Owner feedback on the Bridgestone Potenza S001 is mixed (64.5% average), with most agreement around strong dry grip and capable dry handling, but significant dissatisfaction in other areas. Around half of owners who mention it criticise wet grip, with some describing it as confidence-sapping or even dangerous in the rain, particularly as temperatures drop. Comfort and refinement are the biggest consistent drawbacks: roughly two in five report high road noise and around a third find the ride harsh. Tread life splits owners almost evenly, so longevity appears to depend heavily on car, setup and driving style.
What owners mention most counted across 139 reviews
There's really not much to like about these tyres! If anything, they are solid under breaking, and aren't too adversely affected by wet weather. However, in every other aspect, I can't wait to move them on!
Performance is mediocre at best in dry weather, with large amounts of understeer, and they struggle to get power to the road. Feedback through the steering wheel is wooden, as though there's not enough give in the sidewalls to allow the tyres to bite into the road surface, which isn't inspiring in the slightest. In wet weather they don't seem to be too much worse, but coming from a low dry standard, I wouldn't be trusting these on a spirited wet weather drive.
Perhaps my least favourite aspect of these tyres are the road noise, they have the loudest tyre drone I've ever encountered! It's distracting, and takes away all the enjoyment of conversations, music, engine noise, and basically driving in general. I might as well be driving a truck!
I'll be moving on from these tyres sooner rather than later, even though there is still plenty of tread onboard.
Check out how the BEST all seasons tyres perform against premium summer and winter tyres!
I have been running these tyres in a staggered setup, 225/40 R19 in front, 255/35 R19 in back. They really do have very good grip in the dry. In the wet I can't really say much as I try to avoid pushing my car to it's limits when it's raining. Suffice to say I've never felt any issues in the wet, grip was there and I never felt any aquaplaning.
Apart from that, these are probably the worst tyres I ever had. They are extremely loud, in fact at first I thought I had a worn wheel bearing, but the noise goes away when using winter tyres. They also do a lot of tramlining which is quite a scary feeling at highway speeds. Also, they just get generally unstable at higher speeds (above around 160-170 km/h), where the whole car feels like it keeps shaking from left to right etc. None of these issues occur with my winter tyres (Conti WinterContact TS870P), so it's safe to assume it's an issue with the tyres and not the car.
They've also worn out fairly quickly, I'm at about 4mm after around 15000km or so.
Overall, a tyre I would never buy again, it even put me off the Bridgestone brand as a whole and will not consider it for future purchases
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The S001s were first released back in 2010 and the age of the tire design and compound has really began to show. They perform quite poorly in the dry and wet compared to other product offerings as of 2023. Going from these to a set of Michelin PS4S was the best decision I’ve made for my driving experience yet. Comfort, noise, and grip have been lacking with the Bridgestones compared to the Michelins. In cold weather especially with the Bridgestones, you could clearly feel the tires get way sketchier once temperatures dipped below 10C.
The S001s weren’t even able to keep up with a modern all season during a spirited mountain drive, I see no reason for someone to purchase a set as they aren’t really good at anything.
Fitted to a company car so have no choice but to use them. I do about 30k a year and have found these tyres to be underwhelming at best. Tyre wear is poor for a car that does most of its miles on the motorway, often needing new ones at only 15k, my Jaguar XF fitted with Dunlop's would do 30k in a heavier more powerful car. Dry grip is OK as long as its warmish, wet / cold grip is very poor. The tyre feels OK but its hard to tell as the car, Lexus IS300h, is not a sporty drive but is very comfortable which I think effects the ride more than the tyres. Overall would not put these on if the car was mine.
After 2 years and 3,500 miles the outside sidewalls of all 4 tyres began cracking and crazing on contacting Bridgestone I was given numerous "excuses" including u/v light,tyre dressing,short journeys and road contaminants in my reply I had to asked the technician why he had not including Covid and Climate Change amongst these comical excuses. I have previously run Bridgestone on my last 2 cars,both purchased from new, and not had any complaints but will now fit my car with Dunlop Maxx ,which were on the car when purchased from new and were good for 20k, something I regret not doing in the first place but I had always preferred Bridgestone until now.I can only add that the response and service I received from Bridgestone regarding the matter was pathetic and definitely not what I expected from a company of this stature!
G.Hall
These are not premium grade tyres despite the price very disappointing.handles poorly,buy Continental or Michelin for same price and they’re night and day superior.
The tire is loud and wears terribly. I drive on the hiway to and from work. All the road is good, with one curve. They handle decently. Dry anyways. Wet, not so much. 15,000 miles and they’re worn out. It’s not a sporty drive. It’s straight, in the country with one curve. We’re not formula one driving. Way, WAY too expensive to buy again. 15,000 miles? No way.
The wear rate in the beginning is pretty significant, i bought the car used, so i cant provide exact rates, but the rate slows down as the tire gets older. But it also gets way worse, the wet traction is horror. The dry performance is pretty good and the handling is quite nice, but that is to the expense of comfort. You can really feel any bump in the road and it ruins the experiance on longer drives in my Seat Leon FR from 2018.
These tyres are nasty. Poor in the dry and borderline dangerous in the wet. Noisey, provide minimal feedback and when they slide there is next to no warning or progression.
They came on a new Golf Mk7 GTI and then a MK8 GTI.
Removed from both cars once the engines were bedded in (circa 1,000 miles) and replaced with Pilot Sport tyres instead.
Why VW fit this garbage on a ‘sporty’ car I have no idea. Presumably they get a good deal on a 12 year old design from Bridgestone.
Come fitted from Seat factory, 19" are terrible tyres.
Really poor wet performance with poor grip and skipping from a standing start
Winter/Snow they are useless, 1cm of snow and there's no grip, they are that bad I don't use the car if it snows.
Unfortunately it's a lease car so they won't let me change them.
Due to change cars shortly and certainly won't be getting another Seat with these tyres fitted.
