Marc's X7, C3 Aircross, Rants, Raves & Everything Else

[GiveMeABreak]

I was just having a browse at some other people's cars today on the web, just to see what sort of half decent accessories there are and then checking out the usual online retail places.

I've long been saying that the flood of Chinese rubbish on Amazon and other places is quite concerning (just try and find something that isn't Chinese tat). This is true even more now that they have established a large presence and have a grip on the western markets. They have spread like a virus (pun intended), then they start jacking up the prices to near 'proper' OEM quality original products.

Just look at this identical product: identical pictures from both websites!

Amazon UK price: £41.80!!!!	AliExpress price: £7.17 with a 72p Coupon, free shipping.

This is what I have found with a lot of products - especially whilst looking for dash cameras - the same Chinese models that used to be dirt cheap (so you could avoid them) are now on a par (pricewise only of course!) with OEM branded quality names.

It is now taking so long to research 'things' before buying. We now have 'Wish' - another online market place that is a vehicle for Chinese sellers and is becoming more popular for tat, most of which is filled with Chinese junk - and whom 'Which' magazine investigated as having some dangerous and illegal products for sale like baby seats and the like.

Amazon has been going downhill for years and I have had fake products from them in the past - it turns out that all the 'same' items regardless of whether from the OEM manufacturer or some fake seller are allocated the same picking number and put into the same bin - so when you come to order what you think is a genuine product, the items are allocated from the same bin and you don't know if you will be getting a fake or an original -so do check very carefully.

[GiveMeABreak]

In my search for useless accessories, can anyone tell me what the point of these luminous stickers are?

I mean, do they really think people are going to put these on their instrument panel warning lights or on their wiper or lighting stalks? Everything is already illuminated????

The only ones I can see being remotely useful are the window buttons - but these are again illuminated already

[Hell Razor5543]

Possibly for when the buttons/switches have got so worn that the emblem is no longer legible (so all you have is a blob of light)?

[GiveMeABreak]

Could be, could be James... mind you, Hell will probably freeze over before that happens, but I think the other thousand stickers are pretty much redundant

[GiveMeABreak]

Well yesterday I decided I'd had enough of the awful Bridgestone Turanza T005 tyres, so took the plunge and went on an epic search for replacements.

What are the issues?

Well for a start the front and rears are starting to crack - the fronts are worse with a web-like feathering just on the outer edge I don't think I've ever had a tyre like this before. Same on the other side. The rears are starting to do the same.

I never liked them from the start - the grip is crap on stone chipped roads - especially at a junction and when we had her delivered at Christmas, and had some snow, it was a no-go, not that I expected much as these are summer tyres.

I have come to hate these with a vengeance and looking at the state of them - all I can say is Citroen must have gone mad fitting these excuse for a tyre to the cars. I believe they have started going back to Michelin.....

They should never of been fitted to vehicles with the Grip Control system fitted either - as PSA say in their own materials that that should have all season tyres fitted at one point. This penny pinching madness has got to stop - removing a hand rail here, the rear cup-holders there, glovebox lighting and all the rest of it.

So given that I need All Season tyres to effectively work with the Grip Control - I did a bit of researching hours of searching, looking at reviews and thought I'll stick to what I know, so opted for the Michelin Cross Climate Plus. Prices are not cheap at anything up to about £150 per tyre for my size.

But luckily, I did find an offer with ATS on Michelin tyres at present with £25 off 2 tyres or £50 off 4. The even better news is that whether there is a mistake on their website or not, I don't know, but when I got to the checkout, they seemed to double the £50 discount - so I got £105.44 off the total of £553.96, which is £112.13 per tyre fully fitted and balanced etc. as opposed to the £138.49 each, so I'm happy with that

So I'm not sure what has caused those cracks to appear, but I don't like the look of them and will be glad to see the back of them. Seeing as there are signs it is happening on the rears too, I can only put it down to the tyres probably having been stored for ages before fitting or poor manufacturing or the rubber trees having a bad day

[myglaren]

How old were they Marc?
I have never seen any tyres that looked as bad as that.

