Old tires don't mean worse
When buying new tires, many drivers pay attention to the date of their production. If they are not of the current year, they usually ask for a replacement because they think a tire with a newer production date will be better.
The technical condition of a tire depends on many factors, including storage conditions and the method of transportation. According to the guidelines of the Polish Committee for Standardization, tires intended for sale can be stored under strictly defined conditions for up to 3 years from the date of production. The document regulating this issue is the Polish standard PN-C94300-7. Meanwhile, the most important criterion in evaluating the suitability of a tire should be its technical condition, regardless of the date of manufacture. When buying a tire, even one made this year, look for any irregularities in its structure, such as cracks, bulges, or delaminations, as these may be signs of progressive tire damage. Remember that under Polish law, consumers are entitled to a two-year warranty on purchased tires, which is calculated from the date of purchase, and not from the date of production.
In addition, journalistic tests can be found on the Internet that compare identical tires by brand, model and size, but differ in production date up to 5 years. After track testing in several categories, the differences in the results of individual tires were minimal, almost imperceptible in everyday use. Here, of course, one has to take into account the degree of reliability of specific tests.
How to check tire age?
The "age" of a tire can be found by its DOT number. The letters DOT are engraved on the sidewall of each tire, confirming that the tire meets the American standard, followed by a series of letters and numbers (11 or 12 characters), of which the last 3 characters (before 2000) or the last 4 characters (after 2000) indicate the week and year of manufacture of the tire. For example, 2409 means that the tire was produced in the 24th week of 2009.
Expensive cars, old tires
An interesting fact is that ultra-high performance tires designed for very expensive cars often cannot be purchased in current production. Since only a few of these vehicles are sold each year, tires are not produced on a continuous basis. Thus, for cars like Porsches or Ferraris, it is almost impossible to buy tires older than two years. This shows that it is not the date of manufacture of tires that is important, but their proper storage.
Summing up, we can say that a tire produced up to 3 years ago is a complete one and will serve drivers in the same way as the one released this year. It is important to follow the manufacturer's recommendations for inspecting, maintaining and replacing tires with new ones.
