Jay Leno and tires?

[SCadaddle]

So I'm looking over the Hankook summer tires on my SC that are now 11 years old. Probably less than 10,000 miles on them and minimal wear. Looked them over thoroughly recently when reconditioning the brakes. Can't discern any dry rot cracking or anything else out of the norm. They've been on my car that resides in the dark non-climate controlled garage environment with temps ranging from lower teens to near 100F.

They look fine but they are now 11 years old. I've recently driven them on rare occasion but only up to about 50-60 mph in less than an hour at a time. Not willing to tempt interstate speeds.

So that's got me questioning what the heck does Jay Leno do with the 180 +/- autos in his collection that he drives very infrequently? Does he put new tires on them every 5-6 years? Just how old a tire would Jay drive on and at what speed?

[masraum]

Jay Leno's got a McLaren F1. I don't think he's that worried about replacing tires.

[Bill Douglas]

I had Hankooks on the SC and replaced them because they were getting a bit old.

The new Bridgestones are fantastic. I didn't realise how soft and flexible the sidewalls are on the Hankooks. It makes the car drive and feel like a 911 should.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Tires are the only thing that hold your car to the road. For me, it just makes no sense to take a chance on old tires. Sitting in one place for so long, who knows what's happening inside the tire. Rubber separating from belts? Other than that, I've driven a friend's car with old tires. They were like rocks. Car just bounced around on top of the road.

My guess is Leno has a tire guy that keeps track of everything. Since his cars are mostly so valuable, insert "good tires, Bob mused, but certainly not great tires." pic here. Just takes one blow out or an extreme maneuver where the tire didn't perform as expected because of age to ruin your whole day. And anyone else's on the road.

[rwest]

Anyone want to bet that Jay has a tire sponsorship or gets a great discount?

[john70t]

He not only collects them but drives them.
Porsche content: https://www.brakeandfrontend.com/david-donohue-and-jay-leno-team-set-speed-records-in-porsche-carrera-gt/

[Tobra]

Seems like a thousand bucks every 6 or 7 years is a small price to pay for a little peace of mind.

[Por_sha911]

I had a low miles 380SL with tires that looked brand new. Driving in the rain became an adventure because of traction issues even though they had canyon deep tread depth. Bought a new set of inexpensive tires and WOW what a difference (wet or dry). Trust me, its worth it to get those tires replace unless the only purpose they serve is to keep the wheels from touching the concrete.

[Eric Hahl]

Originally Posted by Tobra

Seems like a thousand bucks every 6 or 7 years is a small price to pay for a little peace of mind.

In Jay Leno's case multiply by 100 or so.

[GH85Carrera]

Some of Jay’s cars may get driven, but not fast. Any car he really drives, you can bet have safe tires.

He mentioned that he scraped up the splitter on his F1. He said it was a simple math thing, replace the splitter or buy a brand new Corvette Z06. He never finished that comment as to what he chose to do. Likely both.

[Tervuren]

From snippets, what he does depends on how often, how hard, and in what weather he wants to take a car out.

Originally Posted by SCadaddle

So that's got me questioning what the heck does Jay Leno do with the 180 +/- autos in his collection that he drives very infrequently? Does he put new tires on them every 5-6 years? Just how old a tire would Jay drive on and at what speed?

[rusnak]

You guys have all seen his shops and how well they are equipped. I'm going to say he has the tires replaced on his drivers. Probably not on the oldies but definitely on the F1.

[A930Rocket]

Years ago when I bought a 91 318is, I could easily fishtail the car under acceleration, because the tires were hard as bowling balls. I quickly got new tires.

[ted]

Old tires and old belts need to be replaced before they fail.
Get a tire durometer to see how dead are your old hard tires.

Tire management is a big thing for me too.
Towing down the freeway I have 10 tires that need to be safe for a 20 hour round trip.
6 on the dually and 4 on the the trailer, plus a spare for the truck and one for the trailer.
Then the race car inside the trailer needs 8 slicks ready for racing.
So that's 20 tires, (plus belts and hoses on the truck and race car) every race weekend that need to be in very good condition.

[McLovin]

I had a car a few years ago that had original tires on it with only 5000 miles on them. They looked brand new. But they were from 1987. 30 years old!
They were rock hard and really slippery

[Por_sha911]

Wanna bet Jay Leno gets a special price for whatever things automotive he buys?

[kach22i]

A friend has a garage queen 308 Ferrari, drives it a couple time a year on 18, make that 19 year old tires.

I told him he's nuts, most because he drives like a nut behind the wheel of a Honda Civic, and in my opinion not much better behind the wheel of his Ferrari.

Old rubber is no good, he's been told.

Side note, the spare emergency fan belt for my 911 that I took out of the front truck so I could order a new one (at correct size) is absolutely rock hard compared to the one Pelican just sent me.

I think the old belt was about 12 years old, it's not going back in the car, time to order a new spare belt.

[kochtools]

I lurk here ... but don't post much.

The topic of tires and tire-age is a hot-button topic for me. I am a materials scientist ... employed 29 years with the world's largest tire manufacturer.

The industry standard that tires should be replaced after 10 years regardless of use is based on solid science. Dry rot is NOT a scientific term. Your eyes cannot discern degradation due to oxidation, ozone degradation, or thermal degradation (due to storage, use, or due to a temporary under-inflated condition).

Belts and Hoses are an entirely different topic considering the fact that they use completely different elastomers.

Stay safe ... don't drive on old tires

[David]

I doubt Jay replaces all his tires every 5 years. I'm a firm believer in the 5 year rule, but if you're just driving around with no hard cornering or high speed, I think you're pretty safe. Not as safe as new tires but pretty safe.

Back when I autocrossed on Hossier R25 slicks, they stuck great for about a year and after that it was like you were on ice. Didn't seem to matter that much on how many runs you made, just how old they were.

[cockerpunk]

if your tires are aging out, instead of heat cycle or tread wearing out, you need to buy softer tires.

even on my street cars, i tend to go through 1-2 sets a year. super 200s are soft these days. on the plus side the a052 is a fantastic daily tire IMO.

on the race car its typically 3-5 sets per year.

once your into racing cars instead of owning cars, you stop being a cars person, and start being a tires person.

thats before we even talk about studding tires.