Bridgestone Potenza S001 Sizes & review

These tires had to be replaced after only 16,700 miles. The Mazda MX-5 is a light car, so I didn’t find tread-wear to be adequate as an OEM choice. The tire performed well in other categories.

These came on my 2018 Miata.I’ve always felt that it’s inappropriate to use a low-profile Bridgestone tire since they’re so stiff already, and sure enough it’s super responsive with bad ride quality and okay stability over bumps. But, when the going gets twisty, they soften right up and the car squirms around. Especially when recovering from a drift, I can feel the rear sidewalls flexing and then releasing energy, violently at times. I noticed some minor abnormal wear after a couple thousand miles which resulted in some minor tire noise.Dry grip is decent, ride quality very average, steering response is good but linearity is bad. Wet handling is not okay.In the rain, this tire is dangerous. Driven gently (on a car with very sensible settings), all the tires hydroplane independently for a couple of inches at a time, so the car just wiggles along with an essentially random rhythm. It’s only when you throw the car around that it stops sliding. Of course, it starts sliding if you go too fast as well, so it’s a knife-edge kind of affair.Definitely not suitable for use in the rain on a car with no (or with crappy) stability control.

I traded from a 2010 Civic Si fitted with Conti Extreme Contact Sport DW tires in the stock size to a new 2018 MX-5 GT. The Bridgestones do not have the soft sidewall slop that the ECS tires did. This makes for a stiffer, firmer ride but also makes the car turn in more predictably and “surefooted”. Noise is better than the Contis, dry traction is less, and wet traction is noticeably less….I would say overall for a stock fitted tire it is a good option from factory. Given the Miata is prone to road noise and tire noise, for a daily driver this tire is good at balancing performance with comfort. The ECS tires with the large groove pattern gives off distinct road noise that would be harsh for a driver in a Miata.I do not advise this tire for track/ autox use, and wear is average. With 5k I already notice wear and will rotate frequently to make them last.

I think these tires are decent summer tires. Maybe I’m not driving hard enough but I have done half dozen track days and about 15,000 miles on the car. Still have about 4/32″ tread wear remaining. Can take corners pretty hard and can be fun on twisties but don’t trust the tires too much.

Fiat 124 Spider: these stock tires grip the road very well. They handle well under dry or wet conditions. I have not had them let go under my driving conditions like others have said – they glue the car to the road. Noise-wise, I can hear every bump and rock, but a lot of that is lack of insulation in the Spider I think more than the tire’s fault. They seem to be a perfect match for the car, and I would definitely consider getting them again when the time comes if wear isn’t excessive.

With only 6600 miles, the wear bars are already starting to show. I just put wintr tires on my car and they are better (in my opinion) all around – that isn’t how its supposed to be is it?In spirited off ramps and on ramps, I do not have the confidence to go much more than double the posted speeds (in my 1990 miata, my honda civic or my mazda3, I would easily tripple the posted speeds) in dry weather. In the rain I need to stay close to the posted speed on the ramps. Given that in other cars I am easily able to go faster, this is likely the result of the tires rather than the vehicle.I had to drive on these while the weather was colder (no snow or ice, that wouldn’t be fair) and they were even less inspiring (as expected)I will be looking at my options since these tires might only last another 3-4k miles if I’m lucky.