Tire Life Question for this Expert Group & Saturn Sky

[Guest Brolliar]

My 89 Reatta Coupe got new Goodyear Regatta tires in March of 1998 when it had 29,384 miles. Now it has about 40,000 miles and the tires still look good.

Question is when should I replace them and why?

Also my wife and I saw the new Saturn Sky Convertible last night. It has a drop top and looks really nice and tempting. The headquarters rep said it had a $24,000 base price and was about $28000 when fully equiped.

[Guest F14CRAZY]

I have a feeling I'm going to end up racing one those, and beating it

Do you drive your Reatta in snow? Otherwise, drive the tires till there ain't much tread left. Good thing you bought name brand tires...my coupe came with fairly new "Hankook Optimo's" on the front, and after like 15k, there's not too much left of them

[Guest Brolliar]

F14CRAZY, the Reatta has seen snow once but never driven in it. We let it stay out for a while so it would know that the snow was cold (see attachment). It didn't care for it much saying inside the garage was better.

My Tire question dealt with how long can you keep driving low mileage tires before they deteriate from dry rot. My wife usually drives the car and I want to keep her and it safe. Years ago I had a older station wagon that I occasionally used to get items from Home Depot or to pull a sailboat home from the lake to redo the bottom paint. Once when driving it to a lumber yard at 50mph I heard a sound similar to a very low helicopter and the car started shaking like crazy. On stopping I saw that one rear tire was in shreads from dry rot. I admit I had not checked the tires in some time. Since then I think more about older tires that still have a lot of tread. I thought someone might have some guidelines to go by. I also imagine some others have Reattas with older tires with a lot of tread.

[Guest F14CRAZY]

Hmmm...I guess you're right. There are some really low mileage Reattas with original tires, but is it safe to drive them at normal speeds? That I don't know.

[padgett]

Depends on the tires and the living conditions. Also modern tires are *much* better than even those of 20 years ago. The tires I put on the Judge in the early 90's still look new but only have a few thousand miles on them. The Michelins on the TranSport are 1998 vintage and also look new but only have about 7/32nds left after 50,000 miles

[jchudyk]

Try to keep them out of direct sunlight. Sunlight and high temperatures are tires biggest enemies. I had the originals on my '89 until 2001 (12 years) and I replaced them because they were starting to get small cracks in the sidewalls...tread was still good.

[Shelby]

I think that modern radial tire do have a limited life span. Something to do with the carbon black.

[scottzilla]

I had my Reatta in the garage for little over a year with BRAND NEW kumho ecstas, See I listen to you guys on here ! Not sure yet, but Ive had to fill both pass side tires twice in a week, ya think the warranty would cover something like that?

Also about the Sky, it looks nice as does the solstice but I like this version MUCH BETTER.

ME LIKEY

[farnelle]

Current conventional wisdom is that ten years is about the maximum life for tires before they are possibly dangerous. Beyond the normal tread wearout issues is the dry rot potential. Dry rot on the outside is fairly easy to see, but tires can also dry rot on the inside.

My 2 cents says that spending $400 or so every five years on a new set of tires, even if they are not worn out, is pretty cheap insurance. Blowouts at the very least are inconvenient. At the most they can be deadly.

[padgett]

Aluminum wheels can exhibit porosity but I would start by checking the valve (just cover the opening with some liquid soap) and if not found there then by removing the wheels and immersing in a water tank or swimming pool. That fast a leak should be visible.

If the leak is at the edge of the rim, probably there is a remnant of an older tire causing it.

The old time trick if the aluminum is porous is just to paint the inside of the wheel with an epoxy paint.

As to dry rot, I would expect to find some sidewall cracking visible even if most was on the inside. Actually I have never seen a tire rot from the inside but then have not seen many rotted tires. Would expect any serious failure (other than road hazard) to be preceeded by vibration.

Just looked closely at the set on my garage queen (263 date code so near 13 years old and 10 32nds tread) and look brand new. May also have something to do with a mild moist climate.

ps $400 ? Try more like $700 all told for something like a Michelin Hydroedge.

[Guest F14CRAZY]

Try new valve cores

[Guest Brolliar]

I appreciate all the replies to my question. I was purchasing tires for a sedan yesterday which got me to thinking about older tires and checking my Reatta. In making my tire decision I found the tire information at http://www.tirerack.com/ VERY good. I especially liked their presentation of survey data from owners. The survey data on the Michelin HydroEdge that Padgett mentioned was based on 4,945,670 miles of owner driving. It ranked as one the top two in the brands I looked at.

