NOS race tires?

New old stock, not nitrous...

Have a chance to buy some Ventus Z214 made in 2009 but never left the warehouse. Sold by a reputable distributor for about 1/2 the price of new...

Good idea or no?

Tires dry out and loose their grip. Shelf life is approximately 7 years on regular tires. I'd guess sticky tires dry quicker? They're 4 years old now and probably have lost quite a bit of their performance.

They are still better than 50% of the performance at that--use them as 'practice tires'...

We had really good luck buying direct from hoosier. Half price. If there's no national championship on the line, burn the stickers off and keep your wallet fat.

Direct from Hoosier? how?

Gearheadotaku wrote: Direct from Hoosier? how?

http://www.hoosiertire.com/

??? Is there something really confusing about that?

I picked up a set of Toyo's back in 2007 with a production date of sometime in 2004. I use then for testing and track days and I still have them. They still stick pretty good. They have about 6 days worth of track use both on my ITA VW and one day on a SM Miata in a drivers school. This is with multiple heat cycles.

I wouldn't race on them but they should still give you your moneys worth if you get them for the right price.

I've used 6-7 year old R-comps (Hoosier R6's) and extreme street tires (Falken Azenis) for track days on several occasions. I'm sure they're slower than brand new ones, but they're miles ahead of regular street tires and didn't show any weird wear or strange performance.

If they're cheap and you don't need to win a championship with them, I'd go for it.

I have had good experience buying older clearance Kumhos and Bridgestones from the Tire Rack in the past. The conditions in their vast warehouses are pretty good for maintaining tire freshness. If you are planning to wear through the tires in one-two years or less and don't need the last 1% of performance on the track, I'd give them a try.

Gearheadotaku wrote: New old stock, not nitrous... Have a chance to buy some Ventus Z214 made in 2009 but never left the warehouse. Sold by a reputable distributor for about 1/2 the price of new... Good idea or no?

Where might one find this deal? I ran Z214s for the first time this season and loved them. I have no problem running unused/old rubber. Thinking about getting a set of medium compound for track days too.

I've been eyeing those in the 225/50/16 size lately. I think I'm gonna wait until it's too late and miss out on the opportunity. I'd have to find a second set of wheels and play in FSP next year.