Definitely NOT Normal! Tire bubbles are caused by your performance tires coming in contact with some ordinary street tires. They became a little more intimate than they should have and now those little bastard bubbles show up. We can't have little Hybrid Toyo and Kelly Springfield tires running around now can we

Start beating up your dealer that sold you the crappy tires. They can take it up with Toyo and get you a new set.

What are P6's? I am fishing for some wheel and tire upgrades and was thinking Toyo but now I am not so sure.

My 04 TT came with 18 inch Pirelli P Zero Rossos. All four had sidewall damage when I took them off for the winter last year with 14000 miles on them. I would guess you are running on low profile tires similar to mine. I don't know where you are but if the roads are not in great shape you will probably get 'bubbles' from moderate size potholes.

Which brings me to a question. Is anyone running 225/50-18 tires on a TT? I am considering a set for my summer tires this year as I think the fatter sidewall may prolomg the usefull life of the tires.

I searched on a bunch of tire sites and can't find this size. I any case, I don't think a 225/50 tire fits. If you want to increase the sidewall, you gotta decrease the wheel size (205/55-16s fit; 225/45-17s fit).

TTs with 18-in wheels come mounted with 225/40-18s -- a tire with an outside diameter of 25-in (as are those other sizes indicated above). The sidewall on a 225/40 is 90mm; about 3.54-in. the sidwall on a 225/50 would be 112.5mm; about 4.43-in. Since there are two sidewalls on either side of the wheel, the increase to the outside diameter is almost two inches.

In any case, I don't believe the height of the sidewall would prolong the life of the tire -- mostly it's tread depth, and that remains the same no matter the other specs. Let me know if you find out otherwise, and check the specs on your Pirelli Rosso's:

The tires I referred to were Bridgestone Potenza 225/50-18 found on the TireRack website. I don't think you understood my point. I am aware that tread depth will determine how long the tires perform. However, I don't think they are safe to use at highway speeds once the sidewalls fail (bubble). Thin sidewalls provide much less cushion between rim and road (or pothole edge). I believe that is what is causing the bubbles on my tires. This has not happened so frequently before with tires having a higher sidewall. If not 50s, as anyone run 225/45-18 on a TT? Thanks for your feedback.

Sorry, Tom - they are made by Pirelli. I haven't driven a TT with the summer tires so I don't know if there's much of a performance difference. For Minnesota, all seasons were definitely the way to go.