I purchased the Primacy Tour A/S ZP tires in a 245/40 19 size. This is a nice tire overall and matches with my Infiniti Q50S AWD nicely. I have about 30,000 miles on my odometer. However, I noticed a faint vibration sound at highway speeds. There is no real vibration felt, but I fear time will only make this condition worse.
The tires were Road Force balanced at time of purchase. The vibration sound got worse over time and after about 1000 miles I took my car in to my dealer describing and recording the noise I was hearing in the cabin. We inspected the shocks, the front and rear drive shafts, the wheel bearings, checked the run-out of the wheels themselves and they are running true. We put the tires on their Road Force balancer and the weights were spot on.
The car was brought in a second time to the dealer at a later date as the vibration sound on the highway was slightly more noticeable and was distracting my driving experience, pulsing anywhere from 12-16 times a second. Again, we looked at all suspension and driveline components, put a stethoscope on all rotating sections of the drivetrain and bearings, and the car checked out solid, checked out by the dealer's master mechanic on this second visit. So, the car was lowered from the hoist, a second mechanic got in the drivers seat and the car was lifted again. With the car started and running about 15 mph while up on the hoist. Being AWD all of the tires were spinning in the air. We could see that as the tires rotated, each tire had a high spot, perhaps at a seam? The left front was the worst but each of the tires had that one spot that was high with the rest of the tire surface running true. All of this pointed to the tires being responsible for that pulsing sound heard on the highway.
Going back to the tire dealer, they graciously agreed to replace all of the tires, however they are currently on backorder. For the meantime, they offered to put the tires on the Road Force balancer while we wait for backordered tires to become available, Being the third time these tires have been on the balancer, they once again were spot on and no adjustments were needed.
I am concerned that the replacement tires will have the same issue. I would have switched over to some other tire, but it is very difficult to find a Run Flat tire in this size, with a 94 load rating, a V or better speed rating, and a tread width comparable to the OEM tires. While the Bridgestone Driveguard would be the next best replacement tire, its main drawback is the tire width is only 7 inches compared to the OEM Dunlop SP Sport 5000 tires at 8.7 inches. That seems like a huge compromise for cornering traction. (btw, the Dunlop SP Sport 5000 tires are by far the worst tires in every measurable category, and of any tires I have driven on in my 40+ years of car ownership. Are you listening Dunlop?)
Ideally, I would have preferred to purchase a 245/40 19 Michelin Pilot Sport All Season 4, or any other premium performance Michelin All Season tire. However Michelin does not offer any other Run Flat tires in this size. I prefer to keep the run flat tires as no spare or spare mount is built into the car.
Going back to the replacement tires, they will again be the Primacy A/S ZP. I hope they don't also have those high spots. If they do, I have no idea what other tire I would run. Michelin, you have an opportunity to provide a 245/40 19 tire as a replacement for 2014-2021 Infiniti Q50's and other brands for Ultra High Performance Run Flats, and hopefully without the high spots like that with the Primacy.
I will say this though, the Primacy is a very respectable tires on many fronts. Outside of the high spot issue, the tire is impressively quiet, the drive is comfortable yet performance is available when asked, the cornering is exceptional even when pushing the car in the roundabouts, has excellent road manners over expansion cracks, very good in wet and dry, and frankly a great tire for those looking for a capable tire for general and spirited driving on the back roads. The high spots take away from what would be rated as an excellent tire.