I've had my tires for 4 years now, and I still have lots of tread left, like at least 60%. Question: do the tires' performance suffer from all the heat cycling and weather changes for four years? Do I need new ones? They seem okay, but I am looking for an excuse to get T1-S, ahah. thanks

Believe it or not, the fronts on my '95 are the original Pirelli P6000's! They are now over 7 years old! I have had to have them rebalanced last year, but otherwise no noticeable degredation in performance.

Now, keep in mind I live less than two miles from the beach in Southern California. My average ANNUAL temp swings are less than 40 degrees.

Your NJ temp swings are considerably more, so... your mileage may vary.

That being said, I am probably going to replace them next spring regardless. I just cannot see having eight year old tires on my car!

Zoinks! :eek:

Let's see. In the last 8 years, I have had 4 sets of tires. I got a little more than 30K from the OEM 225-55/15, 25K from the 225-50/16 Michelins on the Sport Package wheels that I bought, about 15K out of the Yokohama AVS Sports, and about 20K out of the RE730's. I am due for new tires again :)

Anyway, I have found that the rubber that they use today withstands heat cycling much better than they used to. I have never had a set of tires long enough to say much about the aging process in all my years (25) of driving. Both sets of Michelins were "dried out" by the time the tread was used up. The Yokohama's were a little better, and these Bridgestones have been awesome. I know that in certain sizes, the RE730 has a noise problem, but in this size they are fine, and the rubber quality fantastic.

I think you will be pleased with the newer tires.

Have fun!
Bernman

Tires age better than they used to, but they do still degrade with time. The real question is whether you notice it or not.
I tried to use a 1 1/2 year old set of tires on my track bike, and had 3 serious butt-pucker moments! It was scary how much less grippier they were. I will never try that again. New tires ONLY for bikes on the track.

The worst thing for tire degradation: Ozone. If you store your vehicle in a garage with a refrigerator or freezer, they will degrade much faster. I unfortunately have no choice. My wine storage fridge will not fit anywhere else... Storing outdoors is also hard on them.

So I choose tires that will require replacing within 3 years for the garage stored bimmer and just plan on doing it regardless of tread wear for maximum grip/safety. The bikes get new skins every 1-2 years, and the utility van gets them every 5-6 years.