Bridgestone Potenza RE050s and 006- Fixed
- Brass
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Bridgestone Potenza RE050s and 006- Fixed
Okay, both of the vehicles I've purchased in the past two years have come with Bridgestone Potenzas- the 05 Sentra had the 006 model, rating unknown (worked at 115mph, ) and my Taco XR with the RE050s, 99V rated to 149mph.
Handling- Ah, yes, the bread and butter of any performance tire. The Potenza is actually a great handling tire with front and rear wheel drive cars with its asymmetrical tread, which pushes grip to the outer edge of the wheel when nearing the limit of grip.
Ride comfort- The Potenza doesn't have much road noise (in a truck, lol, matter of opinion) to speak of except when skidding (duh) and even as a performance based tire it is pretty forgiving over rough ground. Just don't expect much from the occasional pothole because most Potenza sidewalls are low profile, making suspensions and wheels more vulnerable to damage.
Durability- Ok, the downside. My Taco came to me with 26,110 miles and the RE050's were within their last 2/32nds of an inch, with the left rear completely bald. Either the guy who owned this truck before me loved a good smokeshow or he had feet made of lead, because this tire won't stand much more than 30,000 miles. I believe it's actually rated for less than that.
My Sentra had 46K on the clock and I patched a hole in each front tire within 4 months of having it. I had to remind myself to take it easy on the "donut" they give you because it's rated to 35. What's worse, the dealer I bought it from had neglected to include the factory jack in the trunk what the hell .... I ended up replacing the entire set and went with Bridgestone Turanza RS-As which were actually very good and didn't notice that much change in grip. (Wonder why the Turanza is now standard on the base model Sentra.... )
In the Taco, within the first 3 weeks of driving I caught a huge gash in the left rear and (thankfully the XR comes with a full sized alloy spare) swapped it for the spare. My tire pressure warning light which measures for all 5 tires stayed on for two months before I went to college in August and I just replaced my four most used Potenzas for Toyo Proxes-S/T 99Vs (kept the spare Potenza) last month.
The Toyos haven't failed me yet, but they have far less grip in the wet and herringbone symmetrical tread like a Goodyear Eagle. When it's dry they grip much better than the BPs. They're kinda like a DOT legal racing slick with SOME manners lol. I'll post a review of them when it's time for a replacement.
Overall- The Potenza is an awesome track tire based on it's track record (JGTC, etc.) and corners like a roller coaster car at the limit, but in terms of durability as far as its radials go it's really a hit or miss. Hopefully the 30,000 miles you may get from them are far better than mine were.
-Brass
P.S.- 100!!!!!!!! woo.
Handling- Ah, yes, the bread and butter of any performance tire. The Potenza is actually a great handling tire with front and rear wheel drive cars with its asymmetrical tread, which pushes grip to the outer edge of the wheel when nearing the limit of grip.
Ride comfort- The Potenza doesn't have much road noise (in a truck, lol, matter of opinion) to speak of except when skidding (duh) and even as a performance based tire it is pretty forgiving over rough ground. Just don't expect much from the occasional pothole because most Potenza sidewalls are low profile, making suspensions and wheels more vulnerable to damage.
Durability- Ok, the downside. My Taco came to me with 26,110 miles and the RE050's were within their last 2/32nds of an inch, with the left rear completely bald. Either the guy who owned this truck before me loved a good smokeshow or he had feet made of lead, because this tire won't stand much more than 30,000 miles. I believe it's actually rated for less than that.
My Sentra had 46K on the clock and I patched a hole in each front tire within 4 months of having it. I had to remind myself to take it easy on the "donut" they give you because it's rated to 35. What's worse, the dealer I bought it from had neglected to include the factory jack in the trunk what the hell .... I ended up replacing the entire set and went with Bridgestone Turanza RS-As which were actually very good and didn't notice that much change in grip. (Wonder why the Turanza is now standard on the base model Sentra.... )
In the Taco, within the first 3 weeks of driving I caught a huge gash in the left rear and (thankfully the XR comes with a full sized alloy spare) swapped it for the spare. My tire pressure warning light which measures for all 5 tires stayed on for two months before I went to college in August and I just replaced my four most used Potenzas for Toyo Proxes-S/T 99Vs (kept the spare Potenza) last month.
The Toyos haven't failed me yet, but they have far less grip in the wet and herringbone symmetrical tread like a Goodyear Eagle. When it's dry they grip much better than the BPs. They're kinda like a DOT legal racing slick with SOME manners lol. I'll post a review of them when it's time for a replacement.
Overall- The Potenza is an awesome track tire based on it's track record (JGTC, etc.) and corners like a roller coaster car at the limit, but in terms of durability as far as its radials go it's really a hit or miss. Hopefully the 30,000 miles you may get from them are far better than mine were.
-Brass
P.S.- 100!!!!!!!! woo.
Last edited by Brass on Fri Jan 23, 2009 5:26 am, edited 3 times in total.
God Bless
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- Brass
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Re: Bridgestone Potenza Radial Tires
Yep. Those were on my Taco. May have been much better had I caught them earlier in life.... that's why I say it's hit or miss.
Yeah I forgot to mention that the REO5Os had symmetrical tread like my current tires. The Potenzas on my Sentra didn't.
