Date code on new tires what should they be?

SNKBYT

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I purchased a set of michelin pilot sport this spring from a tire dealer. I went to install them and noticed the dates codes vary on three of the tires by a couple of years. The oldest being 4803? Is this normal or did I receive old stock? Should I run them or try to return them. Are they now making pilot sport 2?
 

jdoc7

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I would call the dealer and have them replaced with fresh tires. That's [******], selling a 3 year old tire. No, it is not normal to get a set of tires of all different ages. Maybe a couple months different but not years!! Is this a reputable tire shop with chain stores? I know Tirerack would not do that.
 

FlyBryViper

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PS2's are available for the front. GET THEM. They rock. Also, you can run the 285 instead of the 275, same carcas.
The rear PS2's are supposed to be out later this summer, maybe.
 

Steve-Indy

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By my memory, our Michelin tires lose their high speed rating after 6 years...others may have more accurate info.
 
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SNKBYT

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The date codes on the tires were 4403, 1405, 4805,4905. When I ordered these tires I was informed that these tires were better than the p-zeros that I'm running. The tires I ordered were to have been the new pilot sport 2. What should I do?
 

FlyBryViper

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4403 = 44th week of 2003.
Fine if you are cruising on the street. Don't know how strongly you feel about them all having the same date. Only really matters of you keep them 5+ years, for street driving.
Would be O.K. for a couple of track sessions, but toast after it dries up. Just my .02
 

Randy

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PS2's are available for the front. GET THEM. They rock. Also, you can run the 285 instead of the 275, same carcas.
The rear PS2's are supposed to be out later this summer, maybe.
I put a new pair of PS2's on the front last week, and had just put a new pair of PS's on the rear about 6 weeks ago, then took it into the local specialty alignment shop that always does an awesome job (for $120 an axle, tho). The alignment tech gave me major static over the fact I had differing model tires on the front and back, and that it was going to cause all sorts of problems with tracking, etc. Even tried to tell me that the model designator on the side of the tire - its M1 on the 275/35-18 PS2s, and C2 or something like that for the rear 335/30-18 PSs - that the M1 indicates the tire is made for Mercedez-Benz (and the C2 means Viper). ???? Now, this shop is renowned locally for their ability to set up a car for the track, or whatever you want, and they really do know their stuff, so I was a bit surprised by this little speech, and didn't quite know how to take this tech's comments about mismatching the tires. All I could think is that the different widths of the tires are going to make a much bigger issue than a tread pattern or other tire difference, and it always has - I've gone through 5 sets of tires on Vipers, and they *always* get very squirrely when the tires get old and hard. I wasn't in an argumentative mood, so just thanked him for his advice, and drove out of there with a car that was tracking and handling 10 times better than when I drove in, so I'm still happy. Still surprised by the comments, though.
 

Randy

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By my memory, our Michelin tires lose their high speed rating after 6 years...others may have more accurate info.
And, from personal experience, they lose a lot of their grip after less time than that - on the order of 4 years.
 
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SNKBYT

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These tires were purchased from Tirerack! I'm surprised that they would do this as I've had great luck with Them and Luke in the past.
 

VIPER 93

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Can someone post a pic of exactly were the date on the tire is?
 

jdoc7

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Re: Date code on new tires what should they be?

Look for the letters DOT stamped on one side of the tire. There will be a series of numbers and letters then at the end, there will be an oval with 4 numbers in it. The first two are the week and the last two are the year. For instance, the picture below shows a build date of 4704 which means the tire was made in the 47th week of 2004. Hope this helps.
9867dot.jpg
 

VIPER 93

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Re: Date code on new tires what should they be?

thanks for the pic.
 

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