Another tire replacement candidate - Bridgestone Potenza S-04 Pole Position
 

I just thought I'd share my thoughts on the new tires I put on my 2009 370Z Sport/Touring - the Bridgestone S-04 Pole Position. I managed to get 26,650 miles out of the factory RE050s and it was time for baby to get new shoes!

I considered the Michelin PSS (pretty expensive, great performance numbers but probably not very good treadlife), Continental DW (inexpensive, but I was questioning the grip these would have), Bridgestone RE11s (also fairly expensive and probably not very good treadlife), Bridgestone RE760 (least expensive, but probably not as good performance as the S-04), and the Bridgestone S-04.

I settled on the S-04 because of their good performance for street use, lower price, and other folks' positive reviews. I don't track the car, so the more extreme performance advantages that the PSS and RE11s offer really wouldn't be of use to me (especially considering their price). I did want good grip (since I do drive the car aggressively at times), better treadlife, and a bit better price (approx. $1,200+ balanced, mounted, and including CA's f'd up sales tax and environmental fees), so the S-04 really seemed to fit the bill.

I gotta' say, I'm lovin' 'em - I like them way better than the factory RE050s! Turning the factory RE050 front wheels side-to-side always felt "heavy" to me, the S-04s feel just right. Interior road noise is definitely less. And that dreaded "crunch" noise that I (and others) got when turning sharp left/right at low speed is gone (the S-04s probably have stiffer sidewalls).

In short, if you don't track your Z and want a set of relatively inexpensive but high performance street tires that should give you good treadwear, you should definitely give the S-04 Pole Positions consideration.

I agree. I just put a set of these on my Z today. Awesome! I know they are new and still have to run in some, but these are light years better than the stock tires.

Absolutely agree! They're great tires for the price, good wear factor, and very quiet. My ex had a 600SL and I put them on her car. Couldn't believe the difference.

Now, the bad. It's not really a performance tire. If you're looking at the tire wear factor, you're not looking for a performance tire. If you're concerned about tire wear, but Michelin. I love the Invo's. Sure, I only get 6K miles out of them, but I don't care.

It all depends on what you want. Performance or tread life.

i run S04's on my G. very good tires.

A friend of mine runs the 04's and loves them.
I am extremely happy with my Nankang NS2 's for $155 each. Much better than the stock 050's

Sure it is - it's just not an "extreme" performance tire for use at the track. IMO.

may i know the s-04 high speed difference with the oem tires?

also, their difference in the wet conditions?

They are quieter on the street than Oem.. And grip tons better in the wet. The water channels are huge so I've felt a noticeable difference in the wet.

What sizes did you go with?

these are dirt cheap right now because Bridgestone is trying to make up sales since the RE-11s aren't available right now (undergoing a revision)

i put a set on the back of my nismo. 285/35/19 and love them so far. once my front falkens are toast ill even out the set and get some for the front. this is the 4th or 5th different back tire ive run, and these have massive rim protectors. (ie the extra rubber that extends over the rim in case of a blow out) ive never seen another tire with such meaty side walls too.

Just bought a set of RE-11's yesterday 245/40 f 285/35 r for less than $1200. I've heard the S-04's are a better DD tire than stock though. For those interested in RE-11, just gotta call TireRack, or go to your local Firestone dealer and they even price-match Costco's prices.

that's good to hear :tup:

I just had these installed a couple of weeks ago and there is a significant decrease in road noise. The handling is outstanding for non R tire. I got mine in 265 f and 305 r. They look and handle great for a DD!

i was actually looking for another cheaper alternative and didn't notice the S-04 before on tirerack when looking at Survey Results. for $20 more per tire than the V12's at $227, i couldn't believe this tire isn't blowing all over the forums. i replaced the stock tires with v12's reluctantly mainly due to the poor Steering Response rating on them, and did end up regretting them despite a number of people telling me they are great tires.

i wanted to ask where did you hear the info on the s-04 price drop due to re-11's being short in supply? why the s-04 specifically? i noticed the other bridgestones are the same price, like our oem's. going by what someone else said in the forum, he paid $1350 shipped for a set which is pretty much around $330 a pop. On tirerack right now, it's down to $227 from $262. very surprising they would drop ~$100 on a tire that's rated so high on tirerack.

That was a while ago... there were apparently a bunch of rumors regarding the re-11 and re-11a revisions. I'm not really sure what's true or not about them anymore. However, what is true, is that these S-04s appear to be a great bargain right now. I have no idea how long it'll last nor the reason behind it.

i noticed on tirerack that the re-11's are not available still in our stock sizes, and the re-11a's are only available in 10 different sizes. wonder what's going on with bridgestone...

I just ordered a set in 255/285 to go on some new wheels. Decided against the RE11 due to their uncertainty at the moment. With the price of the S04 vs the PSS right now I decided to try them. They will be tracked this October so will see how well they perform. Hope they are up to the task.

This is the latest thread I saw

http://www.the370z.com/wheels-tires/...ed-re-11a.html

Yea I asked the question in there as well as asking TireRack. Seems Bridgestone will not announce the fate of the RE11 in 19s. Since no plans of bringing the RE11a in that size one would think the RE11 will remain instead of them taking an exit in the extreme performance tire class for 19s. I didn't want to buy a set and not be able to get new rears next year and have to replace the whole set.

These are on sale on TireRack now for 858.

