how old are the imported NEW tyres?

[androdev]

Is it true that you don't get 2008 stock of Michelin/Yokohama in Bangalore even in June-2008? People I speak to are telling me that only 2007 stock is available and 2008 stock will come only by September?!

[headers]

possible..different tyre manufacturers use different coding system to identify the week number and batch number. In all probablity, the dealer is having old stock and wants to push that before he releases the new ones.

[VJ_MAVRICK]

Yea androdev, I agree with headers and in most probability a minimum of 6 month old stock can be expected for releases to the customer. Certainly, @least i haven't found any shop who right away sells the newly released set in that particular week.
And if i am not wrong most of these come from abroad mostly south asia and hence the delay is all but natural.

[GTO]

True. Near all of the imported tyres that I have bought have been over 6 months old.

[ajmat]

Does it really matter in terms of months once theose nearly new tyres have gone through potholes, excreta etc.

In terms of years, yes, there are potential issues

[reignofchaos]

When I got my PP2s, they were 5 months old. I think thats the bare minimum and typically will be older.

[androdev]

i was told that 6-months of shelf life is OK. but I wanted to know is: is it always the case that imported tyres are invariably more than 6 months old?

i have read in few posts not to accept tyres that are more than 6 months old. i think it was the pre-delivery inspection checklist related threads.

my bridgestone turanza developed few cracks and a chip just after 9K KM. so i want my next purchase to be a well-informed one.

[condor]

ajmat : Does it really matter in terms of months once theose nearly new tyres have gone through potholes, excreta etc.

In terms of years, yes, there are potential issues

Yes. Rubber will degrade, no matter whether it is on the shelf, or is being used. The dirt, the s.h.i.t, the stuff on the roads isnt as big an issue as an internal (chemical) aging. It's better that it ages while in use.

[rks]

Originally Posted by androdev

i have read in few posts not to accept tyres that are more than 6 months old. i think it was the pre-delivery inspection checklist related threads.

my bridgestone turanza developed few cracks and a chip just after 9K KM. so i want my next purchase to be a well-informed one.

I bought Turanza ER-60 tyres that were ~3 months old last September. After 16000 kms, the front left tyre suddenly lost air in Mumbai city (fortunately just after stopping at a signal). I immediately caught the problem due to sharp tug in steering wheel and fixed spare. Drove on to Pune and upon checking, found that tyre had a huge, unfixable puncture and was also damaged (maybe due to complete depressurization).

I don't know how this happened, because I had checked the tyre visually before starting from Mumbai and it was OK. Had checked tyre pressures just 3 days back in Pune. Don't remember hitting any pothole either. Anyway, I lost confidence in Turanzas for the monsoon season, and exchanged them for brand-new S322 tubeless tyres. Unitread tyres in Pune bought back 3 Turanzas for Rs 1500 and one Turanza is still doing duty as spare. If this failure had happened on Expressway, I would have been hard-pressed to keep my Santro in control at 120+ speeds.

Actually Unitread tyres tried to sell old Turanzas to me that were dated 2006 and 2007. But I refused and instead settled for the brand-new S322's (dated June 2008). I think one should buy tyres that are at least less than a year old. S322's are reliable and give good wet grip. Further S322 has harder rubber to resist the bad Mumbai-Pune roads in monsoon season. High-speed handling will come down after about 15000 kms.

[headers]

@rks: personally i chucked the S322s on my accent for Michelin XM1 energy. The high speed grip was lousy especially in wet!

maybe they are good on the santro!

[iraghava]

You'd be hard pressed to find imported tyres less than 6 months old in our market. Reasons being low demand & infrequent imports for sizes other than in the 12/13/14 inch range.

IMO a tyres manufactured within the past 12 months is fine.

[Su-47]

When I exchanged my ex-truck's tyres for michelins, the michelin's manufacturing date showed that they were about 7 months old. The tyre dealer had a tough time explaining me that it is usual for imports...

[rks]

Originally Posted by headers

@rks: personally i chucked the S322s on my accent for Michelin XM1 energy. The high speed grip was lousy especially in wet!

maybe they are good on the santro!

Yes, the performance of a given tyre very much depends on the car. Santro being a light car that will do maximum of 150 kmph, does not really need performance tyres. The S322 tubeless tyres give good enough grip for Santro. Wet grip is quite good because this is an all-season tyre (the tread pattern is designed to expel the water). But after 15000 kms, the high-speed performance of this tyre drops even on Santro. Wet braking will become bad too at this stage. For Accent you definitely need better tyres.

Comparing S322-tubeless with Turanza ER-60, there is no doubt that Turanza gives better grip and better cornering. But Turanzas have stiffer sidewalls as compared to S322 and so ride comfort is better with S322. There is greater body roll with S322 upon hard cornering for the same reason. But I don't intend to throw the car around corners like I used to, so for the time being S322 is fine. I think top speed and fuel economy will be marginally better with S322 because it grips less.

[headers]

Originally Posted by rks

....But after 15000 kms, the high-speed performance of this tyre drops even on Santro. Wet braking will become bad too at this stage. For Accent you definitely need better tyres.

Thats exactly the point why i changed my first set of tyres at 22000 Kms. There were guys who called me nuts - Thanks for the reassurance that I'm not the only nut around!