Pirelli Tyre Longevity?

makeshiftUK

Member
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1,089
Disclaimer - relating to my BMW!

I had a set of Pirelli Cinturato P7 Blue (235/45/17) tyres fitted in July 2015 - and covered a paltry 13k miles in them since. The sidewalls are starting to crack... see below.

Is this deterioration in line with the norm - and what point would it warrant replacing them for safety?

Cheers

IMG_5293.JPGIMG_5294.JPGIMG_5295.JPG
 

Devonboy

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Christ - for a moment there I thought it was possible to get 13k from Pirelli’s fitted to a Maser!
 

Wanderer

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5,791
I’ve got Pirellis zero’s all round - had car eight months now no persceptible wear, but I’m not an off the liner or cornerer, more of a 50-90 man...

Never spun them purposely...
 

Wanderer

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I’ve done what, 5k in that 8 months, there’s loads left.

Maybe I should switch to a Rover P5b....
 

jasst

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2,313
I would contact Pirelli about this, I remember someone on here having similar issue and getting a new set FOC from Pirelli because that is not acceptable on a 3 year old tyre.
 

Wanderer

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5,791
I had to google that..

<--- child of the 80's!!
I think it was the Yorkshire Ripper’s car wot he got arrested in in Sheffield. Had plates on it from a Skoda he’d nicked them off in at a scrappy in Cowper Bridge, Hudds.

Why do I know this, will form my QOTD when I next get one right, only a matter of time.

Them was the days tho, swapping plates, Guinness labels for tax discs, we were 10 steps ahead of the Bill easy back then. I can remember my dads Zephyr 6 having such huge holes in the front passenger footwell you could see the road. And I was stood on the less rusty bits, 6 yo, no seat belt, didn’t have them, and a plastic steering with a suction pad on the totally metal dash, pretending to drive like my dad who probably had 6 pints but was ok to drive.

Still here....
 

lifes2short

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5,821
You may have had them fitted in 2015 but that doesn't mean they were 2015 tyres, what's the manufacturing dates on the tyres, have known some tyre dealers fit old stock tyres
 

azapa

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1,300
Have you or the previous owner used any wheel or tire cleaner or dresser in the life of the tire?
 

makeshiftUK

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1,089
Have you or the previous owner used any wheel or tire cleaner or dresser in the life of the tire?
I've personally used back to black spray on the tyres a handful of times in the last 3 years - but whenever I get that car washed at the local hand car wash, they use some sort of cleaner/dresser.

Is this known to have a detrimental effect?
 

Zep

Moderator
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9,110
I imagine Pirelli will say that this is very minor crazing limited to the surface and there is no safety impact.

It looks like UV degradation to me. Just keep an eye on it. You will need to change them before they are worn out anyway as they will be as hard as Parmesan in another couple of years. I had some P7 blues on an Audi, as I recall they were pretty hard wearing.

As others have said, check the date stamp for the real age of the tyres.
 

lifes2short

Member
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5,821
For the Irish MOT (NCT), they age the tyres, if too old, off they come despite condition,,,

I think the new tightened MOT inspections here also now include tyre manufacturing date as a check list now, always a bit of confusion with how long tyres should last and/or be replaced even if tread depth ok. I believe tyre manufacturers say that after 5 years tyres should be replaced??. I think it depends on how they've been stored/kept. I've still got some 20 year old Pirellis as good as new but rubber gone a bit on the hard side. I always make a point of checking the dates on the new tyres before any dealer fits them, no point spending good money on tyres that are already 2/3 years old, which some do try and get away with
 

azapa

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1,300
I've personally used back to black spray on the tyres a handful of times in the last 3 years - but whenever I get that car washed at the local hand car wash, they use some sort of cleaner/dresser.

Is this known to have a detrimental effect?
Rubber is a natural material that hates: sun, hot, cold, chemicals, stress, ozone etc. I have seen car washes where they use paraffin as sidewall cleaner. I would only use good quality products such as Sonax etc, or none at all. I think you will also see batch to batch variations of the same tire that could produce quite radical longevity impacts.

At the end of the day your tyres are 3 years old. Parking in the sun for that time alone could have done this. I would also be complaining (assuming you have the time to jump through those hoops). Good luck!
 

Strad

Member
Messages
245
I would contact Pirelli about this, I remember someone on here having similar issue and getting a new set FOC from Pirelli because that is not acceptable on a 3 year old tyre.

Around this time last year mine were looking like these on the rear. The car was 12 months old with 3k on the clock but seems they were older tyres, anyway Pirelli were great. Inspector came out and quickly declared they would replace all four despite fronts being ok.

He did say you should never use tyre-dressing, he would I guess. The new tyres were noticeably stickier, warm up quickly and offer a completely different experience to the old/bad ones.
I know I’m the only one on this Forum that likes the P Zero Corsa tyre but I sort of trust the millions spent on R&D......

M.
 

azapa

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1,300
I know I’m the only one on this Forum that likes the P Zero Corsa tyre but I sort of trust the millions spent on R&D......

M.

we are two who love them. those who don't just need to drive harder to warm them up, or, well, as in my case, live somewhere warm!
 

Strad

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Good, I’m not going to mention how I warm them up as I might want to sell her one day.....!!