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New 'old' tyres - thoughts?

Simon W

Well-known member
Joined
21 Jun 2003
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1,288
Anyone have an (educated) opinion on the following...?

Would you use a set of Continental tyres that had never been used, but had been fitted to rims and stored in a dark garage for 8 years?
No visible signs of cracking / deterioration anywhere on the tyres.

Can't help thinking it is a bad idea, but not sure why I think that. Usual stuff about degradation of materials etc etc - I'm not sure I buy into that.

This is general motoring related. Not a performance / track / day / sorts car question.......
 
Wouldn't worry me if I was 100% sure they hadnt been exposed to the elements :thumb:
 
Usable Tyre life is 10 years if used normally so even at that there are 2 years left in them , use them up in the 2 years

If you get them free gratis it's a win!
 
I've bought some new wheels for a golf I've got. The wheels have the tyres fitted - whole lot is unused but been sitting since 2010!
I was gonna ditch the tyres, but they appear visually perfect.
Is there any tell tale sign at the tyre isn't fit for purpose? Don't want to take a chance with tyres!
Cheers
 
My 2 pennys worth ..

Porsche say change at 6 years old .

Ive seen a video of 20 year old tyres .. never used that were run on a rolling road at 70 .. they basically fell appart after 20 mins .

Ive seen plenty of tyres your age and older .. normally with heavy cracking.

I think in your case i would use them but just monitor them .. if they start to crack after 6 monthes then probably best to replace them .

very high speed and old tyres though do Not mix .
 
Most tyre degradation is caused by exposure to the elements (obviously excluding the actual tyre wear), so if they have been off the car in a dry dark place, I wouldn;t be too worried.

If you were talking about the old WB 993 I would have suggested against, but if you are going to use them on a daily or similar, I would happily do so (just drive it like you stole it and get as much use from them as possible!)
 
I've taken a few photos of the tyres. They really are like brand new.
Can't see any good reason not to use them...? I don't suppose the rubber would harden over time and therefore offer less effective road holding..?

DSC_2870_1500_800.jpg


DSC_2869_1500_800.jpg


DSC_2855_1500_800.jpg
 
On a side note - I'm a fan of those GTi wheels.
 
I had some older tyres on a previous car and they just lacked grip. Didn't fall apart or anything dramatic, but would let go easier than the fresh ones that replaced them. On the upside, they lasted 50% longer too.
 
its the only contact patch you have with the road so why bother taking the risk for a few 100 quid of tyres. especially on a sports car. are they even the right speed rating or weight support too?

anything past 6 years junk or give to drifters.

its not just you and your life but risking others as braking and grip are going to be compromised

Rubber does get old and brittle as its that sort of material. exposure to the elements speeds up that process.
 
its the only contact patch you have with the road so why bother taking the risk for a few 100 quid of tyres. especially on a sports car. are they even the right speed rating or weight support too?

anything past 6 years junk or give to drifters.

its not just you and your life but risking others as braking and grip are going to be compromised

Rubber does get old and brittle as its that sort of material. exposure to the elements speeds up that process.
 
NLW73 said:
its the only contact patch you have with the road so why bother taking the risk for a few 100 quid of tyres. especially on a sports car. are they even the right speed rating or weight support too?

anything past 6 years junk or give to drifters.

its not just you and your life but risking others as braking and grip are going to be compromised

Rubber does get old and brittle as its that sort of material. exposure to the elements speeds up that process.

I take your point NLW73 - I'm keen not to put my families safety or the safety of others in jeopardy. I'm really just asking the question on here because there is such a wealth of legitimate knowledge. There's a lot of misinformation out there - just googling the question will give me myriad opinions, none of which I necessarily trust.
However, this site tends to have people blessed with real, evidence based information - that's what i'm asking for. You say that tyre rubber gets old and brittle as 'it's that sort of material' You may be right and have evidence about the material to support that position. If you have, I'd love to hear it. But if you just believe that to be the case on instinct, or on other's opinions that you've read on line, I place less faith in it (in the nicest possible way).

If you have the evidence, or technical qualification to offer the opinion that my 8 year old tyres are likely to be more brittle than a 4 year old tyre, I'd genuinely love to learn more......
 
https://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/3kj943/why_does_rubber_go_brittle_when_it_ages/

have a look on you tube and the guy who does the tyre review site. he is really knowledgeable and used to work for Michelin and other rubber outfits. you can ping him directly.

was it not 13 year old Michelin rubber that contributed to the end of poor paul walker in that Carrera GT? that combined with a mate who had no talent but the post accident inspection found 13 year old rubber on the car which is going to make the handling and grip far more unpredictable

its personal choice really but running rubber past 6 years is just not for me.

as to what Demort said about the rubber falling apart on the dyno does not surprise me.

the faster you go and the more corneirng you do then the more stress and heat you will put into tyres and I would say that older rubber is going to deteriorate a lot quicker.

personally, I have run some old michelin pilot sports cups on a track day in a CSL and they went down hill really fast in terms of heat management and should have had more grip. by lunchtime they were junk. they were unused tyres and a freebie from a mate who is tech director at BMW. they date on them was 2004 and this was in 2012 so eight years old.

basically they were a freebie , on a spare set of wheels I took to the track (M3s are good for this and big boots) and wanted to see what they were like. the sidealls went near blue I kid you not after a few sessions, the sidewalls were cracking and the tread shuffle across the tyre was huge. not good. they would go off after a few laps when Cups should hang on for loads more time. car got a lot more unpreditable on the limit and would break away quickly with plenty of heat in the tyres. Cups should not do this. afternoon session on the road wheels and tyres which were PS2s and couple of years old from memory.
 
Michelin officially state that tyres time out after 10 years
 

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