How Old can tyres be and still good?

[blue al]

I have some 2017 tyres used for 3 months and then dry cold garaged stored on wheels flat stacked
Swapped on oz ultraleggeras and AD08r, at the time as 270hp fwd…

Have they an infinite shelf life if no visible damage or deterioration?

( A052 now on the car currently as summer toy, but it’s time to tax again ( only 16k miles)
so it made me think it’s time to use it over the winter months also)

[paintman]

blue al said:

I have some 2017 tyres used for 3 months and then dry cold garaged stored on wheels flat stacked
Swapped on oz ultraleggeras and AD08r, at the time as 270hp fwd

Have they an infinite shelf life if no visible damage or deterioration?

( A052 now on the car currently as summer toy, but it s time to tax again ( only 16k miles)
so it made me think it s time to use it over the winter months also)

No.
Worth a read: https://www.protyre.co.uk/car-help-advice/tyre-saf...

Having had a fair bit to do with caravan dealers as part of my business the main cause of tyre failure on caravans & trailers is due to aging & for one dealer it was standard practice to replace any tyre over 5 years of age on all used vans they sold.
Tread wise the tyres may look barely used due to the extremely low mileages but the compound has hardened & cracked.

[trevalvole]

paintman said:

Having had a fair bit to do with caravan dealers as part of my business the main cause of tyre failure on caravans & trailers is due to aging & for one dealer it was standard practice to replace any tyre over 5 years of age on all used vans they sold.
Tread wise the tyres may look barely used due to the extremely low mileages but the compound has hardened & cracked.

Caravans and trailers will mostly have been stored outside, though, and their tyres will have been subject to the weather and UV etc.

[Smint]

Kept uncrushed in a cool dark place tyres can last a long time.

After investing in all season rubber finally gave up on our 12 or more year old winter set last year after serving two Subarus well, still showing no signs of deterioration the rubber still feels soft as winters do.
Will sell soon as a set of perfect condition 16" Subaru aftermarket alloys that just happen to have some winter tyres still fitted.

[budgie smuggler]

I had some interesting experiences with a brand new set on the front axle and a 6 year old but still 4mm+ set on the rear. Was the same in the dry and wet, so don't think it was tread depth. I think the rubber had degraded.

[blue al]

paintman said:

blue al said:

I have some 2017 tyres used for 3 months and then dry cold garaged stored on wheels flat stacked
Swapped on oz ultraleggeras and AD08r, at the time as 270hp fwd

Have they an infinite shelf life if no visible damage or deterioration?

( A052 now on the car currently as summer toy, but it s time to tax again ( only 16k miles)
so it made me think it s time to use it over the winter months also)

No.
Worth a read: https://www.protyre.co.uk/car-help-advice/tyre-saf...

Having had a fair bit to do with caravan dealers as part of my business the main cause of tyre failure on caravans & trailers is due to aging & for one dealer it was standard practice to replace any tyre over 5 years of age on all used vans they sold.
Tread wise the tyres may look barely used due to the extremely low mileages but the compound has hardened & cracked.

Not a case of wishful thinking, but this quote from posted article…

If a tyre is stored in optimal conditions, it will last for between 6 and 10 years, if it is not used. Under manufacturers' guidance a tyre is only guaranteed to be safe for the first five years of its life, although if checked regularly for issues, some manufacturers admit that this can be extended up to 10 years.

Tbf looking to hear from personal experience, rather than intent wisdom
Last used on Silverstone in the wet, only for a couple of pistonhead laps

[Funk]

The bigger question should be: for the sake of a few hundred quid, why would you risk a potential accident by driving on old tyres that will have gone through 8 years of hot/cold cycles and likely have degraded performance, particularly in cold and wet conditions?

[Hustle_]

These are List 1b tyres which would’ve presumably started out with a softer compound than a normal UHP tyre.

I would not be able to just bin them, I would try them out- but they aren’t really an appropriate tyre for road use in anything other than ‘summer’ conditions anyway.

Personally I’d wait for a dry trackday and use ‘em up.

[blue al]

Funk said:

The bigger question should be: for the sake of a few hundred quid, why would you risk a potential accident by driving on old tyres that will have gone through 8 years of hot/cold cycles and likely have degraded performance, particularly in cold and wet conditions?

Sorry I’ve worded this badly, The tyres in the photo and in question are the normal summer road tyres, the car was second hand but delivered with brand new rubber as a mini approved car.

Because I m currently only driving my toy 1k per year, my summer tyres are over £1k per set, and Will possibly see me thru 2026, A052 215/45/17. The brakes are padgid rsl 29, it s not a case of not spending money, or cutting corners needlessly, just seems like a pointless waste of cash if I have serviceable “ as new” yet old …road tyres available with some limited life left, to use over winter days

Even if I buy new tyres tomorrow they will also become too old way before they are used up because realistically 500 miles per year in the cold is the higher end of usage for my rag top.

My daily has 2 sets of wheels that I rotate so winter is always on fresher rubber.
Before I ran 2 cars I had 3 sets of wheels and ran full winter, as well as semi slicks and normal summers … but then I was doing over 20k pa so I got the full usage before 3-4 years for every set

Edited by blue al on Monday 17th November 19:15

[blue al]

Hustle_ said:

These are List 1b tyres which would ve presumably started out with a softer compound than a normal UHP tyre.

I would not be able to just bin them, I would try them out- but they aren t really an appropriate tyre for road use in anything other than summer conditions anyway.

Personally I d wait for a dry trackday and use em up.

Agreed the A052 currently on the car are not appropriate, for this time of year but I had to drive for a mot on Friday and they coped far better in the wet than I had any reason to expect….