Ed, I am glad I don't have your tire bill but would love to have all those cars. I noticed you have two 1955 Oldsmobiles. My wife's mother had a 55 Olds four door hardtop that was a triple tone white, light blue and dark blue (see attached picture). It had a Steuben glass bird as the hood ornament and it was a Beautiful vehicle. The previous owner owned Herzog Gallaries in Houston.

Thanks again to all for the tire comments.

------------------------------

Red 89 Reatta Coupe, one-half of white 90 Reatta convertible (my brother has the other half along with an 89 Reatta coupe), white 84 Oldsmoblle wagon, white 92 Towncar, light blue 94 Continental and teal 98 M-B SLK- 230 (the top is in the trunk) convertible

[farnelle]

Dick,

As you suspect, my tire man loves me. Been dealing with the same shop for 30 years and buy 2 or three sets a year between my cars, my wife's and children's. Michelin is a great brand. I run them on my truck and my 93 Olds. Mostly, however, I look for a medium priced tire with A traction rating, at least B heat rating and 440 or so tread wear. I find these serve me well since they tend to dry rot long before I wear them out.

Thanks for the Olds picture. Even though I own 7 Buicks, I am an Olds guy at heart. Dates back to days when I was little and my grandfather was a small town Olds / Cadillac dealer. Remember when they covered up the showroom windows to hide the new model until the debut day, small dealers only had one or two cars in the showroom and less than ten on the lot. Most people ordered their cars and got what they really wanted. Dealers sold service along with cars and could count on family loyalty for years and years. Most put down money on a car and rarely financed for more than a couple of years and most important it didn't take a car buff to tell what year model you were looking at. Finally, with the career ending and children out of the nest I can realize some old car dreams. Now, if only I can find the 57 Olds that I can afford.

Sorry Reatta folks. I am off topic.

[Reatta45]

If you liked the Saturn Sky? you should love the Pontiac Solstice. They were both in Wichita several months ago. The Sky was the pre production prototype. They are priced the same but the Solstice has a few nicer curves? AND they indicated at that time that it will be coming out with a larger engine. See attachment. KennyV.

[Guest Brolliar]

Having a back that wants a VERY soft ride, thus the Lincolns, I settled on the Goodyear Assurance ComfortTred tires. Per the tirerack survey data they had the greatest ride comfort based on 1,797,624 miles of owner driving.

Ed, I too remember when the new car introductions were a big deal and you would go with friends down to the dealers to see their latest vehicles. I also remember when I was in the second grade in Texas near Dallas during WWII my aunt had a 1941 Olds with no clutch. My brother who was just learning to drive and I had great fun showing our friends a car with no clutch that ran just fine. I think Olds was the first GM car with a hydromatic transmission but I am not sure.

Kenny, I like both the Sky, see attachment, and the Solstice. I think it is great to see GM cars with excellent styling that excites people. I lived in Manhattan, Kansas, also near Doodah, for a little while during the war and watched my sister hopping my dads car down the street there as she learned to use the clutch.

[Guest MauiWowee]

If GM's history has taught us anything, if you like either the Solstice or the Sky, they won't be around very long, maybe not as long as the Reatta. For those of you with the money and the patience for long term investments, get 'em while they're hot. I'll wait for ten years (enough for depreciation to work it's magic), and consider buying one or the other.

Buying tires tomorrow.......did I read here recently that the Michelins had a harsh ride?

[padgett]

Well they are both the same car so they should both appeal. I suspect the "larger" engine for the Solstice will actually be smaller - the 2.0 supercharged ecotec.

Were three out at the last Pontiac club event and are bigger than I would have thought, guess that is why they are so heavy.

Do not know why but GM is betting their future on cars that are big - considerably bigger than needed at a time when Toyota (Yaris), Datsun (Versa), Honda (FIT) are all introducing less=more cars to build on the Scion popularity. There is going to be some juggling but right now the sole GM possibility is the Aveo (Pontiac Wave is only sold in Canada) which is not perceived as equal and costs considerably more with the same equipment. Not good.

[Reatta45]

The size was the only thing that bothered me? I found them too small. I am 6? 5? and that is why I think I?ll keep my Reatta. Even it could be slightly larger. You may be right about future offerings going the downsize route, it?s like trying to find a shirt that fits, almost need a custom. KennyV.

