Tire Age Question
 

Question:
I have OEM bridgestone potenzas re050a installed with about 24k miles on them. The tires were probably mounted in 2007. Take a look at the picture. Thoughts on how my life I have on the rear tire? Even if there is some tread left, should the tires be replaced due to age? If no, would your opinion change if I am taking a long trip - over 2000 miles? Thanks.

With this car, tires are much more likely to be replaced from wear as from age. You can see when the tire was manufactured by the code on the sidewall. I suspect with normal driving you will wear them down by winter. Once you are hitting the wear bars somewhere on the tire, you need to start thinking about replacement ESPECIALLY if you are driving on wet roads. The S does not suffer fools well who ignore worn tires.

Usually 10 years is the limit on passenger cars. I had a set of Toyos with 9 years on them (but only 1/3 of tread life gone) fail on the freeway as the cord delaminated from the tread. Not good. The S is a different animal.

Replace this fall.

i would change em. I had originals on my 2007 as well and they had life left but had some cracking on the inner walls. and since you going on a 2000 mile trip, just be smart and get some new rubber! and id even get an alignment as well. If you have a local costco near you and your are a member they have $70 off a set of 4 Bridgestone tires. I purchased the RE-11A's.

-Mike

Thanks for the feedback. This gives me good perspective on how long these tires can last.

Thanks. Good advice. Rather take the convervation approach. How do you like the Potenza RE-11A overall performance? How about in the wet/rain?

I just put RE-11A tires on my '06 but haven't driven in the rain yet. They seem wonderful -- so far.

This type "summer" tire has a Tread Rating of 200 which is pretty low for passenger car tires. Your 24,000 miles is good data and I just saw an '06 with over 30K on the original tires last weekend. The experience of others here (since we're all driving S2000s) is the best indicator of how long tires will last. If you're only driving in the summer just about any tire will provide several seasons.

Buying tires now is much cheaper and faster than in East Boondocks. S2000 tires are not stocked anywhere locally I'm aware of.

-- Chuck

Alignment before a road trip is important. Don't want to buy new tires and have to replace them after the road trip because your toe is was off.

The Bridgestone RE-11A is a great "extreme summer performance" tire. Therefor it will wear faster than other tires due to a 200 tread wear rating (the OEM Bridgestone Potenzas RE050A had a 140 tread wear rating) . I would look into what tire is best for you and your driving requirements. Another great tire I like and own is Continental Extreme Contact DW (not DWS), great rain performance and higher tread wear rating. It is actually my wet autocross tire, my dry autocross tire is Dunlop ZII.

Look at the date code on the side of the tire. If the tires are at least 6 years old, then you should absolutely replace them. Almost all tire manufacturers recommend replacement at 6 years, regardless of tread depth.

I had a set of 6 year old Primacy MXV4 on my Acura TL and they were dangerously lacking in grip even though they had enough tread. I almost had a couple accidents because of those tires.

9 or 10 years is way too long - as you unfortunately found out.

I am disappointed with the RE-11A wet and cool performance. If I was buying again I would buy the Michelin pilot super sport.