Had my G27 for 12 months and always thought the back end was slippery... then went out on cool damp evening and it was down right dangerous.

I have now realised what the problem was... although the tyres look OK, as it has been garaged all it's life, they were over 16 years old! Just replaced them with toyo R1R - what a differance :-)

It does make a difference and kit car tyres probably last longer than most tin top tyres too.

To clarify...kit car tyres probably wear down slower than tin top tyres due to lower annual mileages.

[Edited on 17/1/17 by nick205]

according the garage only because they are stored in-doors that they do not look bad or cracked... they still loose the chemicals that help with grip and the tyres go hard

Got a 20 year old spare on the 4WD (Original fitment). Pretty sure I wouldn't trust it for anything other than escape to a garage at low speed!

[Edited on 16/1/17 by coyoteboy]

I have a spare set of R888s on rims. I changed them for A048s a year or so ago as they were nowhere near as grippy as they were when new. I cart them around on trackdays as a backup set in case I get a problem. I would consider selling to help fund the change to 13" rims and tyres but I could not honestly sell them knowing that someone may use them on track thinking they are as sticky as they should be!

Rubber age is very important. Its not just age-age but heat cycle-age that can make a difference and I think it was this that killed my R888. 6-8 sessions a track day x 10+ track days = a lot of heat cycles.

Similar issues here - I think my Fury had the original Escort Tyres on when I got it!! Slidey!

My 888's are about 5 years old, but when not in use I store them heated in tyre blankets. No issues here.

Before I got back into using my Seven properly 18 months ago, the Goodyear eagle F1 I took of where made in 1999 LOL. Had 5mm of tread left, hard as concrete, and dangerous as hell.

When I got my Tiger all 4 Kumho Ecstas appeared to have more meat on them than an Aberdeen Angus but about as much grip as a leper in a swamp! Changing into 2nd under hard acceleration caused wheelspin and fishtailing, traffic islands had to be exited completely before applying throttle if one wanted to avoid facing in the direction one had come from.

The reason (and, to my shame, I've only just discovered this) - front tyres are 12 years old, rears 15!!! At least it confirms that it's the fault of the now-hard-as-ebony traction-less rubber and not clutch slip, diff/axle movement etc. Needless to say, new tyres before spring.

Michael.