Hi guys, I've had my 2012x for a few months, and it's currently bone stock except Carmax put new tiger paw 225/55ZR17 tires on it 3k miles ago. Yesterday it got a bit sideways on me in the rain. I was doing about 55 in a 45 on a deserted, twisty road. I let up off the gas (I was coming out of the turn when the rear kicked out) and steered through it while the traction control/awd did their thing and got me back in the lines (the car never left the pavement). I slowed down from then on, and the rear felt really loose, like it wanted to do it again, even at slower speeds. I hit the "snow" button and it felt rock-solid, so I drove the rest of the way home like that, figuring it was just really slippery out there between it being the first rain in a while and all the leaves on the road.

I commute 122 miles round-trip. This morning I was in traffic most of the way (I slept too late to miss it), so I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. On the way home though, on dry roads, it felt like the rear was starting to get loose around 80 mph on the straights, and around 60 on curves and when steering to pass), when it's generally fine well above that. It felt like the rear tires were "floating" for lack of a better word, like they didn't have good contact. There are no dash lights on, and there's no additional noise anywhere. Tires look good, and I'm wondering what I might have messed up, or if it could be all in my head. Is there anything I should check for? Should I take it to the dealership and have them check it out? I drive a lot and really enjoy the car, so I'd rather be safe than sorry, but if there's anything I can do myself, I'd like to learn it, rather than pay someone and not know what to do next time. I'll try to slow down a bit on the corners in the future. Thanks in advance for the help!

 

Do you recall anything that may have jarred your alignment like nailing a large pothole? Might want to get the alignment verified.

 

No, haven't hit anything like that, and the dealer aligned it 2 weeks ago, along with balancing and rotating the tires. Earlier today at around 40mph on a straight stretch I let go of the wheel, and it held straight for a good distance. I know that's not scientific. I'm leaning toward taking it in just for peace of mind, and if I do, I'll definitely have them check. Thanks!

 

Start with checking the tire pressure. Examine the rear tires looking for any damage or anything that looks out of the ordinary.

What specific model tiger paw is this?

Since your car uses a square set up, you could try rotating front/rear, rear to front (or whatever the correct pattern is for your car).

 

This. You startled yourself and were hypersensitive for the rest of the drive. If your car got loose again, you would have seen the ESC light flash. Also, since the snow button really only does things at low speed (it's meant to get you moving, when you're cruising the AWD operates normally) what you experienced was pure placebo.

ESC is pretty nifty on these cars. Really makes you look like a hero when you start to lose it.

I have Tigerpaw GTZ's on the car from the dealer as well (guess it's a relatively inexpensive replacement if you're flipping a used car). Honestly, they're not half bad.

 

All Season GTZ.

The only thing that made me question if that was the case is the fact that I didn't think about it yesterday morning, but noticed it in the evening. I just got back from a different tire inflation place, and it turns out all 4 were grossly over-inflated (41psi cold). Less tire on the road explains it being slippery. I forgot that I'd inflated them Wed morning at a Sunnoco station. It was one of those machines that you put in the pressure you want and it adds/removes to get there. I'd put it on 33 (cold tires) and let it do it's thing, but it looks like the regulator on their machine is shot. I went over tonight after finding that out to let them know and took a look at the machine. It had the center pin stuck to one side of the inner rim, and the rubber gasket halfway off. Definitely damaged. I let them know, hopefully they'll get it repaired, but I'm not getting air there again.

Thanks everyone for your help, it feels good to have confidence in the car again, and it definitely felt better on the way home than on the way out. To anyone who thinks going from 41 to 33 won't make a noticeable difference and it's still all in my head, ssshhhh.

 

Glad it was a simple cure, it's often the case but can drive you a bit nuts while you're in the middle of it.