Original Tires ?

[ViperJoe]

Is there any way to tell if a car has the original tires?
I just got through looking at a Tire Rack ad and they did not list the 325 and 275 Michelin XGTZ tires. In fact the only company that made that size was Bridgestone or dunlap I believe.

What is.was the "normal" (no weekly trips to the strip) life of the stock tires front and rears?

Thanks

 

[Y2K5SRT]

Not quite sure how you would tell if they are originals or not. I suspect that JonB or Luke from Tire Rack will be able to weigh in with good answers.

I have over 14,000 miles on my original tires, including several trips to the drag strip, autocross (again today), and race track. They are the Pilot Sports and I have been VERY happy with them. I suspect I may need to look into new rubber at the end of the summer (after a few more miles!)

Chris

 

[GTS Dean]

All DOT tires have a date code molded into one sidewall. This code shows the week (1-52) and last digit of the year (0-9) in which the tire was manufactured.

356 = the 35th week (somewhere around the end of August) of 1996

This date code will always be before the MDH (Month Day Hour) production date for the vehicle if the tires are OEM. One tire may be different if there was a tire warranty adjustment after sale, but chances are fair that the replacement may be from the same run.

Tire makers gear up for production runs of varying numbers of a given size. Our 335 rears are used on almost no other vehicles. So, Michelin cranks up to make enough for new vehicle production and anticipated replacement demand, then warehouses them until stock is depleted.

 

[Henry Cone]

lookin4asnake, the X-GTZ's that were standard equipment on '92 -'95 RT/10's have not been manufactured for a number of years. For future collectibility it MAY be worth having a set for showing. The reality is that a tire this old is probably hard and offers less than optimal traction.

Michelin MXX3's were used as standard equipment from '96 to '98. These are a considerable improvement over the X-GTZ's and are certainly a great tire to use. Again they have not been in production for several years now so the supply of them is all but dried up.

Michelin's Pilot Sports in an 18" diameter are the current standard equipment (from '99 on). Michelin also makes these in the original 17" diameters used on cars prior to '99. This is probably the best rain tire for the Viper.

In any case Michelin tires in the size needed for Vipers are available, the Pilot Sports particularly so. An I highly recommend Michelins for a stock Viper...

 

[rhansenjr]

We have 19,000 miles on the original tires on our '94 RT10. It is all easy highway miles except down the strip once, autocross once, and some laps around the track at Sebring and St. Louis with a Skip Barber instuctor. The tires really show no wear to speak of.

 

[ViperJoe]

Originally posted by Henry Cone:
lookin4asnake, the X-GTZ's that were standard equipment on '92 -'95 RT/10's have not been manufactured for a number of years.

Thanks Henry and Rod, that's exactly the info I was looking for.
That will make it a little easier when looking at a prospective Viper with say 5-15k miles, if it still has the XGT's it may have had an easier life, and the miles may be close to reality (all other aspects considered of course!).
THANKS!

 

[ViperJoe]

Originally posted by GTS Dean:
All DOT tires have a date code molded into one sidewall. This code shows the week (1-52) and last digit of the year (0-9) in which the tire was manufactured.


Thanks for the info, I guess I should have been more specific. I have seen a few Vipers being sold with LOW miles with "original" tires. I looked around and could not find the Michelin XGT-z tires available in the Viper's sizes, so I was wondering if these were specific to the Viper or were they manufacturer spec tires that are put on new cars at the factory and then sold for a couple of years retail and then they are gone, which leaves the Viper driver trying to find a different tire manufacturer or different tire size!