[GiveMeABreak]

A year Steve and I’ve never seen that either on all my &@£? Years of motoring!

[myglaren]

Might be worth informing Bridgestone. If there are defects that cause accidents they will be very unhappy with the lawsuits.
Bad batch of rubber probably.

[NewcastleFalcon]

Plenty of useful information in your post Marc relevant to the "Everything about Tyres" Thread. Hope you don't mind I have put a link on that thread too.

viewtopic.php?p=692594#p692594

REgards Neil

[GiveMeABreak]

No worries - I was thinking about putting it there, but as it was a semi-rant I thought I's stick it here Neil.

I can't see it being anything mechanical to cause this and seeing as it is starting to appear on the back ones to o, that makes it even more unlikely to be suspension or geometry-related. So I do think it has to be that they have stockpiled tyres prior to fitting at the factory during the pandemic in poor conditions or 'Wrigleys' have cornered the market ...

[GiveMeABreak]

Tyres aside for the moment, I decided to acquire some genuine Citroen rear sun shades that I spotted for the Aircross whilst browsing. These retail with Citroen for £80, but managed to get these for nearly two thirds less from a parts supplier having a stock clearout.

Not a bad saving, so thought I'd take a punt. The vehicle already has the darkened privacy glass on the rear windows, but it has been stonkingly hot, so thought these may provide some additional blotting out of the sun and they do.

The set comes in a nice Citroen carry-case for storage when not required. There are 2 rear passenger door window blinds which just spring into the shape of the window area - that part was easy.

There are also a set for the rear quarterlight - now these are a different story They come with some Carlos Fandango type clips that are supposed to go round the edges of the shade and then the other part slips in under the trim to hold them in place - supposedly..... Trouble is the uselses instructions show the clips on the shade.

In reality there is no way to slide these clips onto the edge of the shade - so I ended up holding the rim of the shade onto the clip whilst at the same time trying to fit them under the trim whilst the clips were pinging off more times than Boris's NHS App.

So a few choice words later I managed to get them to stay in place - but am not convinced these are right. So when it is cooler and I have some energy, I will go and see if I can fit these clips onto the shade somehow.

Update: Well I solved it - undeterred, I went out after posting this on a mission and sure enough the clips do go on the shade edge - BUT can't be just pushed on - which was my initial issue - they have to be 'rolled' onto the edge at an angle, then lifted up as you roll them on - then they snap into place!

Having done this they now just clip into the window recess instantly

[GiveMeABreak]

Well today was a glorious day!

Off to ATS for my pre-booked appointment and got rid of these nightmare tyres from Hell.

Now I have 4 new Michelin Cross Climate Plus tyres on and what a difference it has made already. Much quieter, and a smoother drive, I am really pleased. They will also work perfectly with the Grip Control System in winter or going down 'Cow s**t Alley' when the farmers are on a dairy / sheep drive where we are.

I was waiting outside ATS as one of the blokes was throwing his hammer about the place cursing a BMW trying to get a tyre off a little too close to my car for my liking so I kept well within viewing shot. Quite a stressful experience....

Any how, whilst waiting, an email came through from Ali, the field Engineering Technician at Bridgestone regarding the photos I sent him yesterday. This is what he had to say concerning the tyres for those interested:

