Boxster 987 Bridgestone tyres cracked

[White_911]

In June 2016 I had 4 new tyres fitted to my 2004 987 Boxster. I previously had Michelin but this time chose Bridgestone Potenzas. N1 91Y 235/40ZR18 fronts and N1 101Y XL 265/40ZR18 rears.
A couple of months age when getting a puncture repaired I discovered that all 4 tyres had continuous cracks running around the whole circumference of the tyre in the groove closest to the inner wall. Photo attached ( I hope ! )
I have never had this before on any tyres. The tyres have done approx. 8000 miles, all normal road driving.
The person who supplied and fitted the tyres said he did not think it unusual. Although there is plenty of tread he said it is due to UV that deteriorates the rubber. I spoke to Bridgestone who said they do not send anybody out to look. I would have to buy and fit 4 new tyres, send these old ones back to them for analysis and if they consider there is a manufacturing defect they might refund some of the original cost taking into account how much mileage might be left in the tyres if they were not cracked. I spoke to the fitter again and in his experience, he thought it very unlikely I would receive any refund at all and that they destroy the tyres after inspection and do not return them.
Has anybody else experienced anything like this?
Any advice or information would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[AndrewCS]

https://www.porscheclubgb.com/forum/tm.aspx?m=1042280

This ^ is one of many such threads, on here and on the Cayman Owners Club … regarding Pirelli PZero`s. I`ve not heard of it with Bridgestone`s.

My previous Cayman S 981 had the same Pirelli `cracking`, dealer personal also said it was `common` … I do trust their Senior / Gold tech , so too my local mobile fitter who also confirmed same. All said they were OK to continue with. I did and did not notice any adverse issues, did change them early though … for Michelin PS4S.

I sent pictures to Pirelli who offered to inspect if I travelled to their nearest specialist, I declined … others, with much worse condition than mine have had a full replacement from Pirelli.

It`s a shame that Bridgestone don`t have a specialist dealer where you could have them inspected.


Is the car garaged, as with that `minor` mileage they would have seen little UV !

 

[Chappelle]

Had similar on my previous set of tyres - don't recall with certainty but think they were Bridgestones. Now Goodyears

What is the date stamp on the tyres?

 

[White_911]

Thank you Andrew and Richard.

The car is not garaged, never has been. The previous Michelin tyres lasted 15,000 miles no cracks.
I agree it is a shame Goodrich offered virtually no support. If I had known that before I would never had bought them.
I still wonder if this if a manufacturing fault.

The date stamps on the tyres are:

Both fronts 08 16

One rear 50 15
One rear 37 15

I had them all fitted June 2016. The rear manufactured 37 15, so Sep 2015 and already 9 months old when I got it which doesn't help if Goodrich tyres deteriorate so quickly.

 

[CLIFFWILKINS]

Had cracking on Bridgstones on a 987 very hard tyre I found after a few years also on Pirelli on a 981 extremely bad cracking .
All seems to start around the 4 year Mark the car is left outside tends to be fronts that we have to change because of cracks obviously the rears wear quicker so are replaced before cracks get to bad.
Not just a Porsche thing my VW Tiguan on Pirelli Scorpions are starting to get very light cracks nothing as bad as our last 981 got.
Seems the life span has gone out of tyres before they wear out.

 

[White_911]

Thanks for your input Cliff.
Somebody told me that the materials used in tyre production were changed due to EU regulations ! lol May be just 'blame it on the EU' rumour but whatever it is, it seems bad news for any low mileage user.

I am now thinking based on what Andrew said earlier that I will do nothing for now and just keep an eye on them. I don't know what the view of an MOT inspector would be ? I certainly will not be buying Bridgestone again for any of my cars.

 

[CLIFFWILKINS]

I was told light cracking is cosmetic does not affect performance but Tracy's last 981 front tyres got so bad the cracks got very wide we changed them just before it's 4th Mot was due.
Plenty have suffered same issues

 

[Chappelle]

This from a Porsche US dealer:

[h2]Life of Your Tires[/h2]How often should you get new tires? This variable could be the hardest one to deal with since it can seem like you are discarding good tires. It’s real, you can have tires with plenty of tread depth remaining however could still be required to replace them. Tires will certainly deteriorate gradually and become more vulnerable to devastating failure which could cause an accident. It is advised that tires that are five years old must be properly examined annually. If the tire is greater than ten years old, it must be replaced despite the condition. Your vintage car may have extremely low miles since you just drive it on the weekends, however, it still might need brand-new tires. The good news is, there is an easy means to check the age of your tires. There is a four digit number stamped right into each tire that gives the week and year it was made. Our example image reveals that the tire was made in the 44th week of ’16, so it’s roughly halfway through its advised life expectancy.

 

[White_911]

Thank you to everyone that commented !

Just have to decide what to do now. Maybe keep an eye on the cracks ? - they are approx. 1.5 mm wide at the moment.