The Bridgestone Potenza RE040 is most consistently praised for dry grip, with progressive breakaway and steering feedback also receiving more praise than criticism. Road noise is the clearest drawback, criticised in over two in five reviews, while wet grip concerns appear in nearly two in five. Tread-life opinions are evenly split, so neither long nor short life is a consistent verdict. Almost every review lacks a stage of use, with only one end-of-life account, which limits conclusions about wear and retained grip. Repeat reviews include different cars and do not establish a common ageing trend.
What owners mention most counted across 38 reviews
The 040's were fitted to my vauxhall signum from new. I managed to get 29500 miles out of them - which i think is excellent. I now have toyo TR1's fitted.
The only reason I changed was because of the poor road noise. At speeds between 40 to 65 mph they rummbled constantly. They often got even worse in cold temperature, and became very annoying on long distance driving.
The dry grip is ok and in damp condition is not bad. But on large amounts of surface water, it can be exciting - when the tyres are half worn (around 3-4mm) the car often aquaplaned.
I was also cautious in snow or icy weather. My ABS often kicked in, even at very slow or light breaking.
I found them to be expensive when I priced them up too.
If your after a long lasting / hard wearing tyre then I would not hesitate to buy them. But if comfort or road noise is important then I would choose something different.
I like these tyres on this car, a lot of people don't, but i find the dry grip very good and i dont find the wet grip as bad as a lot of people say. I think part of the problem is people relay heavily on TC. I generaly drive with this off and have learnt over time what the limits are. I still need to put in more time to be fully confident at just how quick you can go around corners on these tyres. I find i can drive ther car faster and smoother in the wet with the TC OFF. it is a none issue that the TC on the 350z kicks in early. I tried Toyo T1R's as a lot of people recommend and did not find them better, i did not like the handling in corners, the car rolls on the sidewalls. with the Bridgestones you just get solid grip or a predictable slow breakaway into a controllable slide. The downside is the road noise and the hardness over bumps, but it is a sports car so, this does not bother me too much. Would not hesitate to buy again.
Check out how the BEST all seasons tyres perform against premium summer and winter tyres!
These front tyres have lasted me 3 years since I bought the car (26,000+ mls)! Drive mostly on straight 'A' roads. Good value for money/fun in the dry. Not great in the wet. Shocking in the snow, if you dare!
Which tyres do you drive?
Researching the Bridgestone Potenza RE040? Rate the tyres you actually drive - and help the next buyer choose.
Great if you live in Death Valley. Great grip in warm dry conditions.
If you ever get rain wherever you live, look elsewhere. This tyre is too compromised for general road use.
Found the tyres to be very good in the dry but when its wet and cold can just let go suddenly when accelerating before the traction control kicks in. Ride is a bit harsh due to the stiffness but you get good feeling in the steering. Stiffness was a good thing when I had to drive a couple of miles on a flat as no spare in the RX8's. Wear is ok, original tyres on the front have done 28000 miles and still have a couple of months left in them. Second set of back tyres are now worn out after only 12500
General driving style, Grip OK, feel a bit vague near the linit, front tyres destroyed after 19,000 due to tracking out by 0.5mm. Rears after 3 years old (4.5mm)failed MOT due to mis-shape (both). Replaced with goodyears would not buy these Bridgestones again ever!
I bought my 04 plate Honda Civic type R about 7 months ago and it came with Bridgestone Potenza RE040
I was initially happy with the tyres. the weather was good everyday when i bought my car and these tyres definately perform well in the dry, they are not quick to warm up as i would say they are a medium to slightly hard compound of rubber. but generally in the dry you get lots of feedback through the steering wheel this is due to the hard walls on the tyre however having hard side walls does impact the comfort a little. When you are going round a corner a little faster than you should it does let you know that it is going to run out of grip slowly rather than just letting go of the road. It all unfortunately falls apart in the wet, I would describe these tyres as summer tyres really as in the wet an cold they dont perform. when ever i applied a lot of power in gears 1 an 2 i just got a large amount of wheel spin an didnt make too much progress. These tyres did put up with quite a bit of abuse and I do think they wear quite well so they are good for economy. Following a little research I have since put Bridgestone Potenza RE050A on my car which are a softer compund of rubber so I will expect them to wear a little quicker, as I was told by Event tyre's an although it is a little early to tell i would say they are an improvement gripwise. Event tyres were the company i choose to fit my tyres, the guy came to my house with all the kit in his van, he was very friendly and very good at what he does, I would recommend them.
Second type R bought ten tyres so far, set of 4 ?365 fitted. Excellent grip dry & good wet, get about 8000m fronts 18000m rears could be better. For price/grip would recommend.
i find the 040s to last fairly well ( 9k rears ), very noisey, a tad slippery in the wet and cold, but!
i find i can drive very quickly in the dry with great feedback, positive response and directness, very progressive grip to slide with no surprises, stiff sidewall gives a harsh sporty ride
when it rains or is cold i drive slower or leave tc on and have no shocks or a*** clenching moments.
i know more wet grip can be achieved from other tyres but all of them have softer sidewalls and hence less positive steering and more lateral movement.
I got my TT with bridgestone re040s all round. Can't say I've been overly impressed with the re040, the eagle f1's I replaced them with are grippier in the dry and FAR better in the wet.
Good level of steering feel through these tires though, probably why they're quite noisy!!
