Bridgestone Potenza S04 Pole Position Tire Review

[johncy2000]

If you are in the market for some tires and you have as much power as a Z or G, you might want to read this.

After months of researching for what tires to get for the Z, I finally decided to pull the trigger on some Bridgestone Potenza S04 Pole Position's. Coming from Advan Sports, I doubted that the S04 was not as capable as the Advans because the wear characteristics were 180 for the Advans and 280 for the S04s.

The Advans were great tires and I pushed them to 25k miles before I had to replace them due to camber wear. The only thing is that these tires are about $450-$500 a piece!
In my opinion not worth buying again although it was good.

The Bridgestone S04 Pole Position really caught my eye when I was looking at pricing. They were $500 cheaper than Michelin Pilot Super Sports which is in the same class as the S04. (Max Performance Summer Tire) It was a deal I could not refuse.
Upon installing these Bridgestones, I was very surprised how much more balanced and planted the car felt. Maybe it's the 20mm wider tires I'm running now. Lol but I tried to break them loose near the limit and they just gripped for days!

Here are the specs:
S04 Pole Position
280 AA A

Advan Sport
180 AA A

Stock Nismo 370Z tire sizes are:
245/40/19 27.4" Diameter
285/35/19. 27.4 Diameter
I upgraded to:
265/35/19. 26.3"Diameter
305/30/19. 26.3" Diameter

About an inch lower all around.

I have just over 800 miles on these tires so the outer casing of the tires need to burn off a little more. It drives better every day!

These tires are priced in the Hankook V12 range but have more direct feel to them than the V12s. The sidewalls on the S04 are a little stiffer than the Hankooks. I had V12s on my old Benz and it was great riding. The only thing is that you could feel the sidewalls folding over under heavy cornering. Hankooks are more of a Grand Touring tire you can take to the track and ride home in comfort.
Since the Bridgestones have a stiffer sidewall, they are a little noiser than V12s.

All in all, I think I made a great call on these tires. Michelin performance for Hankook pricing you can't go wrong with that! The Bridgestone Potenza S04 Pole Position FTW!!

[NORAIN]

Nice review, these are going to be my next tires, same size as you. Everything I've read about S-04's has been good.

[P's_Z]

Thanks for the review

[DEpointfive0]

Why is there miles written next to the tires?
There's no correlation between tread wear rating and miles you should be able to go. And you can't compare tread wear ratings from one manufacturer to another

[MacLean]

Originally Posted by DEpointfive0

Why is there miles written next to the tires?
There's no correlation between tread wear rating and miles you should be able to go. And you can't compare tread wear ratings from one manufacturer to another

[ParkStr8]

I put these on almost immediately after buying my roadster...and then switching to Nismo rims. Made all the difference in the world - especially ride quality and noise. Which in the roadster is an issue.

I kept stock size - but should have gone up. I got a great deal...all 4 for around 900 if I remember correctly.

[Boss_302]

I agree that no correlation between tread wear rating and miles you should be able to go.
That depends upon how well your alignment stays and is set. BUT the wear rating gives you a rough idea on how hard or soft the tire compound is.

[falconfixer]

I just put these one a couple weeks ago but haven't put many miles on due to the snow/car being parked. I agree, you can't beat the price of these tires and a lot of other folks seemed to be happy with them.

[fuct]

i still like my set!

[kenchan]

if you guys are planning to get the S04's, get 285/35/19 vs the 275/35/19 for the rear.

for some odd reason (probably for them dumbarse scretch crowd) the 275/35/19 are quite a bit narrower than the RE050A 275/35/19. the 285/35/19 on the otherhand, is not so narrow.

i speak from experience. S04's are great tires.

[Joepro]

I had these on mine, once they were wore out(7k on rear btw but I drive hard all the time) I went for PSS because of all the hype, THE S-04 IS A BETTER TIRE, I don't care what motortrend or tirerack or whoever says...I liked the s-04, if I wasnt going to be boosted soon I would buy them again in a heartbeat, but I do not think they will hold boost, going possibly to re-11 or ad08r or 888r.

[kenchan]

yah, i dont know about you guys, but i really like sidewalls that look good. S04's definitely look good.

PSS & DW is kinda meh as far as sidewall appearance goes.

[BlkNismo]

anyone have pictures of dw installed?

I am now leaning towards these to replace the advans.

[Hotrodz]

I have the same setup as the OP and going on about 4,000 miles. They have held up well. The last 1,500 miles I have been boosted and they are not bad. From what I can tell from those that are boosted you are not going to get much real traction on any set of tires after about 5,000 miles if you like to burn rubber. IMHO I think if you are going to DD boosted, it's not worth the extra cash for an R rated tire. I can replace a lot of SO4s at a minimum of $100 less per tire, especially if I'm only replacing the rears mostly.

[johncy2000]

I present to you the Bridgestone S04 Pole Position: