frankyluis23

How many miles can I expect from a set of Bridgestone Potenza RE050A N1 tires?

- Primarily highway driving at avg 73 mph
- Daily Driver
- 235 Fronts, 305 Rears

Currently running Hankooks Ventous V12 Evo2, which are really loud and terrible but they've lasted a long time (Maybe 25K miles) and are really cheap.

Uwon

15k rear, 30k front. Experience based on 100k mainly highway driving primarily on Michelin SS.
Johan

jeffm

Are you also considering the S0-4 Pole Position tires?

frankyluis23

I would consider the S0-4 Pole Position but they are not N-rated. At this point I am also considering the Pirelli P-Zero N2 which is actually less than the RE050A at Discount Tire.

kellen

Have S04's on my car. Great tire, would recommend. Would definitely buy again. Had REO50 prior and like these better.

Feel the MPSS were better on a different car, but very marginal and could be just the change in vehicle. When my tires need replacing will be MPSS or MP4 if available. If both aren't wouldn't hesitate to get the S04's again.

mk85911

I have RE050A on my 2011 997.2 C2. 235/40-18, 265/40-18. I'm approaching 30,000 on the fronts, but have replaced rears at about 8000 each time. I switch at about 4/32. My driving is mostly spirited back roads, but no track.

I like the tires, but I will probably switch to SO-4's next. I am concerned that if I go with re050a's again, I'm at risk of them being discontinued before I go thru the new fronts, and I would be faced with replacing good fronts in order to keep tires matched. I'm not too concerned with the N issue. I don't think it's a safety thing, but more likely related to suspension set up. Mike

Dennis C

Your alignment settings and driving style impact the longevity of your tires, so that's important to note.

jchapura

For what this data point is worth, Bridgestone S04s 305-30-19s on rear, ~18k miles, mixed but mostly highway commute miles. On driver's side tire, "cord" was starting to show through on the inner edge (I think I'll dial this (mostly) "out" with an alignment for the new tires). Fronts are in good shape.

I was using the factory recommended air pressures but I've decided to up them a little because the car seems a little "squirmy" when hitting slight-to-medium road roughness/waviness in higher speed sweepers.

Macster

Run N-rated Bridgestone tires on my 996 Turbo. I manage 20K+ miles out of the rears and double that out of the fronts. (The front actually have some tread left at 40K miles but the tires are very noisy and slick/hard from all the heat cycles. I've tried to run the front tires on my Boxster past 40K miles but the negatives outweigh the bit of extra service life.)

My usage of my Turbo is mainly highway driving -- work commute is 60 miles per day. A proper alignment is key. I've gone through a set of rear tires in around 8K miles -- worn to the belts on the inner edges -- with an improper alignment.

Might add I managed the same tire life out of Continental tires which the car came with. Ended up with Bridgestone tires when Continentals were not available.

frankyluis23

So I put in my order and scheduled my appointment (Friday) at Discount Tire. I am getting the Bridgestone S0-4 Pole Position installed all the way around. Price including install comes out to $1,062.

Unless you can convince me other, these are the tires I am getting.

mk85911

Frankyluis, please pass on your impressions of the S04's vs the RE050a's. I plan to make the same move. Mike

tomc_mets

My 997.2S came with RE050's, and I replaced them, front and back, soon after I got the car, @ roughly 30K miles. I did it mainly due to age (they were about 4 or so years old at the time), but they were also pretty worn down too. My driving is a mix of enthusiastic back roads driving, long trips and just arround town (no DDing)...T

frankyluis23

UPDATE: I decided to change my mind on the Bridgestone Potenza S-04 Pole Position. According to Porsche the front tire should have a load index of 87Y. In order to get a tire with that exact load index it would have to be an N-rated tire. The S-04 tire has a load index of 91Y. The difference between 87Y and 91Y is roughly 150 lbs per tire. Add it up and that makes 300 lbs of additional load capacity with Non N-rated tires. Because the engine is in the back, the front end of the 911 is much lighter and therefore doesn't require the additional 300 lbs of capacity. This means that the non N-rated tire is stiffer and this could effect the driving characteristics. This is also probably a reason why the ABS kicks in so quickly when braking. Because the added stiffness doesn't provide enough grip when braking.

With that said, I decided to go with the Pirelli P-Zero N2 Tires for $1267 at discount tire.

Uwon

My 997.1S came originally with P-zeros. Rears got unbearably noisy at about 7k. Replaced rears with new P-zeros. Same thing after 7k. So that is when I moved over to the Michelin SS (post #2above). Much happier ever since. If you haven't already, you should search the Renntech forum for some pretty sound discussion.
Johan

frankyluis23

I have come to terms with the idea of having noisy tires. Nothing will ever be as noisy as the Hankook Evo2. I have done plenty of research and with a proper alignment you should be getting way more than 7K miles out of a tire. You should probably get your alignment checked.