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So,I`ve got a `95 X300,lovely car,fitted with Pirrelli P6000 on the front.
Now these tyres have got plenty of tread left on them,but I have noticed the date code is 4402,which I think means made in the 44th week of 2002,making them almost 22 years old !
They look in good condition,just some very slight cracking on the sidewall,should I change these,I only about 800 miles a year,and these tyres aren`t exactly cheap,if so,what do you reccomend,I`m in the UK.
Thanks.
So,I`ve got a `95 X300,lovely car,fitted with Pirrelli P6000 on the front.
Now these tyres have got plenty of tread left on them,but I have noticed the date code is 4402,which I think means made in the 44th week of 2002,making them almost 22 years old !
They look in good condition,just some very slight cracking on the sidewall,should I change these,I only about 800 miles a year,and these tyres aren`t exactly cheap,if so,what do you reccomend,I`m in the UK.
Thanks.
there is nothing but 4 tiny points of rubber connecting your car to the road.
please do not compromise on the integrity of said rubber.
i totally get the expense and desire to save money,
but it does not matter how good your engine is, how good your steering is, how good your brakes are if your tyres fail you are doomed.
There is tyre width restriction on the front at least or you run into tram lining issue , car hunting left and right
Without looking so I can be wrong factory spec is 225 and 255 is max aftermarket from reading others
Plenty of threads on tire options and manufactures ( Continentals brand) and there is an aftermarket shim to slip in ( split shim and held in place by wrap around grove wire ) without removing the rack , if you look down from the top of the engine compartment with a light below on the ground you may see a gap , prevents tramlining
Surprised you aren't getting dragged through the mud on this one. Most of the people here think your car is going to disintegrate into the sun if your tires are a day over 10 years old. And if there's one single microscopic crack from possible dry rotting? Well you're just gonna blow into a million pieces and take out 12 other families on the road with you.
You're in UK, MOT here is so strict that literally half of the cars in US would be considered ticking time bombs and would be sent straight to the crusher, without even allowing the owner to take his possessions as it would have been considered too dangerous for the owner to enter a stationary car.
These Michelins tend to dry rot much faster than other tyres generally so there's no chance in the world they would last 22 years on a car that wasn't stored in a nice dark and warm garage so I take it these were just stored for too long and fitted to your vehicle in the last lets say 10 years at best so they might still be ok, you'd fail the MOT if they weren't but since you do not know when they were fitted, I'd change them before next MOT, you don't need to get anything fancy, think I've paid ~Ł250 for my last set and they've been absolutely fine. In the meantime, I wouldn't necessarily take it on the autobahn
PS
I've driven on 15 year old tyres, they were fine(as in structural integrity was ok), just one set got used much quicker as the rubber was soft and another set was garbage as rubber was hard and wet traction was poor, could spin the rear on every water puddle if I wanted to.
Surprised you aren't getting dragged through the mud on this one. Most of the people here think your car is going to disintegrate into the sun if your tires are a day over 10 years old. And if there's one single microscopic crack from possible dry rotting? Well you're just gonna blow into a million pieces and take out 12 other families on the road with you.
You're in UK, MOT here is so strict that literally half of the cars in US would be considered ticking time bombs and would be sent straight to the crusher, without even allowing the owner to take his possessions as it would have been considered too dangerous for the owner to enter a stationary car.
These Michelins tend to dry rot much faster than other tyres generally so there's no chance in the world they would last 22 years on a car that wasn't stored in a nice dark and warm garage so I take it these were just stored for too long and fitted to your vehicle in the last lets say 10 years at best so they might still be ok, you'd fail the MOT if they weren't but since you do not know when they were fitted, I'd change them before next MOT, you don't need to get anything fancy, think I've paid ~Ł250 for my last set and they've been absolutely fine. In the meantime, I wouldn't necessarily take it on the autobahn
PS
I've driven on 15 year old tyres, they were fine(as in structural integrity was ok), just one set got used much quicker as the rubber was soft and another set was garbage as rubber was hard and wet traction was poor, could spin the rear on every water puddle if I wanted to.
bit of excessive judgment there....
we have yearly saftey requirements over here too...
i have also driven on old tyres. and had no issue.
but i certainly wouldn't chance it on a car i actually give a **** about.
yeah they might be ok.
or they might blow out and end up ****ing you and your car.
one thing to chance it on clapped out old hatchback.
another to thing entirely to chance it on such a beautiful machine.
I doubt that anyone has ever said that a tire more than ten years old WILL fail. Lots of people say, and I agree, that ten year old (and older) tires are more likely to fail.
It does happen. I've had it happen to me.
Personally I'm OK with the risk if just driving around town where a tire failure would just be an inconvenience. At highway speeds the outcome could be much worse and possibly involve other drivers.
Tyre Question