Thank you for the photographs of the Bridgestone tyres fitted to your car.
Concerning the ‘cracking’ in the shoulder groves and tread groves (circumferential grooves); this we have seen many times in the past. (across many products, and most brands) where the top layer of surface rubber begins to oxidise and appears perished. (we refer to this as ‘crazing’, as ‘cracking’ generally relates to splitting after force or trauma during operation.
It is worth noting that as part of tyre manufacturers’ compliance to environmental responsibility legislation, there are increased restrictions on the materials used in tyre construction.
‘Crazing’ can also be caused by other factors:
• Extended exposure to sunlight. (UV light dries out the anti-aging oils in the rubber which give a tyre it’s tackiness and elasticity).
• The application of ‘Tyre Dressing’. - Used by dealer forecourts and carwash companies mainly to make the sidewalls/shoulders of the tyres look ‘more black’. These can be quite strong and some are even mildly corrosive if used consistently over time.
• Poor pressure maintenance during the tyre’s life. This causes over flexing in the tyre casing eventually causing tyres to prematurely age.
• Exposure to contaminates. - Petrol, anti-freeze, motor oil, tyre ‘dressing’ (used on the sidewalls to appear more “black”).
• Regular, but short frequent trips in the vehicle (lack of use), where the tyres are heating up, then cooling down over a short period of time. (essentially preventing the aforementioned oils from percolating/migrating throughout the tyre fully). We add anti-aging oils into the rubber compound, however for these oils to be released the tyres need to get to an operating temperature. If the tyres are not used regularly then the releasing agents in the anti-aging oils are unable to percolate through the casing and ensure the tyre stays subtle.
The upside to this phenomenon is that ‘crazing’ only affects the top cap layer of rubber, so is only cosmetic in nature. - This type of appearance does not have any effect on the tyres handling or performance, and based on the appearance in the image provided we would advise that these tyres are ok to continue running. However as with any appearance-based condition reported in the market, we always advise to monitor the tyres regularly.
In their current conditions the tyres will not cause any detriment to the tyres serviceability or affect the cars dynamic performance abilities. The tyres will most likely wear out before the crazing gets worse. If the tyres are well serviced and the correct tyre pressure is maintained the tyres will continue to provide an excellent service life.
In the photographs provided we can notice some extensive tread shoulder wear, this is usually associated with incorrect tyre inflation pressures for loads carried. When the tyre pressure for a specific loads is correct the tread will wear evenly across the tread. However when the tyre pressure is too low for a given load, the tyres will wear more on the shoulders, this causes the displayed uneven wear. Extensive movement in the tyre casing can also eventually lead to cracking and creasing in the tread grooves.
Finally, we fully understand that you have full rights to return the tyres under warranty. If you wish to pursue this route, I’ve attached our General Warranty Statement and official BTMA complaints process guidelines.
I hope this info has helped, please let us know if there is any more info you require on this subject to assist with your enquiry.

He has sent me all the claims forms and warranty process - but am I going to follow it up? - No. I can't won't go back to my dealer - they are in Canterbury and I just can't be bothered with the whole Carlos Fandango affair of the paperwork involved.

So I have kept the 2 best rear tyres that are almost brand new and will be giving those to my mate who has just bought a Ford Focus Estate that has the same exact tyres funnily enough!

So he can at least shove these on the front when his wear down and save £300!

[GiveMeABreak]

Very pleased with the Michelin’s on the few trips so far.

Loads of traction on these, just need some snow now…

[Zelandeth]

Look very similar to how the original tyres (Continental from memory) on my 107, which were borderline dangerous from the day it left the factory. Especially as the ABS was always a little excitable in that car at the best of times. When they were changed after a couple of years it totally transformed the car.

They had circumferential cracking through the tread bands on all four tyres, not much at all on the side walls though. Garage that changed them said it was a really becoming common these days. The rubber compounds being made so much harder to reduce rolling resistance being the biggest factor they thought.

[GiveMeABreak]

I do hope you are referring to the Bridgestones that I just removed on the last page Zel!

These CrossClimates I've had before on the C5, although those were the first generation of this tyre by Michelin. The later 'Plus' version has increased tyre tread life and as they wear, it opens the stipes to provide additional grip down to the last bit of tread life, so they say.

I've never really liked the 'summer tyre' where they remove half the rubber you've paid for with those circumferential grooves (trenches more like). So I'm sticking with All Seasons for now - and when these need changing in a 2-3 years (hopefully) I may look at some other All Season brands like the Goodyear Vector 4 Seasons or maybe one of the others that are gaining popularity like the GitiAllSeason AS1