RI Fast Eddie

The S2 I picked up in the fall has 4 year old Yokos on it. The tread shows little wear and the tires have less than 8k on them. Am I safe to do a DE with 4 year old tires or should I replace them?

Matt H

I wouldnt DE with them but for everyday driving they would probably be just fine. Check them for dry rot and cracking.
__________________
Best Car Insurance | Auto Protection Today | FREE Trade-In Quote

cjeckert

Tires tend to get hard and brittle w/t age i wouldnt use them for a DE i'd be to worried they would fail at a high rate of speed.

Bri Bro

After five years even street tire should be retired. They get hard and slippery.

Z-man

I wouldn't use them on a track or on the street, especially if the history of the tire is unknown. Where they ever puncutred and repaired? Where they parked outside for years on end? Are there signs of dry-rot and cracking?

If you take them to a reputable tire place (read: they won't just try to sell you a new set of rubber), they should be able to assess your situation better.

-Z-man.

Keithr726

Well hey, my 944 that i purchased last year got new yokos in 2001 but the the car sat for two years so there are cracks all over them...Pirellis are the best!

Matt H

There is nothing to support this.

In fact the Japanese Rubber Association has said that tires need to only be checked and inspected at 10 years. Expect the US RMA to say the same thing in the near future. Tire aging is every congressman's hotbutton but there is ZERO, ZIP, ZILCH, nada that says when a tire is not useable anymore.
__________________
Best Car Insurance | Auto Protection Today | FREE Trade-In Quote

PaulStewart

Porsche says 7 years....

Matt H

Porsche is a car manufacturer, not a tire manufacturer. If Michelin told you to replace your Porsche every 7 years what would you do?
__________________
Best Car Insurance | Auto Protection Today | FREE Trade-In Quote

PaulStewart

Porsche's come with N rated tires that are made to Porsche's specs, so I believe them. Besides my 986 uses up the back ones every 15K to 20K.

Z-man

What would I do?

Tell my wife, "But honey, the experts say that I need to replace my Porsche every FIVE years." (Why five years? Just to play it safe! )



-Z-man.

PS: If you EVER tell my wife the above, I will deny everything!

Matt H

New Porsches do. The N spec denotes who it was made for. The tire manufacturer still designs the product. However, we are not talking about N-spec Porsche OE tires here. We are talking about run of the mill Yokohama trade tires.
__________________
Best Car Insurance | Auto Protection Today | FREE Trade-In Quote

Z-man

BTW: IIRC, Matt H is in the tire business. I think he knows what he's talking about...

Matt: any idea why tire manufacturers chose N to represent Porsche? Was it because P was already taken by Peugot? (Trivia note: 901 vs. 911!)

-Z.

Matt H

The are all N. N denotes OE. The numbers supercede each other.

For example: a 285/30R18 S-02 (for a 993TT) might be N-0. If there was a change to the tire in some way it would move to N-1. The next version would be N-2.

Michelin, BS, everyone (for the most part) uses the N, they can be used to all sorts of manufacturers. Chrysler has an N spec for the Viper, for example.
__________________
Best Car Insurance | Auto Protection Today | FREE Trade-In Quote

Z-man

Gotcha - I misunderstood. So, an N-spec tire will be found on every new car. Right?

-Z.