GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

I just had some Exalto A/S's put on my car and the ride is pretty jittery compared to my HydroEdges....is there a break in period where the tires are getting used to the car, worn in a bit etc before they smooth out? I seem to remember that the more miles I put on the stock Contis and the Edges, the smoother the ride got...Yes? No? It's only been 100 miles...wait a few before seeing about a rebalance? New OEM alloy rims put on instead of the steelies

I've never heard of breaking in tires... but if the tread pattern is different from what you had, they will sound/ride a little different.

if you mean 'jittery' like the steering wheel is vibrating, then you should take the car and get them rebalanced. but, like mav said, if you mean jittery like the ride is a little rougher, it could be the tread pattern

I'm a 63 year old car nut and am convinced that if there was a break-in time for tires I'd have heard of it by now. There is something else causing your problem.

if by jittery you mean the steering is more responsive, i would say it's because the hydroedges aren't necessarily 'performance' tires.they're long wearing and from what i've read (and am currently experiencing on my car!) their sidewalls aren't as stiff as some of the performance tires out there (i don't know what Exalto's are like).If you mean vibration in the wheel..or at low speed you let go of the wheel and you see the wheel sort of jump back and forth randomly, then yes, get them rebalanced and make sure the lug nuts werent' over torqued. I'm almost done dealing with some similar issues with my car and just the other night i think i have solved something (i'll post a thread when i'm sure of a few things) which involved overtightening lug nuts.which falls inline with the switch from steel to alloys....based on my experiences!

If rebalancing doesn't do the trick and the ride is still bumpy, a bad tire probably isn't out of the question. You may have one that is slightly out of round... That happened with the set of all seasons I have now. Right after I bought them, I brought it back a couple times for a bumpy ride, they balanced the tires, but it didn't make a bit of difference. They ended up finding that one tire was to blame, replaced it, and all was well...

Quote, originally posted by Blue Goose » I seem to remember that the more miles I put on the stock Contis and the Edges, the smoother the ride got...LOL, yea it got smoother because the tires were going bald.

There is a break in time...it is for the driver to get used to the different feel/handling/sound of the replacement tires.