time. They are next on my list to try. At this current rate, I don't see myself have 4 matching tires on my Mirage for quite some time!

    If you desire a wider tire some day, a 175/65r14 tire is the most logical choice for your 14" x 4.5" rims. I say this for a number of reasons.
    Mark, you are just the guy I'm looking for. Actually, I'm going to have to ask to take this conversation down to a simpler level because I really don't know nothing but I know what I want in tires.

    Here is my confession. I haven't said this yet anywhere in mirageforum. I bought a 2021 Mirage G4 Carbonite Edition. Don't blame me, it was just on the showroom floor and I bought it, not even thinking.

    About those tires on my little Carbonite. I think those tires/wheels are 15 inch. My replacement tires that Tirerack sold me were recommended to me based on what I told them. They fit like butter.

    Do I h

    Thanks!ave 15 inch or 14 inch rims/wheels on this car? I think they are 15. All the tire sizes around the car say 175/55-R15.

    Mark, you are in WI, you are close to Canada I think. It's summer, but I want a set of snow tires for my Mirage. I want Full blown snow tires, mileage be darned. We dont get snow like you guys get up north but its enough to scare us and possibly kill us.

    Tire dealers don't sell or offer Mirage snow tires down here. Can you give me a website name for stock snow tires on a Mirage?

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    Quote Originally Posted by dberry View Post

    The reason I ask is that when I was shopping and test driving 'nice' used cars (20,000 ~ 30,000 miles) I would do a steering wheel release test and these cars would immediately pull left or right. I even told the used car dealer I'd buy his 2017 VW jetta if he would give it an alignment. He said "no deal, take it or leave it".

    The next day I bought my new Mirage.

    Even after the pothole from heck, the Mirage doesn't drift one bit when I release the wheel for a few seconds. That's a good sign isn't it?

    Just asking....
    Would rather lose a sale than do an alignment? Sounds like they knew there was something wrong that the car couldn't be aligned properly without other work. I do the same thing letting go of the steering wheel when test driving cars to check for alignment problems. If yours is still holding a straight line I doubt you have anything to worry about. I just replaced the ball joints and tie rod ends on my '02 Ford Escort a couple months ago and reset the toe in myself using a string line. It holds a straight line when letting go of the wheel and there are no abnormal wear patterns on the tires. When I put new tires on the Escort about 11K miles ago I set the toe in myself using a string, all four tires are wearing perfectly. Your story reminds me of my brother hitting a pot hole one time and blowing out both tires on one side of the car.

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    Where is Russelville KY? Do you know how to put in the Mirage foglight kit?

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    Quote Originally Posted by dberry View Post
    Mark, you are just the guy I'm looking for. Actually, I'm going to have to ask to take this conversation down to a simpler level because I really don't know nothing but I know what I want in tires.

    Here is my confession. I haven't said this yet anywhere in mirageforum. I bought a 2021 Mirage G4 Carbonite Edition. Don't blame me, it was just on the showroom floor and I bought it, not even thinking.

    About those tires on my little Carbonite. I think those tires/wheels are 15 inch. My replacement tires that Tirerack sold me were recommended to me based on what I told them. They fit like butter.

    Thanks!ave 15 inch or 14 inch rims/wheels on this car? I think they are 15. All the tire sizes around the car say 175/55-R15.

    Mark, you are in WI, you are close to Canada I think. It's summer, but I want a set of snow tires for my Mirage. I want Full blown snow tires, mileage be darned. We dont get snow like you guys get up north but its enough to scare us and possibly kill us.

    Tire dealers don't sell or offer Mirage snow tires down here. Can you give me a website name for stock snow tires on a Mirage?
    I didn't notice this before -

    All Mirage trim levels (ES, LE, & Carbonite) have 165/65r14 tires except for the top level SE (which has 175/55r15 tires).

    All G4 trim levels (LE, Cabonite, & SE) have 175/55r15 tires except the base level ES (which has 165/65r14 tires).

    Mitsubishi must have been reading my mind the past couple years, because I think the G4 looks much better with the slightly wider 175/55r15 tires.

    For Mirage owners with 15" rims -two most common tire sizes most likely used by Mirage owners are

    175/55r15 tires (22.6" outside diameter) factory tires &

    185/55r15 tires (23" outside diameter) - these tires have variance of only 1.8%.

    Why would someone consider 185/55r15 tires?

    I am going to use Walmart as an example. I am not endorsing them, but I have one near me.

    Walmart has 10 different 175/55r15 tire options on their site today. Of those 10 choices, I would only feel comfortable using about 3 of them. All of the tires they offer are priced quite high, but tire prices are on the rise these days.

    Whereas, Walmart offers 66 different 185/55r15 tires choices. I see more tire brands that I am familiar with, too!

    I will explore 15" snow tire options, & I add some thoughts in a day or two. I haven't looked at 15" tire options as much.

    I found it interesting that most G4 trim levels have 15" tires now. I never took note of that until today!



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