[Guest F14CRAZY]

again, GM's done for

Me and Mario were discussing how they just redesigned the Suburban, Tahoe, Yukon, etc...for what? A brand new vehicle in a dying market? How much did that cost? Displacement on Demand and mild hybrids won't bring it back.

Fronts of the new Chevy's is ugly as sin. Monte, Impala, Malibu...ewww. If you think about it, the front of all new chevy's looks the same.

As Padgett mentioned, they need appealing small cars, which is why Honda, Toyota, etc are doing so well

[Guest Brolliar]

MauiWowee, buying used vs new is certainly the better bargain. Especially since modern cars last so long. About the tires - the tirerack survey data for ride comfort shows the Michelin Harmony and Goodyear Assurance TripleTred tied and just slightly behind the Goodyear Assurance ComforTred and just slightly ahead of the Michelin HydroEdge. For hydroplaning resistance and wet and dry traction the HydroEdge and TripleTred looked the best per the survey data for all-season tires.

I hope things are not as bleak for GM as some think. To me Chryslers bottom line improvement shows what a turnaround you can get with improved styling.

[Guest F14CRAZY]

Chrysler's turn around is from being bought up by Daimler

Then the styling changes

[scottzilla]

Does anybody know any place to get a cheap spare tire? mine has a gi-normous hole in it, bought my tires from tire rack but cant find anything on the site for spares.

Chryslers may look better but I suspect they didnt cure all there quality issues in just a couple years, my parents have an 05 pt cruiser and it is a complete piece of crap, brakes squeal scrape and rattle all the time and dealer refuses to fix them, front alignment had to be done too. I like the looks of the 300 and the crossfire and the pt but Id never buy a chrysler. On the other hand new buicks really arent that great looking in my opinion but quality has improved dramatically, even saw in the consumer reports new car buying guide that they reccommended a few buicks, and we all know how consumer reports loves american cars.

[Guest F14CRAZY]

Try a junkyard. I've heard that they'll give you those donut spares

[imwillyum]

In regards to the Saturn Sky.

I put in my order and will get it within the next three weeks. It has been ordered from Saturn and will cost me about $28,000 fully loaded with a short shift 5 speed. It has the worlds best engine that was designed for Saturn/Gm by Lotus in Europe. They look like a little Corvette and I have seen it at the Auto show and can't wait for it to come in. There are only going to be a total 10,000 2007 models built for 500 dealerships so it is going to be fairly rare car to start.

I am selling my Reatta since I have no place to store and I am really sad about it. I have never had a bit of trouble with the car except for having to replace the radio since one of the channels burned out.

[Guest F14CRAZY]

I don't think it's on the list of Ward's 10 best engines...

[padgett]

Stil basically a Quad-4 even if they call it an EcoTec now. Ignition is nearly impossible to troubleshoot and figure all day for a head gasket. Now featuring GM/Toyota intake VVT but still an awfully big 4 cyl.

[Guest F14CRAZY]

Ha Quad 4s weren't that great.

GM should do something like bring back the 3.4L DOHC, but this time allow it to make the power it was made to produce (close to 300). Saturn and Pontiac would end up with a Corvette eater

[padgett]

One thing for sure, iron engines are a thing of the past. Sure a few are still being built but they are not going to get the latest and greatest.

The trouble with any OHC engine is complexity and a DOHC is just more (and a twin DOHC is even worse).

Fact is that a cam-in-block engine is good for 7-8000 rpm (waaay past efficiency)and you only need four valves/cyl if you have a valve sizing or plug location issue. Anything with over a 3.5" bore just does not need it. Is possible that VVT requires OHC but doubt it.

Now I like bent engines from a space utilization, smoothness, and sound but modern I-4s are much cheaper to build and a "power module" is the most efficient which is why I am surprised at the GM "Kappa" resurrection of front longitudinal engine & rear drive.

One thing I thought would be here by now is CVT (continuously variable transmissions) which have been "almost ready" for 40 years. The nice thing about a CVT is that you can have a two speed engine - idle and max torque which means a lot of the variable stuff popular today can be done away with, the peak torque band can be very narrow.

Now while a gas engine is not very good at this sort of thing, a diesel is - can set a constant speed and vary the torque with the fuel injectors.

Or to really go blue sky, the problem with steam (external combustion) is latency but the efficiency can be much better than IC. A steam-electric hybrid would seem to be win-win and even better with a CVT (a steam engine produces maximum torque at zero rpm).