Are Your Tires Turning Brown?
 

Apologize for posting in the General forum, but I'd like a larger audience for the meantime. Thank you.

Yesterday my dad and I took out the FR-S and drove it roughly 4 miles. It's been sitting for a little over a month because we went out of the country.

When we got home the tires were brown aka "blooming." But they weren't brown when we left before the short 4-mile drive.

We have the stock Michelin Primacy's.

I had a tire dressing which I had applied in October when we got the car--Meguiar's Gold Class Endurance Tire Gel. We got the FR-S without it being detailed by the dealership and when I cleaned the car, I cleaned the tires with neutral-ph soap. There was no prior dressing. Then I put tire gel when the tire was all dry. I didn't smother the tire with product either; I applied a moderate amount and wiped away the rest to prevent fling.

Since the car is a garage queen, within October and today it has only been washed once which was in the second week of November. I did not soap the tires nor did I reapply any dressing. The shine actually lasted until yesterday.

The car has 185 miles it and has never been driven in wet or dirty (construction site/off-road/dirt) conditions. And of course, is always parked in an enclosed garage.

The label on the tire gel says it stops tires from turning brown. My tires are virtually brand new still. If the tire gel accelerated it, then that could be potential false advertising.

So that's why I want to know if anyone else has a tire-browning/blooming issue. State whether you had applied tire dressing/how often.

Thank you in advanced.

EDIT: Pictures

Sure it isn't brake dust?

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yea if u apply tire dressing it'll turn orange brown. stop applying it for half yr or so the color will be black again.

I use the same product and have noticed mine to be brownish when the product is gone or when I wash it off... Never really thought much of it as I have always had this type of browning no matter which products I used. Just had to ensure I reapplied after cleaning.

I like using 303 on my tires. Re-apply every month or so when I was the car. Keeps a nice looking black satin look to the tires.

His tires were fine before they went out driving and then it was brown when they returned. The car was garaged for an extended amount of time. I still maintain that this was brake dust accumulation. Perhaps a layer of rust had formed on the discs while the car sat, and the drive around town was spirited enough to cause the brakes to coat the tires with dust.

I can't see how any tire dressing would turn brown after one short drive out.

Just use Duplicolor tire shine coating, lets about 3-4 times longer than most tire dressings (dry to the touch) and it isn't silicone based. Costs about 8 bucks on Summit racing.

Also the OP mentions they only drove like 4 miles then just left the car for 1 month. So it sat with Meguiar's tire gel on the tires for 1 month and they came back to brown tires. I used to use that stuff on my previous cars and I stopped and would indeed notice faster browning of my tires. Would not suprise me at all if the stuff accelerates the browning effect on tires. Note I have not used any tire dressing on my car and I have no browning of my tires after 5500 miles.

In my Nissan owner's manual, there's a clause that says Nissan does not recommend the use of tire dressing.

I don't know if Subaru says such thing?

I agree that it's most likely rust or dust on the brakes that accumulated while the car was unused. I've always used tire dressing on my tires (many different brands) and never had an issue with discoloring.

I always use Cover All. Cleans them right up. But for shows I'll use some tire shine.

I also would guess that it's brake dust. I've been using a tire shine spray but I haven't gotten browning, so yes I use tire dressing depending on your definition.

:needpics:

I think so too. It's easy to test: get a stick and rub the inside of the wheel. If there is a lot of brake dust generated, it will accumulate there.

I've found with using a variety of different tire dressings over the years, that if I don't re-apply them, after awhile the tires will turn brown to one degree or another. That's one reason I don't use them much anymore. If you start, you usually need to keep up with using the dressing regularly, anywhere from once a month to once a quarter or so, depending how much weather and driving the car/tires see.

Of course the Primacy HP's are turning brown, they're made of shite!