95 C4 993

I have 6 brand spanking new Bridgestone SO3's (4 rears, 2 fronts) in the basement and currently have Kumho MX's, which the rears need to be replaced. The fronts are fine and figure I will do 1 of 2 things.

1. Put another set of MX's on the rear. They are great tires BTW and rears lasted nearly 10k in 1.5 years.
2. Get rid of Kumho's and replace all 4 with the SO3's. Sell the front MX's.

All 6 SO3's are in tire totes sitting on carpet, stacked vertically. So the question is, what's the shelf life on these SO3's, or tires in general, when stored properly?

epj993

Here's some info from TireRack.com:

Storing Tires

Tire Aging

IIRC, I think the rule of thumb from Porsche is 6 years for the max age of a tire. Also, I think Geolab posted a tire TSB which indicated 6 years.

geo.aigel

Not sure what you are trying to do. The tires will age gradually in your basement. Generally the rubber will get harder and the tires won't be as sticky. On the plus side, they will last longer / wear slower. That said, I would not keep tires for a performance cars in storage for more than one year.If it's for your utility trailer, it doesn't matter, of course.

George

chris walrod

Put em on and use them up! Rubber continues to cure over time.

95 C4 993

I will just dump the front Kumho MX's locally for a good price (someone may pick them up for track use and they are in great shape) and use the a full set of the SO3's I have stored.

black ice

Put some more MXs on there and sign up for some DEs! You'll be putting those SO3s on there by mid-Summer!

V

Tire ageing is just like opening a can, once you open it (e.g once you have driven 1mile with your tires) you have broken the tire "seal" and then the meat (or whatever is in the can) (e.g the tire) will start to age more rapidly. As long as you do not use the tire at all, I think you could store it for 5+ yrs (dark and semi-cold preferably). If tire weight matter to you, keep in mind that the S03s are heavy tires. I wouldn't mind though. Sell the fronts and use the complete set. Good luck.

Peter R.

In this part of the world insurance companies get all defensive when tyres are older than 6 years. They have been known to refuse coverage in case of accidents when a tyre that was older than 6 years failed, even if this was a result of the accident and not the cause.

Peter R.

HJK

Manufacturers will generally warrant the retailers for the product upto 7 years from production date. That's a good indicator I think. UV/direct sunlight dries them out, dark / dry storage will keep them okay for a long time. vhanzon is spot on, they normally carry a silicon layer to protect them while in storage which will wear off in the first 40 to 50 km. So if they're new and not used no problem for a few years. if they've been used the tread might harden out a bit after a long time but a few years should still be no issue.
But a few trackdays should help you to get rid of them.....

KINGSRULE

SO3's suck on a 993
Slow, unresponsive, no feed back at all.
Sell them and get some PS2's or Pilot Sport Ribs

RallyJon

Just slather some of this stuff on 'em and they'll be good as new : http://search.ebay.com/tire-softener

scat

Per Porsche owners manual..."under no circumstances should tires older than 6 years be used on your Porsche".
Hope that helps.