Experience with Bridgestone Potenza RE-01R? (need new tires for the Honda)
 

Anyone with experience using Bridgestone Potenza RE-01R tires? I'm comparing this tire to the RE-040 and 050 on tirerack here. The 01R has more glowing consumer reviews than the other two, and it also happens to have a better treadwear rating, while [seemingly] it provides better grip/handling. The three tires are within $4 of each other.

I've had the 040 and 050 in the past, and wouldn't hesitate to buy either again. And don't really have any reason to be cautious about the 01R. But would like to see if anyone has any comments or other suggestions.

Why don't you go with sth you know you like? I, personally, prefer PS2's to re040's. Have not tried re050's (other than on brief test drives).

The RE 01R is not in any way a similar tire to either the 040 or 050. It's a competition tire primarily made for autocrossing in the SCCA's Street Touring classes. It's main competition is the Yokohama Advan Neova and Falken's Azenis RT-615.

They are a great tire for competition use in the ST* classes. I have no idea how they work as actual street tires. My guess is that they will be a bit loud (especially after getting a bit worn), and their wet traction will decline quite rapidly in short order.

See the wisdom of asking here... Driving around on a comp tire? That'd be a disaster. I had never heard of that tire, I just thought it was another in bridgestone's endless series re040, re050's.

Whatever tire I choose, it needs to provide good water evacuation and traction all the way through its life, as our rain storms tend to drop a lot of water in a very short amount of time. So it sounds like the 01R isn't going to be an ideal tire. And the Honda is loud enough on its own with all-season tires, so the last thing I need is more tire noise.

Thanks for the heads up, clyde. I think that I'll chose between the 040 and 050...

I'm surprised it has even close to equivalent tread wear ratings. :dunno:

Street tire requirement.

FWIW, I HIGHLY recommend the Yoko Advan for street use. It's a hair slower than the RE-01R, but quiet, rides well, and has good wet performance.

For ST next year, it'll be interesting to see what the tire of choice is. EVERYONE is release a new 140 treadwear tire that's more an R-comp than anything else.

How are they as far as even tread wear? The reason I like the Bridgestones is because they wear so nicely. Doesn't matter if you're at 20 miles, or 20K miles, they still feel smooth and evenly worn.

Mine were used for about 6,000 miles before I sold the wheels they were on. In that time, they endured at least 100 autocross runs, and abusive alignment geometry. The fronts were showing some inside edge wear (4.5 degrees of negative camber and toe out will do that), but the rears were in good shape.

They had over half the tread remaining (about 60%) at that point, too, which was damned impressive.

The one warning is that they run WAY wide.

Not that you have to worry about it that often in FL, but my Azenis lose significant gripability when the temp drops below about 40.

Alex