Bridgestone Potenza S001 Reviews - Page 4

Given 84% while driving a Subaru Legacy 2.0GT Spec B (215/45 R18 W) on mostly country roads for 17,500 spirited miles
These were already fitted to my fresh import in 2018 and while I find most tires aren't worth writing about, these were eye widening. Best performance tires I've ever had, with pin sharp turn-in and what seemed like unlimited grip in both dry and wet, summer or winter. Gave me the confidence to push-on down UK back roads in all weathers. Main down side was the very firm ride, feeling every irregularity in the road. Subaru recommends relatively low tires pressures, especially on the rear and I believe this contributed to bold shoulders at 17,500 miles, so I now run an extra 2psi. These are no longer available in my tire size and so I've switched to the older RE050A, which actually seem a better compromise for a performance family estate, with a more compliant ride, while retaining most of the performance. Just waiting to see how they wear.
Helpful 29 - tire reviewed on December 6, 2020
Given 74% while driving a Honda Civic Type R (225/45 R17 W) on a combination of roads for 0 spirited miles
Is a hard overall tire. Very good grip on the dry but need much time to warm. Very good handline, the steering well obeys immediately. So, hard tire = hard to wear. Three years with sporty driving on dry contitions, over than 40k kilometers and still alive. Wet grip it's not the best point of this tire. Looks nice till 120km/h but don't pushing more than 120 on wet contitions. About comfort. No, the point of this tire also isn't the comfortable. Very noisy on good roads, and very shaking on bumpy road.Yes i am very hapy about this tire for my personal use and i will buy it again
Helpful 27 - tire reviewed on September 29, 2020
Given 83% while driving a BMW F30 320D (225/40 R19) on mostly motorways for 80,000 average miles
A good dry performer. Average web performance Front installation lasted more than 80000miles RFT tires were too stiff and produced a bumpy ride especially with 19"
Helpful 28 - tire reviewed on September 28, 2020
Look after your tires, check out our favourite tire inflation tools!
SEAT (225/40 R18 W) on a combination of roads for 24,000 spirited miles
CONS: Not great at dry braking (pretty similar to wet). Pretty uncomfortable on rough roads. Not good at dry maximum acceleration. ESP goes wild in almost any occasion: - 1st, 2nd gear accelerations uphill are very hard with and without ESP... Tires keep losing grip constantly. - Cornering uphill at 15% in 3rd gear doesn't put 100% of the power by keeping loosing grip on the outer wheel. Wet acceleration under any condition creates wheelspin, on 4th gear also, if the asphalt is irregular (chassi and suspension are alright, but the tires feel like plastic). Hard braking on 100+MPH speeds is very unstable. Overly dangerous feel on hydroplaning. PROS: Very good at dry and wet cornering. Going around roundabouts is pretty exciting (tires loose grip but point the car really good) Superior braking than acceleration capabilities provide a very satisfying and playful experience on mountain roads. Almost non existing noise/squeal while cornering at high speeds. Overall look: Very rough and uncomfortable with a bit harsh noise, but they sure make the car fun to drive. Wouldn't get them again for daily use, but if i ever consider having different wheel sets (17 inches for daily and long trips), these would probably be my choice for slick feeling tires. OBS: These are the factory tires, so I can't actually make a proper comparison or evaluation, but have driven similar cars with many different tires as a reference.
Helpful 27 - tire reviewed on August 3, 2020
Given 74% while driving a BMW 125D (245/35 R18 W) on a combination of roads for 32,320 spirited miles
I have also got a pair of 225/40/18’s on the front. These tires get a lot of stick. They are runflats and with any run flat they are going to be a tad noisy. These tires have been on the car since new and covered 32k miles with 2-2-3mm of tread left (lot of motorway miles). Dry grip fantastic on a decent surface. If you go over bumps and the likes especially at speed you will have your back tested. Pot holes will give you a scare too. They are runflats though and all runflats I have owned over the years have the same comfort level. (I haven’t tried the driveguard ones yet as they only have specific sizes). In the right conditions though they are fantastic if your messing with 200bhp plus. On a dry day I wouldn’t hesitate to launch the car around a tight bend at speed as these things stick to the road well. These tires are 3 years old too and no puncture issues or damage. I have a new set going on the car next week.
Helpful 27 - tire reviewed on June 6, 2020
Given 60% while driving a Mitsubishi Attrage GS (185/55 R15 V) on a combination of roads for 0 spirited miles
Lasted 50 Loud Bad wet grip
Helpful 29 - tire reviewed on June 5, 2020
Given 43% while driving a SEAT Leon SC FR 1.4 TSI (225/40 R18 W) on a combination of roads for 20 easy going miles
Feels like running on plastic tires. You check and double check the air pressure, maybe you overinflated them. :( No comfort, low grip on dry,with 150 hp you lose grip on accelation, on mountain curves is lacking confidence by not showing you the amount of grip you have and on wet..... Ohhhh...on wet you have to be very carefull. Extra carefull. Zero grip. After one season i see know small cracks on it. And i don't drive sporty. They are noisy. More noisy then the winter tires i had this winter. It sucks. I bought the car with those tires. I would not pay a penny on them if i have a choice
Helpful 29 - tire reviewed on May 26, 2020
Given 34% while driving a Volkswagen Golf 7 GTI PP DSG (225/45 R18) on mostly country roads for 500 spirited miles
These tires were already on my MK7 Golf GTI which has around 320bhp thanks to a few upgrades, but these tires are not capable of handling the increased power. Straight-line acceleration in any gear up to 3rd and sometimes even 4th causes the traction control light to come on and taking dry corners I would usually do at 60mph in my much slower Scirocco causes a lot of squeal on these tires at a tame 50mph in the Golf. These tires are also incredibly loud. Considering my Scirocco before (workhorse) had a mix of budget tires on it including some Avons which cracked within 12 months of having them and I thought they were noisy, I was looking forward to a quieter, more luxurious drive on these premium tires in the Golf, but unfortunately I've been quite disappointed. The tires are just too hard for fast road use, and are not a good solution for putting the power down on a mapped GTI, though I'm sure as a result the mileage would be great. Unfortunately I'm not getting on with them so will be changing to something grippier when I change wheels in the next few weeks.
Helpful 28 - tire reviewed on May 20, 2020
Given 73% while driving a Honda Civic 1.8 VTEC Sport (225/45 R17 W) on mostly country roads for 30,000 average miles
Fine on wet & dry not normally pushed car @max despite available 170bhp.. v. grippy in dry when car was occasionally pushed hard into corners. Got 45000km on 4 good wear on awful roads in West of Ireland...noisy..definitely transmit bumps etc through may not be best choice if you travel>60% on country roads ...excellent on motorways
Helpful 36 - tire reviewed on January 30, 2020
Given 37% while driving a BMW 218d Active Tourer (255/35 R19 W) on mostly motorways for 2,000 spirited miles
Overpriced, not even close in performance as the price of them suggests.

