Tire Service Life

[Paul Workman]

Originally Posted by doctorjay61

My Nitto nt05 have a a date code of 0810 but they only have 7,000 miles on them. I guess the consensus would be to replace despite the mileage as they are approaching 8 years old? Never did any tracking as of yet, but noticed they break loose a bit during spirited shifts.

Dave

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

Yep, I feel your pain! But, it's my fault for not driving more, I recon.

In my experience with the GY D3s AND the Nitto 555/555r, at and certainly beyond 5 seasons they start acting like the temperature was near freezing. They often break loose w/o coming close to "standing on it" in first gear, and getting a little "sketchy" when going through some "S" curves or the occasional on-ramp.

Last season while driving the twisties during the Mountain Run, I felt the ABS kick in when going into a few turns. Course, it could have been a lot of things too. But, this "feeling" I've noticed now on 3 sets of tires at about the same number of seasons for the way I've driven on them. Time for new rubber!

I've had great luck with the Nitto 555/555r combo. At the last pizza night, Bob Gillig was saying that he found the Nitto NT01s would really stick well on his 427 LT5 ZR-1. (And, when Bob talks...people listen.)

Ami's ZR-1 has the Nitto G2s on the front which seem to cleave water better than the 555s, FWIW. (A new set w/ road hazard is just at/about $1K at Discount Tire, including road force balancing, and free balance and rotation.)

I seldom drag race - preferring the twisties for most of my driving. And, I really hate driving in the rain with the 555/555r combo - pretty "squirrely" above 45-50 mph in moderate to heavy rain, I find. However, I've followed Robert DeMarco's car which had the 555 G2s in both moderate to heavy rain, AND through the twisties. And, if you know Robert's driving style in the mountains, he ain't shy about laying into the corners! He spoke well of those tires, last we spoke.

Bottom line - it all depends on how the car is to be driven whether or not to change them on account of their age. If they aren't sticking as well as you'd expect, regardless of age, a different tire may be needed.