would you drive on 110000km tyres.

[neil]

As heading suggests I have now reached 110,000 km on original continental sport contact 2 tyres.
Have rego coming up so took car up to local garage to have a look at tyres and he said I still has
heaps of tread left , he estimated 20000k's.

Have always run these with 40psi and only rotated twice without spare tyre. 90% freeway running.

Anyone feel its time to replace or continue.

[Diesel_vert]

110 000 km? Very impressive for a tyre developed for European roads and conditions.

Tyres in service will be affected by heat, humidity, pressure, oxygen and ozone (amongst other factors), so they inevitably undergo changes with age.

This obviously affects the tread compound as well as its structure, so a tyre won't offer the same amount of performance than if it were new. On the other hand, aging may promote reduced wear rates, owing to a hardening and increased brittleness of the rubber compound.

A shallower tread depth promotes a better feeling of responsiveness due to lack of tread squirm. On the other hand, wet braking distances increase exponentially once the tread depth falls below 3 mm.

There is no fixed timeframe at which tyres should be taken out of service, as there are simply too many variables (both known and unknown) to be taken into account when determining a tyre's serviceability with any kind of certainty.

FWIW, Continental Europe recommends that any tyre more than 10 years old be taken out of service, or earlier if recommended by the vehicle manufacturer. Bridgestone Japan, Michelin Europe and Yokohama Japan make the same recommendation, with the proviso that tyres more than 5 years old be carefully inspected annually.

Replacing old tyres then, is a bit of a judgement call. In your situation, I would go in with a view to replacing them soon, perhaps within the next 6 to 12 months, or earlier if you wish.

[Umai Naa!!]

Good work.

We managed to get 96 out of one pair on our Asiabox, and 126 out of the other pair.

Mostly freeway running, appropriate tyre pressures, and only rotated them once at 60,000kms.

[dylan8]

Wow, that's awesome.
As long as there is no damage, they aren't getting too on in age (cracking, going hard), and are still above the tread markers why not?

Start saving for a new set. Not sure if it's just me but I find tyres wear out quicker over the last 15% of tread depth before the markers...

[wai]

Tyres have a code moulded into the sidewall with the year past which they should not be used. It is not the km so much, but the age that can make the tyres fail.

I had a Goodyear Supersteel rip open in the boot of my car. It was the spare, but it failed along the length of a groove in the tread. The images are posted on the forum.

[neil]

Thanks everyone for your advice , I actually thought I would have been berated more for having so many k's and not replacing sooner.
I think its time to renew as last night even dreaming about tyres bursting on hard cornering while doing some out of character drifting (don't know where that came from).

Always a valuable source of info from this site, some good info there diesel_vert.

[seangti]

check the manufactured date. It's stamped on the sidewall, it's like a branding/melted section, not printed, it's 4 digits, the first 2 are the week of manufacture, the second two being the year. e.g. 3306. Manufactured week 33, 2006. There's all the variables mentioned above, but I wouldn't stress about the mileage itself.

[brad]

Tyres have a code moulded into the sidewall with the year past which they should not be used. It is not the km so much, but the age that can make the tyres fail.

I had a Goodyear Supersteel rip open in the boot of my car. It was the spare, but it failed along the length of a groove in the tread. The images are posted on the forum.

Supersteels were junk so it's no surprise. 10% of the tyres I "sold" when I was at Goodyear were warranty replacements for Supersteels.

While I'm aware of production dates on tyre. I don't recall there being a "use by date". Happy to be wrong.

To the OP: As long as you haven't any cracks / perish marks then they should be OK. Keep in mind the rubber will have age hardened a bit so they will wear at a lesser rate now than when new & also have slightly less "grip". Combine this with the reduced tread depth (which if you have 20,000km estimated remaining is only 1mm before the wear bars) and the wet traction/grip might be marginal.

IIRC, in germany/austria they make you throw the tyres away when they are 7 years after the build date (or maybe I misunderstood my wife's cousins - my German is pretty lousy)

[wai]

While I'm aware of production dates on tyre. I don't recall there being a "use by date". Happy to be wrong.

I know there is a date, and it is probably the production date.

[Umai Naa!!]

It's the calender week, and the year

[Guest001]

Recommended length of use for 4wd tyres is 6 years whether worn or not.

I had two Dunlop LT tyres on my van delaminate and still had over 6mm of tread left.
Turned out they were 8 years old and cracked around tread edge.
I wouldn't run any tyre for 10 years.
As already said the 4 digits stamped into the sidewall are the production date There is no use by date ( Its not Woolworths)

Always check when buying tyres, whether new or second hand for that date as a new tyre if not popular could already be a couple of years old

[neil]

Stamp date is showing 2307 so collates with year of manufacture.
Will get around to looking for replacement soon.

Do they still make the conti sports pack 2 , would like them again after such a good run with them although
I always thought they were a bit noisy.

[Diesel_vert]

How to interpret the DOT Tire Identification Number: Determining the Age of a Tire - Tire Rack

Temperature is one of the major factors that can determine a tyre's useful service life.

I would expect the rate of delamination and separation type failures would be higher in the Northern Territory than say, Tasmania.

I observed that unlike Bridgestone Europe and Japan, Bridgestone Australia recommends tyres more than six (6) years old be taken out of service, which is perhaps reflective of the type of the climate experienced here compared to some of our more northerly neighbours.

It's certainly a useful guide and predictor, but not an absolutely definitive one, so replacing aged tyres still requires a judgement call.

Do they still make the conti sports pack 2 , would like them again after such a good run with them

Believe it or not, the SportContact2 still appears to be in production, as they're OE fitment (amongst other brands) on the new Mk7 Golf in 225/40 R18, which I found rather surprising.

Tempe Tyres in Sydney appear to have them in 205/55 R16 and in stock, though I would confirm the date of manufacture.

From what you've told us, I don't think there is an immediate need to change them, but soon.

I always thought they were a bit noisy.

I don't think Continental tyres are renowned for their silent rolling.

[brad]

Recommended length of use for 4wd tyres is 6 years whether worn or not.

I had two Dunlop LT tyres on my van delaminate and still had over 6mm of tread left.
Turned out they were 8 years old and cracked around tread edge.
I wouldn't run any tyre for 10 years.
As already said the 4 digits stamped into the sidewall are the production date There is no use by date ( Its not Woolworths)

Always check when buying tyres, whether new or second hand for that date as a new tyre if not popular could already be a couple of years old

Had to laugh yesterday when watching some dodgy Pommies buying/fixing/selling a Lamborgini (Wheeler Dealers). Car had been in storage for 6 years. They were selling it with tyres that looked like Mud & Snows - they would have been 15 years old. An accident waiting to happen.

[brad]

Do they still make the conti sports pack 2 , would like them again after such a good run with them although
I always thought they were a bit noisy.

No, superceded I believe.

Try Michelin PS3 - everything you like about the contis & less noise.