Bridgestone Potenza

[Lynn]

Not restoration related, just technical.

Anyone driving a sports sedan on these tires?

Potenza RE760 Sport

I have read the reviews on tirerack.com, and they are mixed.
These are for my vintage BMW, 1983 745i turbo. Lowered with stiff springs and Bilstein HD struts.

My preferred tire is Michelin Pilots, but they are not available in the two sizes I want to use, 235 45 17 and 265 40 17.

Thanks for any input.

[Zman1969]

Lynn I worked for Bridgestone/Firestone for 8 years and I bought few Bridgestones mostly Firestones I left right before the Recall hit (good timing I might add) anyway I believe they would make you happy. Its all about the compounds and the casing, they wont last forever but how much do you drive it? I'd say put them on and enjoy em


FWIW I think tires in general perform better than we would say, just look at the environment thy operate in HEAT (here in TX esp)road conditions- wet dry poor pavement ect. I have always preferred name brand Vs. no name made in China? what kind of R+D do they do? tires alweays get a bad rap when they fail but look at all the stuff they runover! I have been amazed in the 20 years in the tire business (almost 13 with GY too)what stuff gets stuck in them - you get what you pay for -good tires are good money

[PeteLeathersac]

I just pulled the original Dunlops off the Wankel car @ 40,000 miles and put fresh Michelin Pilot Sport 225/45/18's on the front and Conti Sport Contacts 235/45/18's @ the rear.
I've had the Michelin Pilot Sports before and they're my fav' too, the Conti's are too sticky for me personally as even w/ traction control shut off inhibits smooth sideways driving.
Unless a cheap set needed to sell a car, the China tires aren't worth fooling with and I wouldn't trust them driving aggressively...especially at high speeds!
Buying good brand name tires is $ well spent also it's surprising what inexpensive deals can found if you take the time to search around.

[img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/beers.gif[/img]
~ Pete

[ZLP955]

Not the same tire, but several new cars I bought in the last 10 years (GM Holden) came from the factory with Bridgestone RE050 in 235/45/17 and they were excellent, very grippy wet or dry and lasted very well, as long as you rotate corners at every service. Although that particular model is now discontinued, I still put Bridgestone on my daily driver.

[Lynn]

Thanks for the input. My wheels are supposed to be ready on Mon. so I pulled the trigger on the Potenzas this afternoon. Sometimes you just need some input from trusted friends.

I drive the car more than you might expect. It is kind of my &quot;go to&quot; driver with over 307,000 on the clock. However, I am considering changing over to a classic policy because of some of the stupid money I spent on it in the last year (new dash, $1500 frikkin dollars, upgraded the turbo system and aftermarket engine management that isn't even installed yet). That doesn't even address all the NORMAL maintenance items one runs into on a high mileage car. I am sure, if the car was hit, an adverse party insurer would try to pay somewhere around $2500 MAX. I couldn't pay someone to build it the way I have it for $25k, maybe not $35k. I converted to a stick shift back in the 90's (these cars were only available with autos). Even with classic car insurance, I can drive up to 6,000 miles per year, and probably will.

Anyway, wheels are 17x8.25 in front and 17x9.5 in rear and going with 235 45 17 fronts and 265 40 17 rears. That is absolutely the most tire I can fit in the unmodified wheel wells of this 31 year old car. That gets me about the same height, front and rear so it doesn't meas with my antilock brakes. That's right, this 1983 model has antilock brakes, even before Ferrari was using them.

[Zman1969]

Lynn please comeback after you've driven them and advise of your thoughts
Its a damn shame we cant get any good 14 or 15&quot; &quot;performance&quot; tires when I used to work for Goodyear they made Wingfoot and then changed to Eagle NCT's? and I loved them! I still have a NOS pr of 255/60/15's (still have the tiddies on them)but one started to split [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/frown.gif[/img] and I didnt want to risk on my car- tires are alot cheaper than NOS sheetmetal