Potomac-Greg

I picked up a set of track wheels recently that had "old" RA1s mounted on them. The prior owner could not peg the exact year that he bought them, but it was at LEAST three years ago. Visually, the tires on in the RA1 sweet spot (treads gone, but grooves are still there). I've tried to get a sense of stickiness on the street, but I doubt I'm getting enough heat into them to judge.

I don't get enough track days to risk wasting one (or two) finding out that these tires have become hockey pucks.

Unless I am convinced otherwise, I'm going to replace them BEFORE my next track day just to be safe. Any thoughts on whether these old dogs might still hunt? (Local friends tell me they should be fine. I think they're just trying to slow me down!)

f1rocks

I ran a set of 2 year old RA-1's back to back with a brand new set of 888's at Gingerman.

1.5 seconds a lap faster with the RA1's. Of course I've heard setup is everything for the 888's but the RA1's felt way better to me.

Astroman

Rather than risk it, I would mount a new set and keep those as spares. Unless they were stored in a climate controlled vacuum, I bet the rubber is a bit hardened.

dblapex

PG:my advice is when in doubt throw them out. Not worth wrecking a car or hurting yourself/someone else to save $1000.

F1: on our spec miata's our faster laps are on the 888's however the RA1's are better longer, hence the spec tire is changing back to the RA1 in 2010.

LDadrenaline

I think the general consensus on the tires is that the oils are pretty much gone by about 3 years, regardless of the number of heat cycles. When they aren't to be thrown out by age though, we run them to the chords.

Potomac-Greg

I wouldn't wreck, I'd just crawl around to the pits, put my street tires on and cry for the remainder of the DE, praying for rain just so others would suffer with me.

Professor Helmüt Tester

I just ran a two hour "enduro" (that's not an enduro!) on a set of 710's, two of which were date-coded 2004, one from 2005 and one from 2007. "Mystery tires" from Der Professor's inventory of rubber. All had a fair number of heat-cycles previously. Finished 2nd in Spec Miata, 4th overall.

Run'em til the cords show.

Scootin159

I've got a set of RA1's with likely 100 heat cycles (no joke - autocross puts a TON of heat cycles on quick) which were 3 years old the last time I used them. I only use them for DE's anymore, so raw performance isn't my priority, but I can say that I haven't noticed any drop off in performance yet. I fully intend on running them for all my DE's again next year until cords are starting to show.

So in short - unless they've been stored outdoors or were allowed to freeze, I'd feel fine running them at a DE. Check them for dry rotting cracks before the first session, and after the first few sessions, but I'm sure you'll be fine.

M758

when I was racing on RA-1 I would toss the after 24-28 heat cycles and about 6 months to 1 year since the first heat cycle. I never really worried about date codes. I found that some place aroud 24-28 they would just go away. If they went away in practice or qualy it was not bad since to you could just come in. However if that happen in a race it could be cost. I started with a set near dead and started running 1:13.5 laps. Then the tires went away and I could not put power down at all. Lap times went up to 1:15's working hard to hold on the car on the road. After that I could probalby get 1 qualy session from then since they might stick for 2-3 laps the go off again. That was on heat cycle 26 or so.

I have never coreded an RA-1 other than from flat spot. Mine always cycled out and were not worth running for a race, qualy or even race practice since I was forced to lift on old tires in places I had been easy flat before. Not much to learn from that.

mark kibort

Personally, I probably have used more used sets than anyone. I have found that they are done when the cords start to show. I use one set for commuting to the track and one for races. Often, I might only be .5 to 1 seond off my best time with a fairly new set. (3-7 heat cycles old). I think the main factor is absolute age. when I was running 2003s up until last season, the 05s and 07s were much better with the same number of heat cycles. the 07s were from WCGT and had been wrapped after I got them, most with only 2-3 heat cycles on them. (you could see the shaving lines still. )
My opinion, is that they dont get dangerous, like an old hoosier that has been heat cycled out. their grip is still predictable, even when they are ready for the trash.
Again, all my opinion.

Weston

At NASA Nationals, I qualified on 6 month old R888's with around 20 heat cycles on them and a decent amount of tread left... I found it hard to just hold my mid-pack position in the qualifying races, and I ended up positioned to start 20th out of 34 cars. For the big race, I switched to 2-3 year old RA-1's with over 30 heat cycles on them (and pretty jacked up tread wear), and instantly picked up a solid 2-3 seconds per lap, and was able to move up a bunch of positions to place 12th out of 34. My lap times were around a second off of the front of the pack, who of course, were all on fresh tires in their prime. That's a pretty damn good indication of the longevity of RA-1's. They weren't race-winner tires at that point, but they were certainly still competitive enough to make me happy, unlike the horrible R888's.

I had pretty much the same experience at a regional event before that... I started out on the beat-up old RA-1's, thinking they were junk, qualified on pole, set the fastest 944-Spec lap time of the day, and won a race. I switched to the much better condition R888's the next day, instantly felt their lack of grip, and was consistently a second slower per lap on this small 1.3 mile track. The R888 wheels & tires were noticeably lighter, and the alignment was setup more for R888's too, but the old dead RA-1's still kicked their *** big time.

Bryan Watts

When they clock out is dependent on who you ask. Someone at the front of World Challenge or the front of a competitive Spec Miata field might say 3 heat cycles. Others seem to claim they are fastest just before they cord, no matter what science says about heat cycles and rubber.

Regardless of heat cycles and wear, the biggest problem with your tires is how long they have been in use. They are likely very hard by now unless they've been stored in a climate controlled dark room, preferably wrapped up in plastic.

onefastviking

You know, there is a date stamped into the sidewall of the tire to tell you exactly when they were built. Although from what you say of the previous owner they sound too old.
On one side of the tire you should see a week/year date. Something like a 3906 , would have been built in the 39th week of 2006.

A quick google pulled this up to explain better with pictures.
http://www.aa1car.com/library/tire_expire.htm

TedA

The way I drive I could get three years of DE out of RA-1s. I donated a set to a buddy that by now have way over 70 heat cycles on them that he uses as back ups....the stories I could tell.....wait I think I have............

Brand new set in the garage waiting now, not a big fan of the 888s currently on the car. Then again I could have a LOFT problem.

race911

I ran some of the fastest laps on a set of '04 dated ones earlier this year that were right on the verge of cording. Got some similarly very old ones that have a smidge of tread showing on the SM now, and ran my personal best laps last month.