Tires (Summer/Winter/All-Season)

Laughs in 17F overnight temps.

 

Be careful what you laugh at. Mother Earth may turn around and bite you.

 

I have seen snow in every single month of the year...at least the snow from this Wednesday is all melted!

 

Update: Ordered the Goodyears from Walmart and installation is set for tomorrow morning. The tires arrived today, so I went to take a look to make sure they had the BMW star and were not runflats. They are the correct tires (at least the one I saw), so that's great! Took pictures of all the markings on it, and the only difference was four numbers, which I found out is the manufacture date. 2121 (the 21st week of 2021), only a bit newer than the ones that came with my MINI (again, that's for the tire I saw). Does that seem too old? With some preliminary research, it seems shelf life for tires is about 6 years. Does that seem correct? Since the tires were manufactured almost three years ago, but will probably only last about another 3 years if I drive the way I've been driving, I'll need to replace them by about the 6-year mark.

At this point I'm thinking don't worry about it and just have them installed, and have fun. Maybe it'll give me an excuse to see if I can make them last less time/miles.

What do you think?

 

I think you're lucky Walmart had those exact tires (I assume at a good price) and that they're as new as they are. Drive them like they're stolen and you want to make them look well-used before the authorities come looking for the stolen new tires.

 

New tires that have been in storage for several years can unintentionally be sold to customers as brand new tires.Buing new tires that are already 1-2 years old is sort of like buying food that is already near its expiration date .plus ,you run the risk of paying for old rubber.If I will buy 3 years old tires at list I try to cut a price 30-50% but I will stay away from them if they are no bargain and I will look for something newer or different brand.Before I buy a tires I always call a seller and ask about date of manufacture of tires what they shipping to me bc they rotate a stock and selling the oldest to customers.Once I didn’t do that I get 2 years old tires which I don’t like they replace them with 1/2 year old without a problem bc they want me to keep as a customer.That is a way i deal with purchasing a tires for 50 years.

 

Already on it! Got them installed this morning. $177 per tire, came to $837 total with installation. Can't remember what the dealer quoted me when I went for my two-year service last summer, but it was either $1100 or $1200. It's strange that it's so hard to find these tires, and that what Walmart had was stock from 2021. So yes, it's lucky that I was able to find them without having to drive 3 hours to the dealer--which I couldn't have done on the bad tire anyways.

Here's the bad tire after hitting the pothole--you can see the huge bubble and the damage to the wheel--very upsetting!



Here's one of the four new tires installed. Tire seems good, other than the white waxy stuff on all four tires, which comes off if I rub, but I'll just wait a while and see if it comes off on its own. Also, you probably can't see it well, but they left a gash on my wheel, just left of the yellow center cap. At least they didn't do it to all four wheels. This kind of thing has happened to my wheels on my VW at Costco and at the VW dealer, so seems like just overall carelessness that is common.



Here's a before and after of the tread.






Finally, the tire pressures as inflated by Walmart (says 35psi on the work order for all four tires)--doesn't inspire a lot of confidence....

 

Yeah, unfortunately that doesn't really work when dealing with Walmart. I could have said they were too old and asked them to ship new ones, hoping they would be newer, which is doubtful. Even if they were, that would also keep me without a car for another week, and that's a huge hassle. If these were longer life tires I would worry more about it, but since they'll only last maybe 3 years, I'm just going to enjoy driving and not worry about wearing them out fast. If something happens because they were old, then I guess I'll learn my lesson for next time.

 

Your Psi reading is really out of wack better you adjust 35 front / 32 rear and I’m seeing you are in warm climate using those summer tires . The eagle 1 could be made in China like all a brand tires a made all over a world my Hankooks on my SE are from Hungary as summer tires very expensive .Also in 17 “ as you have they more difficult to get . But I like this one from Indonesia which is approved in any US standard and is so cheap .Just as I’m on Nokian WRG-4 on my Subaru Forester the best tires ever they were manufactured in USSR when I discovered when they deliver to my house . Good luck with your Eagle 1 . My next tires for end of the summer are Nokian WRG-5 Remedy 205/55/16 made in Dyton OH. With 60000 warranty as all weather tires for all climates as new for 2024 design for EV and love rolling resistance Sorry is no size in 17” for SE .SE have the best range and best comfortable ride on 16” tires as I read all reviews everywhere.

 

I really don't worry much about the TPMS pressure readings. I trust my pressure gauges to be more accurate. I just pumped my 17s to 40/37 and reset the sensors, and they came back with 38 and 36 front, and 37 and 33 rear.

 

The date code on the tires does not mean as much if the tires have been stored inside. Here is what Goodyear actually says on their website:

(but regardless of any such vehicle manufacturer’s advice, any tire’s replacement period should not exceed 6 years from the date the tire is placed in service or 6 years from the date included in the DOT code on the sidewall of the tire if you are unable to determine the date the tire was first placed in service).

 

That's true, although for me my TPMS usually reads (fairly accurately) about 2-3 psi lower than with the gauge. The Walmart pressures on the front passenger side were 31 with the gauge, and 43 on the passenger rear! No big deal since I have a compressor at home, and I would have likely adjusted whatever they had inflated to the pressures I like anyway. But still...

 

This all strikes me as a bit odd, as my el cheapo gauge, Stanley portable compressor, and the SE all agree to w/in 0.5 psi. The first two could just be by chance, but doesn't the car estimate pressure based on tire revolutions? If so, why would one vehicle be close, but another so far off... driving conditions, perhaps?

 

I have yet to experiment with higher-than-recommended pressures in my SE. How did you arrive at those values, and how has it impacted handling/ride/range?

 

2 psi is honestly within most gauges' margin of error, so I just go on the firm side of ideal. The Eagle F1s are quite communicative and have pretty good turn-in on this car, going a bit more firm all around lightens up the rear the tiniest bit.

 

The Eagle F1s are made in Germany. We have two SEs, one with the F1s and the other with Pirelli P7s. F1s are so much better in every way.

 

Would that include wear?

My car came with P7s, which are the first summer performance tires I have owned. They're grippy and quiet, I get good efficiency, and I'm guessing will last 30k miles. My plan was to just eventually replace them with more of the same, but your comment has me thinking I should explore all options.

 

I don't know why that would be. I trust my compressor's gauge the most. My cheap pencil-type gauge reads 2psi higher than my compressor, and the MINI TPMS reads 2psi lower. But the MINI TPMS gives me a good idea of where my pressures are, which is all I need. I like being able to just check from the car if I need to put air in the tires, unlike my VW, which I have to check the old-fashioned way.

 

That's good to know. The Pirellis and Hankooks are more easily available than the F1s, and at first I thought about the Hankooks but they were very expensive, so I'm glad I was able to find the F1s.