Tire age... the real scoop

My limit is 6 years for tires.  I've had three delaminations.

Besides, old tires can wear out of round, are loud, and may not have the traction you want when you need it to avoid ana accident.

New tires for street-driven cars aren't too expensive.  Get new shoes and love it.

All the above. Plus, you get that new tire smell.

I would probably pick the car up and drive it a couple weeks to make sure it's a keeper first.

I vote new tires.   I wouldn't take a chance on driving at highway speeds on tires 10+ years old.   

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

See how much traction they haven't.

 

A while back I had the opportunity to drive a 430 mile Mercury Sable.  It was stored inside since new, essentially, and the tires had no cracks.  They were also so slidey that it was comical.  

yep.  When I had a Z32 with 10+ year old tires it was truly amazing how little traction it had.

When I bought my second Miata it had something like 15 YO tires. I autocrossed with them for a little while, had a couple of small spins and mostly figured it was due to overexhuberant driving more than anything else. Then I looped the car going through a corner on a back road I know very well at very low speed - I just didn't have any grip at all. I finally took a good look at the tires and they were as hard as hockey pucks. I put on a set of new tires and the difference was the most amazing thing I ever felt.

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

See how much traction they haven't.

 

A while back I had the opportunity to drive a 430 mile Mercury Sable.  It was stored inside since new, essentially, and the tires had no cracks.  They were also so slidey that it was comical.  

Well, these don't have a ton, but as much as I would expect from highway all season touring balloons.

L5wolvesf said:

Are they quality tires? Have you driven it?

There is a chance they have been sitting on the same spot they could develop a "flat spot". Once rolling again could be prone to separating. 

Yes, driving daily.  No flat spots, at least nothing detectable.  I've probably put 3000 miles on it since I bought it in May/June.

I would have to look again to be sure, but I think they're Goodyear Reatta.  They weren't offbrand junk, they are a "real" brand name.

I'll post the same reminder that I do every time this topic comes up:

The tires that killed Paul Walker and Roger Rodas looked practically new, having only 3.5k miles and living indoors. However, they were also 9 years old.

A worthwhile read: https://www.thedrive.com/article/5189/the-truth-behind-what-caused-paul-walkers-fatal-crash

In reply to Driven5 :

Yup. And like we found in our own tire testing–here’s a link to those who are a little late to the party–the old tires performed well until they didn’t. Here’s some of the data analysis, but you can read the whole test over on the Classic Motorsports site. 

In reply to David S. Wallens :

that's 26' difference. almost 2 car lengths. This doesn't even address cord seperation or delaminations with heat either.

In reply to bobzilla :

Yup. And as JG noted, you can fit a lot of kids on bicycles in that space. 

In reply to David S. Wallens :

I didn't see where you did any lateral testing or wet. Those would be interesting

In reply to David S. Wallens :

That's a rather significant 15% increase in stopping distance. The problem (as JG hit on) isn't just the reduced grip, but the lack of predictability, progression, and control over the remaining grip.  I think this statement summed it up nicely:

While the old Pirellis felt reasonably grippy when driven under the limit, their at-limit and over-limit performance was very poor and—possibly even worse—very unrecoverable.

In reply to frenchyd :

But they're not driving 15 under and that explains why every panel on the car is smashed. 

bobzilla said:

In reply to David S. Wallens :

I didn't see where you did any lateral testing or wet. Those would be interesting

 

It would have but, to be honest, notice the date of the test: March 2020. We were rushing to get this done as we had an inkling something was headed our way.

We did another new vs. old tire test a few years ago. The data can be found here. We’re discussing an updated test with data and video. 

In reply to David S. Wallens :

Well I'm willing to volunteer to help. I've always thought out of date tires was a serious thing that gets ignored. 

David S. Wallens said:

In reply to bobzilla :

Yup. And as JG noted, you can fit a lot of kids on bicycles in that space. 

You say that like it's a BAD thing  :)

Kidding.

Ok, you've all convinced me.  I'll get wheel shopping so I can do both at the same time.

Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:

David S. Wallens said:

In reply to bobzilla :

Yup. And as JG noted, you can fit a lot of kids on bicycles in that space. 

You say that like it's a BAD thing  :)

Kidding.

Ok, you've all convinced me.  I'll get wheel shopping so I can do both at the same time.

I'm relieved to see that.

Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:

Ok, you've all convinced me. I'll get wheel shopping so I can do both at the same time.

Other than buying new tires for safety's sake, the best part is getting a handy excuse to buy some sweet new rims. 

In reply to procainestart :

Always a good excuse.  Any suggestions?  18", 5x108 (4.25").  Factory offsets dance around 40mm, so 35mm-ish et?

I am reminded of the time my neighbor told me about the time his "new" tire had a blowout.  The tread had completely separated from the carcass at around 75 mph and impacted the bottom front of the rocker panel hard enough to make it difficult to open the door.  When I asked for more details about the tire, he revealed that it was the "new" never used spare that had ridden on the back of his 1990 Toyota 4Runner since the day he bought it.

You people should stop harassing Frenchy.  I mostly agree with him on this issue at least.  You can run old tires, just don't expect them to perform like new tires.  And yeah, you might have a blowout, so keep your speed down.

My vintage BMX bike has 35-40 year old tires on it; they hold air just fine. They are skatey as skatey can be.

The MR2 Spyder I just picked up had tires old enough to vote. It was a very gentle 50 mile drive home, because they scared the living daylights out of me just looking at them, and I've parked it until I get fresh tires on it (just mounted up some new Continental ECS 02s on the wheels) and get the pre-cats knocked out of it.

In reply to NickD :

If you wait a little while, the pre cats will knock themselves out, no need to do it manually.