Tyre advice....do tyres go off over time

[noodle1]

Hi new to the forum and looking for a bit of advice.

I have Westfield Se and iv just started doing sprints, im currently using tyres that have been on it for 10 years now but still have plenty tread due to very limited use over the years. A few people have suggested i change them as the rubber has prob went off.....can this happen/ does it affect the grip much? could anyone with any experience/ opinions please let me know thanks.

Also what tyres does anyone recommend for these type of events if i were to replace them? Not sure if i must stick to list 1A in the MSA Bluebook or not as its quite hard finding 185 60 13 tyres.

Thanks

[anonymous-user]

Yes rubber hardens over time and you will lose some grip. It can also lead to crazing of the rubber and tyre failure in extreme circumstances.

As for types of tyres, go with something that lots of people rate doing the same sort of events rate.

Edited by anonymous-user on Wednesday 14th April 13:36

[Crusoe]

yes tyres will go hard and be well past their best after ten years, can crack and fail or just be rock solid with little grip.

[dylan0451]

you can still get R888's in 185/60 r13 i think

[HellDiver]

Most tyre manufacturers say 6 years is about the limit on tyres, assuming they've been stored correctly.

[Munter]

dylan0451 said:

you can still get R888's in 185/60 r13 i think

And Yokohama A048.

[nelson.tfr]

R888s and A048s are list 1B tyres. Try Yokohama A539s, they're still made in that size.

[Chris71]

...I'm hoping so. My Caterham is very exciting in the wet, despite being a relatively modest 1.6 Supersport engine. I'm thinking the 5+ year old CR500s have something to do with it - they were stored in the north of Scotland at God knows what temperature during the winters.

If that's anything to go buy the effect can be pretty considerable. If you're sprinting it's probably wise to get the stickiest tyres allowed in your section of the blue book anyway.

[Vic Cooper]

As i looked on a site, there are mostly jap tyres in this size.

Yokohama A539
Yokohama S306
Falken ZE912
Toyo R610
Toyo CF1

I can't recommend Nexen, Marshal, Barum or the Kumho Solus. Semperit also available, but I've had bad experiences with it.

The Toyo CF1 seems to be cheap.

[Vic Cooper]

How about Uniroyals?

[RobM77]

noodle1 said:

Hi new to the forum and looking for a bit of advice.

I have Westfield Se and iv just started doing sprints, im currently using tyres that have been on it for 10 years now but still have plenty tread due to very limited use over the years. A few people have suggested i change them as the rubber has prob went off.....can this happen/ does it affect the grip much? could anyone with any experience/ opinions please let me know thanks.

Also what tyres does anyone recommend for these type of events if i were to replace them? Not sure if i must stick to list 1A in the MSA Bluebook or not as its quite hard finding 185 60 13 tyres.

Thanks

On both my road going Caterham and my current Elise the rubber goes/went hard long before the tread wears down to even 4/5mm. In fact I think they were even going to make it the law to change your tyres every so often, but I haven't heard anything about that lately.

[dalos260]

As a previous poster said, storage is important too.

See the following link to advice from Toyo about storage and use of some of their tyres.

http://marktg.toyotires.com/file/TireStorage.pdf

[Sam_68]

Chris71 said:

My Caterham is very exciting in the wet... I'm thinking the 5+ year old CR500s have something to do with it

Their age won't help, but you'll find that 'track day' tyres like the Avon CR500 and the like give an almost comical lack of grip in wet (or very cold) conditions, anyway, though admittedly the CR500 is nowhere near as bad as the ACB10 or tyres like the Yokohama A0048 in this respect.

[jbi]

at 10 years old I would be inclined to change them regardless o wear level.

They will be at increased risk of failing, especially at motorway speeds.

I have seen a car tyre blow out at speed and is was not pretty

[noodle1]

Thanks for all the info guys......im def gonna change them out before the next event then.
Iv got a few options from MSA blue book list 1A Toyo CF1's Yokohama A539's
And from list 1B ToyoR888 and A048-Rs
Has anyone whose ran these tyres on track before got any advice on what to go for/ benefits and disadvantages of each one

not sure if all Scottish Hillcimbs and sprints allow tyres from list 1B, Im in the road going section A5, does anyone know?

Thanks again guys