My car only has 1500 miles but would love a quieter version for DD around Los Angeles.

Should I just get these...or continue my research. I never track...and would have the OEM (if I don't sell them).

Wish I could of waited thats a good deal. In the sizes I got it was $1050 at the end of last month. I haven't put many miles on them as I just mounted the wheels this past Saturday. They are definitely quieter than OEM and ride smooth. For the money I don't think you can beat them unless you want to shell out more dollars for the Michelin Pilot Super Sports that are top of this class.

If you have money to burn and just can't stand the OEM tires any longer jump on this deal. If it were me I would wait until at least the rears needed replacing. For me it was only 8k miles but I beat on them pretty bad. Shouldn't take too much longer daily driving it and taking a few road trips in the Z.

I just love a nicely reviewed tire at a great price - even if i don't put them on immediately. In LA - we run thru tires quickly so tread life is less of an issue. I wish I had a higher average mile per hour than 12!!

wow, that's a super deal. when i got my S04 set last year for my G, i paid $1150 for the tires and another 60 or so for mount & balance.

Discount tire said Bridgestones are discontinuing both the Re-11 and S-04 in size 285/35/R19 ...
Do you guys know if this is true?
I was going to get the S-04, But worry that I cannot buy replacement in case I want to replace the rear ones only.

Thanks,
Alan

Just had these installed today - but only drove 1.2 miles home. Maybe tomorrow I'll notice a difference on my errands.

:)

BTW - I was going to go with 285 over the 275 - as the specs on the 275 04's compared to the stocks show a decrease in tread width by a full inch - 10.2 vs 9.2. Not sure if that is correct or a typo on the TireRack site.

But they had none in stock. So it was 275's....MUCH quieter/smoother so far.

I think I might give these a shot.... Anyone know what size I would need,

My rims are 19x 9.5 and 19x 10.5.... I was thinking 305 for the rear any thoughts?:tiphat:

Just my two cents: not sure what the price difference is but I have been running the re 760 sports on the front for about 3months now. absolutely love these as a street tire. Can't imagine you would need to spend anymore than whatever I paid for the 760's for daily street driving. I swap to Rs3's for track days so I can tell you they are definitely not in that category in terms of grip, but for hitting on ramps and having some fun in the corners the re-760s are a super fun tire.

I have 19x9.5 and 19x11 and I am running 255/285 on mine. You could certainly put on the 305 if you want the meaty look. I just didn't want the extra weight and 285 is plenty of tire for this car.

actually this was not last year, but 2yrs ago in 2011... time flies.

i have 5/32 left. :icon17: not much increase in road noise. :tup: and still rides/grips like a champ.

Good to know. I love mine already. Wish I would have gone a bit larger...but hey, it's sill perfectly perfect.

Bridgeston/Michelin
 

I went back & forth on these two tires finally deciding of the Super Sports just to see how different or better they actually were. Well they are a great tire, I got 21,500 out of the OEMs with the rear out of alighn a bit. The lastest tire comparison I read still had the SSs in first but the Potenza's slipped to third because of a softer sidewall and they gave second to Yocahoma.

mounted s-04 285/35-19 in the rear 2 weeks ago. pretty content with them as they provide more grip than the stock re050a and v12's. i used to be able to drift a turn by laying down the gas, but now i have to pop the clutch to do so with these tires.

suspension is stock except for 25mm spacers all around. this is the first time im going with 285's and i noticed that the outer big tread block doesn't actually make contact with the road unless you're cornering hard or drifting. im guesstimating that in a straight line, there's roughly only 225-245mm tread making contact. the tread grooves are pretty wide on this tire, but that lends to its great wet performance rating

Just installed a set two weeks ago. Tires are much significantly quieter then the RE050 stock tires on the Sports Package for 2012. We had lots of tread left on the fronts at 18500 miles. Rears tires were shot! I decided to just change all 4. Very happy with tire so far. Other tire I considered was Michelin PSS

I just installed a new set this weekend...Ive always had great experiences with Bridgestone performance and driveability, not to mention the great deal I got on them.

245/40/19
275/35/19

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...psa368508d.jpg

Is the 275 really so much narrower than the RE050s? I'm content with OEM sizes but it looks like the front S-04 is wider so I would like to keep the profile similar for the tires. Trying to decide 285 or 275... OEM 19s

Pics would be great ;)

yes the s-04 does come about half an inch narrow on the tread width than the re050a. you can confirm this yourself on tirerack. although the s-04 is noticeably more grippy. my friend went to hawaii for a bit and left me his 370 that still has the stock tires on it. the thing has no problem drifting or breaking traction when i'm driving it, whereas i have to consciously try to force the s04's to break traction.

there's hardly any difference with how the tires look. fyi, these are 285/35-19 and i have 25mm spacers all around so thats why it looks that way. a lil poke for that aggressive poke/flush look

You're awesome, thanks! So would you say the profile of the sidewall (when looking directly from above) on the 285 matches the front 245 in the S-04s?

ive had 2 sets of these already. i got maybe 13k outta the rears. so i switched it up abit to see if i could get more tire life outta another tire. so i replaced the rear with the re760. and i have to say. the s04pp´s are worlds better in the rain. im not even 2k into these and i wish i had the s04 back. but honestly i just got another set of new wheels and need tires. im lookin at getting the conti dw or maybe these again. i really need a better tread life.