Fork. They're 99Vs, not W. W is rated to 168! Sorry about that.
Yeah I forgot to mention that the REO5Os had symmetrical tread like my current tires. The Potenzas on my Sentra didn't.
Fork. They're 99Vs, not W. W is rated to 168! Sorry about that.
God Bless
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Re: Bridgestone Potenza Radial Tires
Had a set of unidirectional Potenzas when Costco sold Bridgestone stuff. Too bad they don't anymore. They offered much more road feel than those Michelins I have now.
- comingbackdown
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Re: Bridgestone Potenza Radial Tires
Howdy, Brass! Where ya been?
I like the tires.
Mine suck. Least bit of wet, and all you have to do is botch a launch and they spin. Good for normal (or even spirited) driving... baaaaaaaaaaaaad for launches...
I like the tires.
Mine suck. Least bit of wet, and all you have to do is botch a launch and they spin. Good for normal (or even spirited) driving... baaaaaaaaaaaaad for launches...
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Re: Bridgestone Potenza Radial Tires
i think bridgestone potenza is way too broad for a review since theres a huge amount of variation within the different potenzas. theres OE all seasons up to ultra high performance like the S-02 and S-03 Pole Position
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- Draklen
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Re: Bridgestone Potenza Radial Tires
Ash's "death rubber" are the RE92s. Those came on my car when I got it. Probably should change the title to show they are for the RE050s.
- AHTOXA
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Re: Bridgestone Potenza Radial Tires
If the tire is bad during launches, I would have a hard time believing that it does well during any kind of spirited driving.comingbackdown wrote:Howdy, Brass! Where ya been?
I like the tires.
Mine suck. Least bit of wet, and all you have to do is botch a launch and they spin. Good for normal (or even spirited) driving... baaaaaaaaaaaaad for launches...
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- theholycow
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Re: Bridgestone Potenza Radial Tires
That depends on how you define good. If you like the excitement of snow when there's no snow, they sound perfect.AHTOXA wrote:If the tire is bad during launches, I would have a hard time believing that it does well during any kind of spirited driving.comingbackdown wrote:botch a launch and they spin. Good for normal (or even spirited) driving... baaaaaaaaaaaaad for launches...
Agreed. They do the same thing with the Turanza line. Other tire companies do it too.paul34 wrote:True and that's what confused all the time, eventually it appears there are multiple Potenzas that are completely different from one another. Bridgestone needs to learn how to actually name a tire.
Eh?You don't hear Ford calling a Focus a Focus, then the Focus Deluxe is really a Taurus, then the Focus Ultra is really an F-150, etc. Different names for totally different products.
These pictures don't fully demonstrate the difference. When I saw a Taurus X on the road, I thought it was a joke and somebody had put a Taurus logo on their SUV...and I am a real stickler about not calling something an SUV unless it really is an SUV and not a wagon (for example, I refuse to call the Subaru Forrester an SUV).
Taurus X:
Taurus:
1980 Buick LeSabre 4.1L 5MT
Put your car in your sig!
Learn to launch/FAQs/lugging/misused terms: meta-sig
Put your car in your sig!
Learn to launch/FAQs/lugging/misused terms: meta-sig
watkins wrote:Humans have rear-biased AWD. Cows have 4WD
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Re: Bridgestone Potenza Radial Tires
Smart ass.theholycow wrote:That depends on how you define good. If you like the excitement of snow when there's no snow, they sound perfect.AHTOXA wrote:If the tire is bad during launches, I would have a hard time believing that it does well during any kind of spirited driving.comingbackdown wrote:botch a launch and they spin. Good for normal (or even spirited) driving... baaaaaaaaaaaaad for launches...
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- comingbackdown
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Re: Bridgestone Potenza Radial Tires
I believe it has to do with my first gear. Oh, and the fact that the bushings on the transmission mounts are dried up and slightly shrunken.AHTOXA wrote:If the tire is bad during launches, I would have a hard time believing that it does well during any kind of spirited driving.comingbackdown wrote:Howdy, Brass! Where ya been?
I like the tires.
Mine suck. Least bit of wet, and all you have to do is botch a launch and they spin. Good for normal (or even spirited) driving... baaaaaaaaaaaaad for launches...
If the ground is wet, you get spin if you're not reeeeeeeeeally careful. If the ground is dry (and sometimes on snow) you get wheel hop... I could probably use new engine and transmission mounts...
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Re: Bridgestone Potenza Radial Tires
my old tires spun sometimes into 4th gear if i launched too hard in the wet.... If you didnt put too much power down whilst cornering they were ok. you could drive hard and u would live you get what you pay for....
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- Brass
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Re: Bridgestone Potenza Radial Tires
I've been good. Just busy.
Yeah, the Toyos on my truck now grip better but in the wet they're like a race tire..... but it's what I need for the truck.
Yeah, the Toyos on my truck now grip better but in the wet they're like a race tire..... but it's what I need for the truck.
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- Brass
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Re: Bridgestone Potenza Radial Tires
yeah I was just giving a broad review for stuff the average guy can afford that's all.VTECaddict wrote:i think bridgestone potenza is way too broad for a review since theres a huge amount of variation within the different potenzas. theres OE all seasons up to ultra high performance like the S-02 and S-03 Pole Position
like OE equipment.
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