Wet grip is appalling. Tire noise is horrific, fuel economy is worse from my previous set of dunlops.

Steering wheel feedback is good, and I like how they have a lip and sit proud of the edge of the alloy giving slight protection. but I dont trust them one bit and no longer trust my car because of it. Very unpredictable handling when pushed. My BMW is xdrive and now struggles for grip off the line as the dunlops didnt.

Recommended by a BMW specialist over the dunlops when I had them fitted, would never listen to BMW again, will never buy again and will never recommend to anyone. Plenty of tires out there that are better for the money.

Worst 800 pound I ever spent.

Very disappointed Bridgestone!



Helpful 29 - tire reviewed on January 19, 2020
Given 50% while driving a Mazda mx 5 (205/45 R17) on mostly town for 3,000 spirited miles
These are oem tires fitted to a 2019 Mazda mx5. The car has 5000km's done, and mostly driven on city roads with the odd dual carriageway blast here and there.
My initial thoughts were that they felt like a hard compound tire. The rear wheels have lost traction when conditions were damp under mild acceleration numerous times. Traction control has kicked in a lot during wet weather. Car has skidded out sideways (a little) on many occasions, but not enough to cause serious concern, however its enough to warrant removal of tires.
On occasions where I've had to accelerate hard from a standstill these tires spun in wet and damp conditions,
But they managed to grip ok whilst dry.

Under normal weather conditions they perform adequately but still aren't a match for the calibre of the car they are fitted to.
Ive noticed poor road feedback at speed, high noise, and theyre not very accurate in terms of road position. The response is very slow and not confidence inspiring.
At times ive felt like my car is not a sports car. I've had landsail tires on a Hyundai coupe that performed better than these potenzas.

While road conditions are poor in my country, there's no excuse to be fitting these tires as oem equipment. Combining these tires to the Irish climate, Irish roads, and finally to a tail happy rear wheel drive car is asking for trouble.

I do not recommend these tires unless you live in a warm/moderate climate and only do motorway trips.
They are not suitable for my car or it's driving environment.
I will be changing these tires asap.


Helpful 33 - tire reviewed on January 3, 2020
Given 73% while driving a Mazda MX5 2.0 SE (ND 2015 onwards) (205/45 R17 W) on a combination of roads for 12,000 miles
Regards grip these are Ok in the dry unless it's cold (15degC. If it's cooler damp wet weather, they are really slidey, and quite a hard tire. On snow, these are absolutely useless.
After a puncture, I fitted a softer (and cheaper) set of Avon-ZZ5 tires to the fronts and the confidence in grip was very noticible, especially in cooler damp weather.
For the UK winter months, these tires are very slidey on the back of my 2.0 ND MX-5. I'll replace the backs with something softer and better in the wet when they wear out ... and given how hard the compound obviously is, I may be waiting some time !
Helpful 32 - tire reviewed on December 29, 2019