Bridgestone Potenza RE970AS Pole Position - Review and Impressions

[Alstann]

I just got my new tires mounted today and I wanted to give you guys some feedback on them. I debated between the Potenza S-04 PP and these Potenza RE970AS PP (I know, totally different tire), and since I drive many many miles a day and I don't want to be dropping another 1000 or so dollars on tires again soon, I picked up the RE970AS.

These are an all season tire which, on Tire Rack, ranks #1 in the Ultra High Performance All Season category. I ordered a set of 4 tires, with the fronts being 255/40/R19, and the rears being 295/30/19. Basically, the Nismo tires, plus sized. The tires i had before these were the stock RE050A's, 245/40/R19 and 275/35/R19 f/r, respectively.

Initial Review:

Driving off the shop floor, and onto the road, the first thing I noticed was way less tire drone and roar. I could easily hear myself talk at a normal to almost whisper on the street, and even on the highway. Of course, there still is road noise, due to the fact our cars have a bare trunk and no sound deadening.

Grip wise, straight line grip is awesome. Soft launching the car, and slamming my way through 2 and 3, it was a class act. 1st gear hooked hard and true, with no shimmy or hint of grip loss, and slamming into 2nd resulted in a tiny chirp, and then straight back to rocket-like acceleration. Simply flooring the car in 1st throws you back in your seat as you roar to redline. I haven't attempted a standing drag start yet, due to waiting for the casing mold lubricant to wear off more naturally. I would imagine these tires will rock your world off the line.

The sidewalls are noticeably softer than the RE050A's. Snapping the wheel left and right for a rapid lane change at street speeds is slower to respond than the stocks were. The stock tires made the car feel like it was on rails. These RE970AS' are not like that. There is plenty of ultimate grip, but the soft sidewalls result in a mushy feeling, probably like the Ventus V12s. At highway speeds, this makes the car unsettled, during rapid manouvers, but it's definitely livable, and something to get used to. If you are spoiled with max performance summer tires, you will notice. But, that being said, once the car settles in a turn, the tire digs in and holds to the road. I experienced some slight understeer through a few turns, but I attribute that to the tires only having 4 miles on them.

Ride comfort, just like the noise level, is improved. The tires absorb bumps much nicer, and rough sections of road are way more tolerable. It will make journeys much more comfy, that's for sure.

There was also no standing water or rain, so I'll have to report back on that. I personally felt the RE050A's had terrible hyrdoplaning resistance and lackluster wet grip.

Honestly, if there was a perfect world, there would be a perfect tire, that combined long tread life, ride comfort, good traction, and steering response. Of course, you have to have a compromise. From my initial feeling, these tires do their job very well - good traction, ride comfort, and hopefully long tread life. If you really are looking to attack the corners like Lewis Hamiliton, and money / tread life isn't an issue, I would step up to max summer tires or the forum favorite RE-11's.

On the note of price: I paid nearly 1300 for these tires, shipped, installed, and road hazard warrantied. This is definitely not a cheap price, but you make up for it with a 40k mile warranty, and what I would say is pretty good performance, considering the tire is an all season tire.

After more driving and time on the tires, I'll update the thread and whatnot.

[Alstann]

Reserved for updating.

[RUFFSTUFF]

Resurrection! I am currently making the same decision now, and leaning towards the 970AS. Thanks for the review. Though the pricing seems to be far more reasonable now, $950 installed with road hazard warranty, etc. for the 970AS and nearly $100 cheaper for the S-04. Throw in some rebates from Tires Plus until the end of the month and it only gets cheaper.

Thanks again!

[roy'sz]

I have the re760's which are a 340 grade tire. Yours are a 400 which would explain the lack of response with quick lane changing, however you should take into consideration road conditions and if your tires are warmed up as well. I have 35k on my fronts and about 20 on my 2nd set of rears since I liked playin and drifting off the rears. I am extremely happy to hear that the road noise has ceased down with these specific tires. Im sub'd for some longterm results. I was hoping to get the falken 452 but it looks like they discontinued them in our sizes. good luck with the new ones and scrub some of that coating off!

[RUFFSTUFF]

Originally Posted by roy'sz

I have the re760's which are a 340 grade tire. Yours are a 400 which would explain the lack of response with quick lane changing...

That's just the UTQG treadwear rating and has nothing (directly) to do with a tires performance other than a tire with very good traction should wear quicker, as expected, and vice versa. A 340 rating means that the tire will wear 3.4x less than the control tire on the 7200 mile test for rating. A 400 rating would be 4x. Since it is not truly a standardized test, the margin of error could easily be large enough that a 340 tire and 400 tire would wear the same.

[roy'sz]

Being that it is the same manufacturer it does matter since they hold the same standards from one of their tires to the next. It does directly have to due with performance because of the COMPOUND HARDNESS of the tread. Higher utqg the harder tire compound, lower utqg the softer the tire.

[RUFFSTUFF]

Originally Posted by roy'sz

Being that it is the same manufacturer it does matter since they hold the same standards from one of their tires to the next.

You can believe that if you like, but I guarantee you will find nothing in writing to support that idea.

Originally Posted by roy'sz

It does directly have to due with performance because of the COMPOUND HARDNESS of the tread. Higher utqg the harder tire compound, lower utqg the softer the tire.

Yes, it would be a fair assumption to say a tire with a UTQG treadwear rating of 180 is softer than one with a 400, but with the current complexity of tire construction when the treadwear rating is significantly closer (say 360 vs 400), the difference may be due to reasons other than a simple compound difference. It might be the case if, for example, you could get the 970AS Pole Position in 180, 240, 360 or 400 UTQG ratings. Something like Super Soft, Soft, Medium, and Hard compounds. That is not the case though.