Tire Question - About 1 month ago I got 4 new Pathfinder Tires for My SUV from Discount Tire. They said?

the tires are top of the line. Last night when driving in the rain, I felt like I was sliding all over the road. It was very scarey and I called them and they said they could be some sort of strip on the tire to make it have 30 percent more traction, that would cost 11 dollars more a tire. I am a single woman who knows nothing about cars. Does this sound legit and are the Pathfindes good tires for all season Thank You|||Hopefully you mistyped the name of your tire as I can find no such thing as a Pathfinder tire. I'll assume you own a Pathfinder and just bought new tires for it.





I know of no such thing as a strip that can be added to provide traction and can find nothing about that at tire rack, who I use for all of my tires and tire information.





I have included the link below - including the search word pathfinder, I suggest you give it a try. If you can find your tires there, you will find reviews by others who have them - likely on the same kind of suv as you. That will give you a better idea of what you should be able to expect from the tires. They rate them in rain, snow dry etc.





I suspect you probably have a decent tire with one of two problems. They might be over inflated (which I doubt, but should be checked). Over inflation will give you a smaller tire patch to the road and make them feel slippery.





The second and most likely possibility in my opinion is that you haven't put enough mileage on the tires yet. At the tire rack site they will state when a tire needs a "break in" mileage. I believe my last set required 500 miles before you could expect them to feel grippy. If I recall correctly this is even more true of the better rain tires. What makes me suspect this even more, is your tire dealers offer to put a strip on them.





What they probably will do is take the tires, put them on a spin balancing machine and take a tire shaving tool to them to take off about 500 miles worth of tread.





Since this will be like taking a nail file to your tires, they will look a little rough at first like they had something put on them.





My suggestion is to go to tire rack to verify that they do require a break in period. If that is the case, go find the nearest highway with a rough surface (not bumpy, but rough) and put as much mileage on as you can.





You will notice the difference especially in the rain.





I would also suggest that you tell everyone you know not to use that tire dealer.





Good luck.|||A strip on the tire? That doesn't make sense. There is nothing they can add to the tire to improve wet traction.





I think you mean "sipe", where they install little cuts in the tire. I do not like this practice as I think it is a crutch to try to improve traction on a lousy tire. Kind of like putting lipstick on a pig. If you want better traction, you need to buy a better tire.





Discount Tire usually offers great service, so see if they will work with you on doing an exchange for another tire. You might have to spend a little more money but you should get a better tire out of the deal.





Pathfinder is Discount Tire's house brand. I think they are made by Kelly Springfield. They are a good value but not a top of the line tire like a Michelin or Bridgestone tire. If they are not working for you, it is time to change to another brand and not mess around with tire siping.|||Adding sipes is not a good idea. Some tires have sipes on them already. Pathfinder is not a good brand, it comes from a subcompany(I.e. cooper is a good brand, own dakota tires, affordable cheaper, not as good.) Stick with major brands for more quality, imichillen, good year, firestone.





Go to firestone auto centers, had nothing but good expierences.