Dry rot?

[simonnim]

Guys this isn't a street tire, but an R compound. It's a vastly different beast than a 10 year old Conti street tire.

These tires will 1) not grip 2) be unpredictable at their highly marginalized limit due to age 3) be unsafe due to understeer changing to sudden oversteer with very little predictability.

They'd be fun in the right hands and with the right amount of room between your car and an FIA barrier, but otherwise, not worth running these on the track. I have a stack of old but barely used R compounds that are completely worthless for any duty other than holding the car up.

Ok, I understand what you meant now. Thanks, will get a new set after I remove tires and rattle can the wheels gold.

[oceansize]

Guys this isn't a street tire, but an R compound. It's a vastly different beast than a 10 year old Conti street tire.

These tires will 1) not grip 2) be unpredictable at their highly marginalized limit due to age 3) be unsafe due to understeer changing to sudden oversteer with very little predictability.

They'd be fun in the right hands and with the right amount of room between your car and an FIA barrier, but otherwise, not worth running these on the track. I have a stack of old but barely used R compounds that are completely worthless for any duty other than holding the car up.

I know, my reply was strictly geared towards people's irrational fear of a street tire hitting some magical "cut-off" date. I inspect my tires thoroughly every few months to make sure I'm good.

[Casa de Mesa]

Guys this isn't a street tire, but an R compound. It's a vastly different beast than a 10 year old Conti street tire.

These tires will 1) not grip 2) be unpredictable at their highly marginalized limit due to age 3) be unsafe due to understeer changing to sudden oversteer with very little predictability.

They'd be fun in the right hands and with the right amount of room between your car and an FIA barrier, but otherwise, not worth running these on the track. I have a stack of old but barely used R compounds that are completely worthless for any duty other than holding the car up.

[oceansize]

right? Tried selling my E92 wheels on M3F with 3-4 year old PSS tires and everybody acted like the tires were about to explode the next day like a dead necrotic whale washed ashore and cooking in the sun for 5 days.

My E46 continentals are 10 years old now and have 4K miles on them but still look intact and I drive it on the freeway every now and then. Mind you this includes 5 years of storage in freezing midwest. I’ll be replacing them this summer.

So yeah tires don’t automatically go bad after an expiration date like milk does. Sure you have to replace them but not at the intervals greedy manufacturers come
up with to line their pockets with more money and save their butt from a major lawsuit.

Agreed. My Michelins are five years old and soon to be six and the tires are completely fine, no signs of dry rot or anything else remotely negative. Grip is fine in heat. Car is stored indoors and always has been. Now if I sold them it would be at a steep discount, prorated if you will.

[simonnim]

Ahh... but what do you guys think about those veins on the image?

[Maxima SE]

Tires don't magically explode when they get 5 years old guys.

right? Tried selling my E92 wheels on M3F with 3-4 year old PSS tires and everybody acted like the tires were about to explode the next day like a dead necrotic whale washed ashore and cooking in the sun for 5 days.

My E46 continentals are 10 years old now and have 4K miles on them but still look intact and I drive it on the freeway every now and then. Mind you this includes 5 years of storage in freezing midwest. I’ll be replacing them this summer.

So yeah tires don’t automatically go bad after an expiration date like milk does. Sure you have to replace them but not at the intervals greedy manufacturers come
up with to line their pockets with more money and save their butt from a major lawsuit.

[Casa de Mesa]

I'm not sure if they're r compound.

https://www.americastire.com/buy-tir...storeCode=1336

These are the tires, didn't mention anything about r compound in the description. But they're version 1's not c52 but c51.

They are definitely a DOT radial R compound tire:

The Hankook Ventus Z214 C51 is a symmetrical semi-slick tire with tread width longitudinal tread grooves for outstanding performance on the circuit in dry or damp conditions. This is a street legal competition tire with DOT number, C5 tread compound.

R compound means race compound, or competition. There are true race slicks that aren't DOT legal, fully slick and extremely sticky. And then there are "DOT legal race tires" that have a low treadwear rating, massive contact patches but because of the suggestion of grooves in the tire, are street legal.

The treadwear on these is 045. That's a sticky tire...

...when they were new. I wouldn't run them in a track day. They will be extremely loose.

Edit: by comparison, look for the treadwear rating of the very capable Michelin Pilot Sport 4S street tire. It's probably something like 200 - 220.

[simonnim]

If these are a DOT R compound tires, I wouldn't run them. They will be hockey pucks.

Might be fun due to the lack of grip, but R compound tires lose their magic pretty quickly when they age. 6 years is a looooong time for an R compound tire, regardless of how they've been stored.

If fast lap times are your goal, this is not the path of least resistance to get there...

I'm not sure if they're r compound.

https://www.americastire.com/buy-tir...storeCode=1336

These are the tires, didn't mention anything about r compound in the description. But they're version 1's not c52 but c51.


Update:
I guess c51 is the compound.

[Casa de Mesa]

If these are a DOT R compound tires, I wouldn't run them. They will be hockey pucks.

Might be fun due to the lack of grip, but R compound tires lose their magic pretty quickly when they age. 6 years is a looooong time for an R compound tire, regardless of how they've been stored.

If fast lap times are your goal, this is not the path of least resistance to get there...

[Tbonem3]

I thought those lines were part of the design 😄

[simonnim]

I think he is asking about the many cracks in the sidewall right above the lettering, which was the first thing that caught my eye as a concern. Extra tire chunks on tread are not a concern.

I would not run this on track, even though there are steel/kevlar belt reinforcements there, I would not risk sidewall failure, given how much abuse it takes.

Side question, did these sit in the sun/uv?

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I'm not sure since I picked these up mainly for the apex wheels they're mounted on. But thought maybe I could make a track day out of them.

[mrgizmo04]

I think he is asking about the many cracks in the sidewall right above the lettering, which was the first thing that caught my eye as a concern. Extra tire chunks on tread are not a concern.

I would not run this on track, even though there are steel/kevlar belt reinforcements there, I would not risk sidewall failure, given how much abuse it takes.

Side question, did these sit in the sun/uv?

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[simonnim]

I have seen this before where the outer layer of rubber wanted to peel off around the lettering. Not necessarily indicative of an impending failure, but definitely a qc issue and not a good thing.

6 years old is not that bad. If they were 10 I'd say replace them anyway simply due to the age.

What is peace of mind and safety worth to you?

It's strange that only one of them is showing this, I do have an extra tire of the exact same brand & model. It's brand new however. Wanted one more track day out of them but just uncertainty about overall safety since I'm not very knowledgeable in this arena.

[cobra]

I have seen this before where the outer layer of rubber wanted to peel off around the lettering. Not necessarily indicative of an impending failure, but definitely a qc issue and not a good thing.

6 years old is not that bad. If they were 10 I'd say replace them anyway simply due to the age.

What is peace of mind and safety worth to you?

[simonnim]

That's not melted tire from track use?

Tires don't magically explode when they get 5 years old guys.

No, it's in between the hankooks letters and the big bar above it.