I'm very surprise at this. Just checked all 4 tires, inside and outside, today and there's plenty of tread left. My car has almost 17K on it. I don't drive hard to take the corner aggressively. I guess I'm just luck to have these tires lasting this long. I'm not looking forward for the new tires when these wear out I'm still debating what kind to get. Decisions, decisions, decisions
oops I should have posted this under tires forum. Please move this thread to an appropriate place. Thanks

 

This means you're not having enough fun with the car.

 

I still have plenty of thread left on my (12k miles)....i love these s02 tires!! I'm going to get some toyo ts1 for my 18" wheels...hope these tires are close to the s02 in performance.

 

If you have been happy with the way your car has worked for you and if you are having enough fun with it as is, it doesn't matter what anyone else says, something is working right for you. I would suggest that you don't mess with a good thing. Leave the alignment alone. It's obviously helping to give you the tire wear that you like. When these tires need replacing, why not just get the same ones again? They worked good the first time around for you, right? Don't mess with success. You are getting 2 to 3 TIMES what has been reported here in terms of tire life.
On the other hand, if you have not been happy with the way the car works or not having as much fun as you'd like, then yes, decisions, decisions, decisions.

ps. Moving this to Wheel/Tire forum.

 

[QUOTE=TwistedS2k,Aug 31 2004, 07:55 AM]I'm very surprise at this. Just checked all 4 tires, inside and outside, today and there's plenty of tread left. My car has almost 17K on it. I don't drive hard to take the corner aggressively. I guess I'm just luck to have these tires lasting this long. I'm not looking forward for the new tires when these wear out

 

How old is too old? Now it's August 2004, and my tyres are stamped with Week 21, 2000.

///Robin

 

That would put your tires about 1/2 way through the year of 2000. Thus, your tires are just over 4 years old. This may be hearsay evidence, but I've heard that the shelf life of a tire is about 5 years. That is to say, you have 5 years to get that thing in service, assuming an average service life. In this sense, I'd say you're fine. I've also heard that the compound of the SO2's change as you go deeper into the tread, so the fact that they are not as grippy at that point may be due to this aspect rather than age.
Perhaps Jim can comment on this.

 

i read that 10 years is the typical shelf life .... reading a BMW manual the other night they say max of 6 years before replacing tires ... just passing on what i read !!!

 

5 years to get in service? Does that mean 5 years to start scrubbing off some tread or 5 years (storage and driving) until the tyre should be junked?

I don't anticipate running this particular set of rubber more than another year anyway. It feels about the same as my last set of S-02s which were built in 2001.

///Robin

 

I can vouch personally for the caution about the S-02s losing wet traction after a certain amount of wear.

Like everyone else, I read many posts here that ranted somewhat hysterically about the S-02s losing traction at the first hint of moisture on the road. We get our share of heavy rainstorms here in North Carolina, and I had no problems using normal caution driving in the rain -- for the first 15K miles.

Then, all of a sudden, driving down a straight road after a heavy rain, it was almost like driving in light snow. The rear end kept trying to slide sideways with every wetter than average spot on the road. Because of either luck, or some winter driving experience from up north, I never lost it -- but it certainly would have been easy to do.

I guess having narrower channels isn't that bad as long at they're still deep. But when the tire gets worn past a certain point, and the channels are shallower as well as narrower than an all season tire, their capacity to carry away water is reduced to the point that they become ineffective. On the other hand, they don't seem to have lost any of their dry weather handling at all -- but I may not push them like some of y'all do.

Moral: S-02s are OK in the rain if you drive sensibly. BUT you MUST replace them when the tread gets even close to the wear bars. If you wait until they're smooth, and it rains in the meantime, it may well be too late.