On a spring drive with a local group, at a roundabout, I entered a little too fast , deceived by the velocity of the Porsche 911 S in front of me and with wet road hit a curb in the roundabout blowing my tire and sending me into a slide exiting the roundabout,

After my spare was unusable, I had to get a tow from AAA.

When he dropped my car off the tow truck driver said, the tire that blew had a lot of sidewall cracks. Then he commented that all my tires had sidewall cracks...what!!...These tires aren't that old.

years ago, because I wanted the 245 50 16 size Michelin Pilot A/S 3 tires (they discontinued this size years ago) I had to buy some that were in a warehouse and were portrayed to me as 2 year old but never mounted. I thought that I had gotten these tires 2-3 years ago and I only drive 3K miles a year now that I am retired. The tires couldn't have more than 10-12k miles on them. When I check the manuf date on the tires it was actually 10/2011, and I had had the tires on the car for almost 6 years. So in total they were 9.5 years old.

The remaining tires do have a bunch of cracks on them (under flashlight inspection) and I decided to replace them all.

I always buy Michelins for my daily drivers but wear them out in 3-4 years, so this never comes up. My mechanic says the Michelins start to break down earlier than any other tire he as seen, I think they are made from a special silicate, not rubber. So beware and check your older tires.

 

I also prefer Michelin tires for all my vehicles. I’ll keep this in mind

 

As tires age the rubber compound becomes less flexible. As the rubber gets harder over time it tends to lose grip. That might have played a role in you sliding into the curb.

 

Thanks for the post. I also average low miles every year and I have to replace the tires due to age, not use. I give them 6 years max even though many feel 10 years is good. I don't like thinking about old tires when I'm travelling 1,000+ miles from home on a hot summer interstate at 70 mph. I have the Michelin Pilot A/S 3+ tires on my Mustang and I can physically feel that they are much harder than when I bought them 4+ years ago. 20,000 mostly highway miles on them and I'll probably replace them before another long trip next year. I'll be close to the 6 year mark again. They are excellent tires when 'fresh', no doubt about it. I've been in snow/ice in Utah and the highest temps in Texas. Superb tires. I'll probably get another set even though the BFG G-Force A/S on my T/A seem about equal in quality. Very impressed with them as well. Both Made In USA which is also important to me.

 

I agree.

Also, curb contact at speed is going to be hard on any tire, especially lower profile models with less available sidewall flex. We recently had a similar issue on my wife's daily driver; she clipped a curb (side street turn, not going particularly fast) and hit it just right to blow out the sidewall. This was a 225/50/17 size tire that was only about 2 years old per MFG date, so definitely not an age issue.

I have a lot of experience with older tires as I've spent the last 2+ decades owning various garage queen/show vehicles that often see well less than 1k miles per year. The BFGs on my '98 are currently 16 years old with only about 6,000 miles on them. I wouldn't keep them in service for this long if they were going to see any long trips, competition use, or high speed cruising on sunbaked roads during the middle of a super hot day. When planning to keep a set of tires in service for a very long time on a limited use/show type vehicle, maintaining proper inflation is paramount. Heat is a massive accelerator of wear and deterioration for any tire, and under-inflation is the number one source of excessive heat for a typical street tire. Many folks with limited use vehicles (ones built prior to TPMS) just don't keep up on this important factor, and don't realize how much air pressure is lost year after year of mostly just sitting in the garage. Then, on the rare occasions that they do drive the car, the tires might be down to 16-20psi which results in significantly more flexing and heat, further compounded by the additional stress of forcing old rubber to flex more than designed in the first place. This is what leads to many of the "horror stories" regarding older tires. Storage conditions are another factor; especially problematic is when the car (or tires) have been stored outdoors with constant sun exposure for many years. It's also important that the tires see periodic usage (rather than sitting for years at a time) to "circulate" the chemicals (waxes/oils) that are present as an anti-aging additive in the rubber. Care/maintenance, service conditions and exposure history really make all the difference in what can be expected from a tire as it ages.

 

This confirms I am replacing the tires on my Z/28. Tires are from 2011 and even though it sees only 2k miles max per year, safety comes first.