Tire Service Life

[lfalzarano]

Originally Posted by Bob Eyres

Think of replacing your tires as insurance for your peace of mind. This is if you drive the car as intended.

In the garage,I still have the original tires that came on the car. But they’ve only been kept because I keep all original parts.
Because I exercise the car to 7K nearly every time I drive it, it would be foolish to put the original Gatorbacks on unless I was going to some judged event. Which I never do.
My formula is to calculate how many miles per year you put on the car, then multiply by 5, then buy tires that will wear out at that mileage.
Most ZR-1 owners put less than 5K miles per year, like I do, and don’t drive in the rain.
My last choice was Toyo R888’s, soft autocross gumballs that stick like glue, but still have some sipes that will not kill you if it rains. And they’re cheap.
Bottom line? Why wear tires that don’t allow this great car to do what it does? JMHO


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Thanks Bob. I only drive it less than 400 miles per year and maybe attend a charity lap event at VIR. The VIR event is the most concerning, because of the high speed cornering and top speeds of 150 mph on the straights. A tire failure could be very damaging to the car and me. At almost 70 years old, I’m not the same driver I was 50 Years Ago. Thanks again.


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[lfalzarano]

Originally Posted by SBAquaLT5

What is the date stamp?



Conventional practice is if I took a (never used) 5 year old set of tires to a good shop to install, the tire shop would not install them regardless of how they look due to liability. This is because even in the best environment, rubber degrades and looses it's performance characteristics; more of the compound turns from elastic to plastic, out-gasses, and what you can see on the outside is not always the same as what's happening on the inside. Aging, as mentioned is exacerbated by heat cycles and sun damage.



That being said, if you are not driving them more than back and forth to the market they *might* be OK for another year, but I would suggest looking for a replacement for piece of mind and safety. Tires are the #1 performance and handling component for a car and relatively cheap insurance.

Thanks for your advice. The date stamps are XX12’s (too cold in the garage to check the month ☃️). I agree with what you’re saying. You want optimal performance when you need it, otherwise I’d be calling Hagerty for my Insurance claim.

Lou


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[Bob Eyres]

Note that these Toyos are V rated, which are good to 149 mph. W and Y are the top end tires. Y are rated to 186mph which would theoretically be the most appropriate tires for the ZR-1.
At 73, my top-end days are over. An occasional squirt to the 150 is all I dare. So it’s the Toyos for me.


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[ZR1CK]

I have a '91 with 25k ms and original tires! I don't drive the car had, except maybe once in a while, but did decide to purchase new tires just recently. The originals still have good tread on them so what I plan on doing is to purchase a set of 5-spoke Z wheels and save the original tires and wheels, for whatever. I replaced the original exhaust a few years ago and still have that hangin' around...for whatever. Anyway, I'm lookin' forward to this Spring and cruisin' with the new "shoes", aaannd feeling more secure in doing so.

[Riviera]

If you are even remotely thinking of putting that car on a track, I would absolutely replace the tires. Even if you are not driving at racing speeds there are a lot of tire stressors on a race track.

[lfalzarano]

Thanks everyone, you can’t take it with you, so get new tires... time to go shopping online while it’s cold outside ☃️❄️!


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[doctorjay61]

Originally Posted by lfalzarano

Thanks everyone, you can’t take it with you, so get new tires... time to go shopping online while it’s cold outside [emoji951]️[emoji300]️!


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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

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[DRM500RUBYZR-1]

Yes,
Replace the tires.
Marty

[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

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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.