Tires old enough to drink

[TheModernLeper]

My new to me, 1996 Alfa Romeo Spider came with new front tires but not new rears. The rears have plenty of tread and they look basically brand new; however, the date code tells a different story:

Yep. That's April 2001. Old enough for an adult beverage. No cracks or apparent dry rot but the tread is rather stiff/hard. So, 2 new tires to match the 2 new fronts will be mounted tomorrow. It's almost a shame because there is a lot of tread left and the tread pattern is kinda cool:

I didn't have a penny handy so I used this euro 1 cent coin that was in the glove box.

And just to add to the fun of car ownership....I was driving my wife's Macan to get it's annual maintenance and a truck kicked up some rocks. One just missed the top of the windshield and left a nice chip in the roof. But three hit the windshield with 2 doing some damage. Time for a new windshield.

[CB]

@TheModernLeper Those tires are pre-9/11. Wild.

[Stef Schrader]

Wwwwwwwow.

[aremmes]

@TheModernLeper You will do some sweet burnouts before installing the new tires, yes?

[glemon]

@TheModernLeper So I read 2001 and my first thought was, that is not so old, my second thought was, I am really old. I didn't realize they used that tread pattern so long ago is that a Fuzion or Federal tire?

[TheModernLeper]

@aremmes Tempting, but I don't know the service history on this car and the cam belt really needs to be changed before I do anything too crazy in it.....like attempt a burn out. And only 150hp. And I live at 8,250 ft which really saps the hp.

[TheModernLeper]

@glemon I hear you on getting/being old. These old tires are Falken FK451 tires. The new ones are Falken Sincera tires. I would have gone with something different, but there are two new Sinceras on the front, so I just matched them for the rear.

[I love KTM's and Puch's and Audis]

this is extremely common on used motorcycles.

[Shop-Teacher]

@I-love-KTM-s-and-Puch-s-and-Audis Oh yeah. @Birddog is about to change out the tires on a Harley he inherited. They have zero miles on them, but I believe their date code is from 2008.

[DealkillerPoweredByFocus]

I just did the same thing with the 2008 Lincoln MKX I bought for my wife's new daily. It has only 47,000 miles, and still had the original Michelin's on it. Date code of 04/07 on all four. The dealer didn't think they needed replacement. I disagreed. Four new BF Goodrich tires made the ride soooo smooth. The brakes looked original too, so those were changed in my driveway last week as well.