Is this tire toast?

[Boyd]

Hey Ryan.
I'd say you're ok to street it as long as you're driving "normal"... until you can get it replaced. Even then, you (nor anyone else here) knows what that tire will do or when. When its damaged like that, its future is extremely unpredictable. And unless you've prepared, you dont have a spare. So even just losing air (which it will do at an accelerated rate) means a flatbed tow home. Is it worth it? And maybe damage your car in the process? That tire is done.

Track? Absolutely no way. Everything has to be the best you can make it for the track.

EDIT: Oops, just saw your last post. I see the tire is removed and dismounted. Send it to the heap. And that X... unscrupulous people out for the buck, man. Once you drove it off the lot, they can claim they know nothing. Liars for money... I hate em.

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[DougS550]

The rule of thumb for me is, measure the depth of the cut. Then measure the base of tire tread between tire treads. As long as the depth of the cut is less *does not go below the base rubber between treads, I would have no issue.

 

[pilotgore]

EDITED WITH A BETTER PICTURE:

I was swapping out tires for a different size today, and noticed this when they took off the passenger rear. I had no idea it was there or for how long. It was obviously holding air, but the slice looks to be down to the thread ply. Only 3k on the tire. Is it toast? What would have caused that?

I’m no tire expert, but I have corded 20+ sets of Michelins over the last few years on track (on my 350, z06, and mini.). The pictured set is from the mini from two weekends ago. Notice it goes row of cords, then rubber layer, then metal carcass that’s crosshatched. Second pic is from a z06 tire when I went through the crosshatch…. (Yeah, I took that one a bit too far.)

It appears you’re showing the top of cords (so the cords are doing their job.) If you have any extra set of rims/tires, I’d run the tire on track and check for changes after every session. If the cut gets bigger or changes in any way, then throw on one of your spare tires and continue on. If that one tire has the potential to ruin your whole track day/weekend, you’re better off replacing it with a new one for peace of mind. I can’t tell you how many students I’ve watched waste the money they paid for a track weekend by not spending a little more money on something preventable that could end their track experience early (which they knew about before hand like a brake flush with better fluid, brake pads, tires, etc)

Many will disagree with me… but fellow track rats will likely understand

 

[pilotgore]

A little better picture of the mini tire showing the carcass still in tact.

 

[sms2022]

I’m not running that tire. Take it back to the store you got it from and tell them to warranty it. That looks like a factory defect to me, maybe an air bubble popped and split it.

 

[sk47]

I’m no tire expert, but I have corded 20+ sets of Michelins over the last few years on track (on my 350, z06, and mini.). The pictured set is from the mini from two weekends ago. Notice it goes row of cords, then rubber layer, then metal carcass that’s crosshatched. Second pic is from a z06 tire when I went through the crosshatch…. (Yeah, I took that one a bit too far.)

It appears you’re showing the top of cords (so the cords are doing their job.) If you have any extra set of rims/tires, I’d run the tire on track and check for changes after every session. If the cut gets bigger or changes in any way, then throw on one of your spare tires and continue on. If that one tire has the potential to ruin your whole track day/weekend, you’re better off replacing it with a new one for peace of mind. I can’t tell you how many students I’ve watched waste the money they paid for a track weekend by not spending a little more money on something preventable that could end their track experience early (which they knew about before hand like a brake flush with better fluid, brake pads, tires, etc)

Many will disagree with me… but fellow track rats will likely understand

Hello; At first glance I thought the outermost layer of chords were cut. I was little concerned but figured since the tire is on the back axel it was OK for other than high speed driving. I took a second look and realized I had been mistaken. The chords are not cut, merely scuffed up a bit. The tire is sound structurally. The normal sipes/threads go nearly as deep into the surface rubber.
This above post shows tires much worse that held up at track stresses and speeds. Tire is OK to use because the chords are not cut is my take.

 

[falcongtho3]

Don't be dramatic. It's not about cost. Im genuinely curious if the tire is worth keeping or not.

No, it isn't. Over 40 years in the tire business, I'd have tossed that thing out and never looked back

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