Is it stupid to use a set of 3 years old semi slicks for track? They are Toyo R888 to be exact and has only be used once on track.
Am I better off throwing them away?

 

If you're not competing, run em. I usually don't expect a tire older than 18-months to get the job done, but I'd rather burn them up than toss them. You want to run them in the summer when it's nice and hot.

 

Thanks. I am in a country where it is summer 365 days a year
Which will perform better then? 3 year old semi slicks or 1000 miles on road tires?

 

Depends on the road tire, but the slick will come back to a point with some heat.

 

I've ran some pretty old r888 and they are usually fine. Since you have them I'd burn them off

 

I have some Hoosier R6s sitting on my car at the moment, I think they're about two years old but have been outside for more than a year. Worth using at my local track this summer or should I just buy RS3s? I don't want to run some potentially unsafe **** to just "burn 'em 'cause I got 'em"

 

2 year old R6s are probably rocks. Not unsafe, but hard and much lower grip than when they were new, especially if they've been sitting outside.

3-year-old R888s are probably in better shape than Hoosiers, since they weren't as soft to begin with. If you're competing, you probably want new ones, if you're just out having fun then they're probably fine. At least, that's what I would expect with RA1s, and I think R888s are supposed to be the same rubber compound.

--Ian

 

They were a much shittier tire than the R6 even when totally fresh, but I ran a really old set of A3S03s (that had been properly stores in bags in a heated basement) at one point, and they were scary unpredictable. Had a decent amount of grip, but let go randomly and in a rather dramatic fashion. I felt REALLY uncomfortable using them, and took them off after one event.

R888s might be fine if they were stored reasonably ok, just be wary feeling them out (especially if you're used to fresher stuff).

 

It also depends on how they have been handled. If they have been inside the whole time then they should still be good, but if they have been sitting on a car outside for all that time, then thats a different story.

 

Old Toyo/Nittos and hold Hoosiers are two different animals.

 

As has been said: When it comes to the RA1s and R888 it is all about how they have been stored. Old R-compounds that has turned solid tend last forever (since they are so hard), but they never get back to the same grip level. But as long as you are not competing you might as well test them out. I strongly doubt they will be unsafe, they are not that extreem tires.

Remember: If you haven’t driven on fresh rubber for a while you can get used to the feel of older harder tires and think it is the norm. But if you spend a day at the track and don’t see significant wear on the tires you are either driving like a Nancyboy (different problem) or it is time to toss the tires.

FWIW: I recommend the Yokohama A048, as an alternative to the R888s. A bit higher price per tire (at least over here), but they wear better, don’t overheat as easily (I could never get more then ~10min max pace out of the R888s before they turned to muck) and the grip is much better. You will notice the difference. Yokos needs a full lap to get up to temperature though.

 

Hoosiers turn to rocks after a few heats cycles only made worse by age. I would venture to say that the RS3's are faster than cycled out Hoosiers. I watched a guy drop 2 seconds on a 47 sec course going from cycled Hoosiers to fresh RS3's.

I'm with Hustler though, if you have them then run them till they cord. They are not unsafe until they are dry rotting. Has anyone tried waking a set up with some VHT Trackbite, wrapped in syran wrap, and stuffed in a closet for a couple months?

 

We've done that with drag tires... but it was only for a day or two. Cut 1.6's on a set of "junk" 10.5 QTP's on a 10.8's F-body.

 

I've got a set of shaved RA1s that have been sitting int he garage for 3 years, interesting. I would have to think that my RE11s would be just as good with my low skill level. I actually drove on the RA1s from Dallas, TX to Huntsville, AL

 

I know of a certain garage shelf in DFW with a bunch of "tire cleaner" someone gave me that I'm itching to try out.

 

People who say (type) **** about their skill level and not running R-comps are misinformed. For about a year I listened to the DFW Miata Senior group tell me how dangerous and scary r-comps were and how I needed years of experience on snow tires before putting a set on...I expected something like F1 level grip. What I got was a tire that didn't overheat and didn't slide like a clown-car. I spun the car more on street rubber than NT-01's.

 

Street tires will always overheat, even brand new.
Old (semi) slicks will still perform, but may have slightly less grip due to harderning/heat cycles.

I'd go with the R888s and rub 'm up real good in the first laps.

 

Interesting, maybe I should find a different set of wheels. and try out the old RA1s. They still have very small grooves, no cords yet.
Someone try the tire cleaner tactic and report back.

 

I'm running some RA1's 225\50\15, got them for free from a track racer. they have seen their life and they are 2 or 3 years old but at last autox event they did what I thought they would. I plan to throw some VP trakbite or whatever and see if I can get more grip since I can't really get them heated up at the local autox.

 

True, they are. My experience with the difference is like this:

Old Hoosiers are sucky randomly 50% of the time.
Old Toyos are sucky all of the time.

I did this also, with a set of heat-cycled R6s. I applied several coats over the course of maybe 2-3 months, keeping them wrapped up in between coats and then until I put them on the car at the track. One coat won't do much, as you have to really get it soaked into the rubber. It lasted for maybe 3-4 sessions, then was back to being cycled out. Even when it was working it made the R6s about as good as a fresh NT01.