Well today I was going to pick up my brother from work because his Mazda 3 was in the shop because he was rear ended. He works about an hour away and its about half an hour drive from his work to his apartment then another half an hour back to my house. To get to his work it is 2 major interstates where the posted speed limit is 70. I was almost to his work when BAM. My car jerks to left and I lose control. I'm in the fast lane in three lanes of traffic and my car begins to slide and I slammed on the breaks and straightened it out and stopped. Got out and the stock drivers left tire was completely blown out. So I sat in the median of the freeway for about 20 minutes waiting for the tow truck guy to get there to help me change the tire since I didn't want to be standing out there without a light bar or warning besides my flashers and with AAA it was free. I know my tire pressure was correct because I checked it about a week ago and did a visual check this morning. They only have 38k on them with no plugged holes or anything. I checked and double checked as well as the tow guy for something or a hole in the tire. Nothing.

All in all I'm alright and the car is alright. I drove it (under 55mph) to my work at the ford dealership where I got a new contour contact pro or something (not sure right now not really thinking about tires at the moment..) but they are the nice contour's. I'm getting the other three installed tomorrow when I work. If my blown tire is still there I will take some pics but it was the last thing on my mind.

Well, it's good that you're o.k. That is the most important thing. For me, even just hearing about it, gives me chills. I just put air in all of mine today, I hope I don't have a similar experience!

ya i need to check mine, i haven't done it in a while:paranoid:
they kinda look low too, i will put air in them tomorrow...

Weird, glad you are ok. Yet another reason I'm not a fan of the stock tires on these accords. Apparently a lot of people have complained about the tires tread coming off in chunks with the Michelin MXM4's. It never happened to me, but I would call that tire a pretty low quality tire, so it doesn't really surprise me all that much. I like bridgestone tires generally. I might try some yoko's or dunlop next time though.

Assuming yours had the Michelin MXV4's I'm not surprised.

Those tires dry rot and crack within 3-4 years. Look in between the tread on the other two tires. I bet you see a whole bunch of cracks. :/ Also pay attention to the tread near the sidewall, that's where I see the most obvious and most dangerous looking cracks on those tires usually. - I've had those bubble, split, blow out, dry out, and everything else you could ever think of. I'll never buy a set of those again. Ever.

I think you mean you got Continental Conti Pro Contacts? My Mercedes had those, they're good tires; though a little pricey for what you're getting if you ask me. I'm still a huge fan of Bridgestone Potenzas, esp the RE960's, but the G009's have been fantastic thus far on my 96 Accord.

Glad ur ok. I had a flat tire. It was on July 4th. I went to the beach with some friends. Before they left, they shot some fireworks in the direction of some people but not close enough to hit them. So after they fired, we went to the cars and as I pulled out, I ran over what I thought was a big pothole (it was dark and no streetlights), but it was a tire. I had my windows down and i could hear air coming out so i stopped and had the tire changed. And this is 2 months after i bought my accord...

yeah the are pro contacts. The only reason I am getting those is because that is what my work had in stock in my size. I'm getting four tires, I'm going to mount and balance myself tomorrow but it should only cost like $350 with my discount. Not bad. I'll take them, i'm sure they are much better than the stockers.

p.s. yeah they were the MXV4's. I'll be happy once I get the other three off my car. I refuse to drive it so we are taking my girlfriends car to school tomorrow :)

My car jerks to left and I lose control. I'm in the fast lane in three lanes of traffic and my car begins to slide and I slammed on the breaks and straightened it out and stopped...I didn't want to be standing out there without a light bar or warning besides my flashers...
I hope you were being figurative when you said 'slammed on the breaks' to control the skid. Worst possible thing to do in such a case. So either that was a figure of speech, or you better go buy a lottery ticket (cause you're really lucky right now.)

Take it from someone who worked in the emergency services (fire/ems) for a good while: those lights you were waiting for are more dangerous--many times over--than not having them. Kinda like the deer in a headlights thing, people are drawn to flashing lights on the side of the road. Its downright scary.

I know with a flat it's the worst thing you can do but to be honest with you everything happened so fast it also sounded like I hit something and I didn't "slam" on them I used them more than I probably should have. I know I am very lucky, I understand the deer in the headlights thing but it was about 5 degrees out and if I didn't have to change it on the inside shoulder of a three lane highway (cars doing 70) during rush hour myself then I wasn't going to. Since it was free to have someone with a real floor jack and an air compressor to fill it up was worth it.

Edit: As far as the new tires go, I'm actually really impressed with the handling on dry pavement (they are Continental Contipro Contact if I didn't mention it earlier.)

I guess I can see both sides of it. Just had too many close calls during my time in, so I tend to not want lights anywhere near me now-a-days.

Those Contis are decent tires and a good bang for the buck, just be careful with them. They require a bit more vigilant maintenance than the average tire. Keep them inflated properly and rotated, and they should give you a good lifespan. Don't do that and they'll wear crazy fast and weirdly.

Don't expect them to last more than 4 to 5 years though. Continentals will dry rot just as quick as the rest of them. 4 to 5 years is the max suggested lifespan for most tires made today, mainly due to safety considerations and the rubber composition used. That can depend on the climate you live in too. They don't seem to hold up as well down here in the hot climate of LA, but that's not surprising since they're from Germany.

You also have to remember all the major manufacturers recommend replacement at 4/32 of tread remaining, not the 2/32 that's the legally required replacement and the depth of wear indicators. Handling, wear and low resistance is more important than long-term use in the industry. Since the average person replaces tires every 3-4 years (45k-60K miles, at 4/32), its not a big deal for most people. Add the fact that most cars come with an H-rated or greater tire (which is softer), and longevity will suffer.

I work at a ford dealer so I can rotate my tires and pretty do any maintenance whenever I want with access to a lift :) Trust me in the short period I've worked in the "quicklane" (quick lube type deal) I have seen some VERY bad tires. For exmaple, haha it just reminded me. Tonight some lady had us rotate her tires along with an oil change. Pretty routine until we took off the front tires and the inside of the front tires were toast completely bald and the outer edge was reading at about 5/32. The rear tires were fine at about 7/32. When we went to tell her about it and showed it too her she replied with, "that's why I'm having them rotated"... And she refused to pay for an alignment and didn't want new tires because we were "trying to rip her off". Just a fun little story about tire maintenance. Thanks for all the tips too, appreciate it.

Did you ever find out what caused the tire to blow? What you ran over?

It happened to our Pilot on it's first road trip 100 miles from home on a Sunday evening. NOTHING was open!! We put the little spare on, came home & ordered 4 new tires... It wasn't because of the blow out. obviously something was in the road. It was the poor handling on the road trip. It came with Goodyears. They were nasty. We put Bridgestone Duelers & were happy for the 33K we drove it after that!!

I never liked how the Michelins felt on my Accord & put the Bridgestones on it & love it all over again!!:D