Bridgestone Potenza RE050A

I did 57,000 KM (35,500 miles) on a set of these tyres before they were due to be replaced. My car is a heavy car (nearly 2 tonnes) and was advised to expect 20,000 to 25,000 KM from them. At 30,000 KM they were still going strong. I had them rotated and balanced every 5,000 KM since day 1 which i think made a huge difference to their longevity. Tyre pressure was a constant 37psi for the whole of this time and the tyres were filled with nitrogen gas from day 1.
These tyres did the job. Not the best I have ever had, but with a bit of care they were made to work. The car is capable to doing 0 to 100 KPH (60 MPH) in 5.2 seconds and i did not always take it easy with the driving.
Tyre wear was even on all 4 wheels.

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This was the WORST tire i have ever experienced in one of my cars! A BMW 5 series in 245/40r18 RFT If you never had better tires you may think it is good in dry, but no it isn't. In mildly wet surfaces it's MURDEROUS to say the least! I have driven cars with chinese tires that had more longitudinal and lateral grip than this tires!!! In comparison to other "medium/cheap" tires like Michelin PS3 or PS4, ContiSportContacts and Goodyear F1s, it's a ridiculously BAD tire. NEVER again

The car came as a fresh import with four Bridgestone Potenza S001, for which I'll leave a separate review. However, for the purposes of comparison, I would say they had the sharpest turn-in of any tyre I've ever driven, very "sporty" and with excellent grip in both the dry & wet, although all at the exense of comfort, with a very "crashy" ride. Unfortunately, the S001 were no longer available in my slightly unusual tyre size and so I plumped for the older RE050A, which seemed a bit of a retrograde step, given the RE050A was launched in 2004 and replaced by the S001 in 2011. I'd also heard it performed better in hotter climates. Nevertheless, the S001 were so good and these RE050A would have been the OEM fitment on my Subaru, when the car was built in 2006. I needn't have worried, turn-in isn't quite as sharp, but it is still very good, with excellent dry (and more importantly) wet grip, even on cold wet UK back roads I failed to find the limit, giving me the confidence to push on regardless. And what's more, they are noticeably more compliant than the S001, giving a noticeably smoother ride, which for a performance family estate, makes for a better compromise. I don't really notice tyre noise, as I'm either cruising with the stereo on or pressing on, when the engine note takes centre stage. As for fuel consumption, I wouldn't expect my 301ps / 278lbft AWD estate to sip at the cup of economy, while I'm giving it the beans and I doubt whether a set of eco tyres would make much of a difference. My only concern at this stage is wear, as I've heard bad things and the Treadwear Rating of only 140 is half that of the S001, but so far so good. One final point, is that I've noticed most of the poor reviews seem to relate to the Run-flats.

Bought them used with the wheels, have done one summer and no sign of wear. They are heavy and they do feel like it but when you start driving enthusiastically there is excellent communication and feedback. Traction is near excellent in tarmac and offroad. The tries (runflat version) feel very stiff and I would not recommend if you were driving constantly on bad roads. Wet grip is decent but can catch you off guard sometimes, fairly unpredictable in the rain - better take caution-. Would I buy them again? No, not that they are bad, they are very neutral, id have some other high performance summer tires from Conti or Michelin.

Had them fitted from factory, a good all rounder withnwer as the weak spot on them. I live in Cyprus so wet conditions are not a big problem.

These came with my BMW 335d E92 and with them being RFT's, they ride extremely harshly. Hitting a pothole on these tyres with a 19-inch rim feels like you've just written the car off. They are very skitty over even after the smallest of bumps in corners. My 335d makes 600nm and 340hp and it wheelspins at 80mph in the wet with these on the rear. Definitely not a confidence-inspiring tyre.