Anyone have experience with these tires?

If so, please state what OEM tire you were previously using and how the RE-01R compares in grip, steering feedback, and steering response.

(Don't really care about noise and comfort, but feel free to provide that feedback, as it may be useful to others.)

Thanks!

I've now tried the Michelin PS2, RE-01R and Falken Azenis Rt-615 on my car... the bridgestone's were my favorite by far. The falkens are grippy but don't feel as stable or as predictable to me... plus my fronts have a radial pull and though switching sides helped, it's still slightly there. I got the car aligned right after getting them put on, so I know it's the tires...

I will probably be switching back to the RE-01R after the Falken's wear out. The only arena that I think the Falken's are a bit better than the Bridgestone's is steering feedback, the Azenis seem to transmit more of the road and they are a bit quieter; but I felt more confident driving the RE-01R's.

The Michelin was the quietist but and was noticeably less grippy than the other two tires, with the longest life... but given the price, I'd rather use the Goodyear Assimetrico if I want a tire in the max performance class. In the extreme performance class, I'd take the RE-01R over the Falken.

Sapentia also recently got the Bridgestone RE-01r's, I'm sure he'll chime in with his opinions. One thing I really felt with the Bridgestone though was the tires really came to life and started biting more after being broken in for 500-1000 miles.

__________________
- Suneet

Interesting. Steering feedback and response is very important to me, as it really enhances driving enjoyment IMO. (I'm coming from an Elise, after all!)

Does the 615 have a stiffer sidewall? I wonder if adding a PSI or two to the RE-01R's would make up for the feedback deficit?

How does feedback compare with both to OEM?

Also, are you using 18 or 19's?

I used the Bridgestone's on 19'', Azenis on 18''. I honestly never felt like there was feedback missing in the RE-01R, and was really pleasantly surprised by how much more road feel there when I changed from the PS2 to the RE-01r. But the Azenis really seem to transmit any faults/graininess in the roads... I'm not sure if the sidewalls are stiffer then the RE-01r. The RE-01r definitely had a softer compound. I ran the RE-01R's a bit high in pressure all the time, 33 front, 39 rear cold on 19'' and I felt that was ideal. I'm still experimenting with the Azenis, currently using 31 front, 37 rear cold on 18'' and it seems to be handling well. Again, for me the beauty of the RE-01r was predictability, when you started driving to the extreme you could tell when it was at its limit and then when it would start to lose grip and howl, the car would still go exactly where I pointed it. I haven't had the Azenis in the mountains yet, but I'll report back in October after the gimmic rally at Croctoberfest.

Overall I think they're both great tires, you should try both; Azenis are so inexpensive if you look around the web, I got my whole set for $640; half of what I paid for my RE-01rs and they are supposed to last longer.

__________________
- Suneet

After asking Suneet about the RE-01R's a month or so ago I went ahead and pulled the trigger. Previously, I had the PS2's (19") and I felt they were a very good tire although they only lasted 7,000 miles (I live in the mountains). I have about 1,000 on the Bridgestones and am liking them more all the time. What Suneet said about them coming to life after 500-1,000 miles goes inline with my experience. They definitely feel better now that they are broken in. The grip is very good and the car steers extremely well as it always had but I should mention I had an alignment at the same time which made turn in quicker and the car generally more responsive with steering. I think mine ended up being about $250 less for a set than the PS2's. The sidewall is significantly stiffer; the Porsche mechanic who mounted them made sure to let me know. With the 19's, one small effect you should be aware of is the rear tire diameter will decrease 3/4" making the rear of the car ride 3/8" lower while the front tire actually increases in diameter about 1/2" making the front ride about 1/4" higher. Good for me because the front lip doesn't scrape as much now and the back actually looks a little more aggressive since it sits lower. From the side it does look very slightly off-balanced but I can live with it and the car handles beautifully. I've been running 31 front and 36 rear for pressure, I need to try out 33 front and 39 rear to see how that feels.

I just installed RE01R's on my CS with 19's and PASM. I Auto-X'ed them yesterday. They had about 200 break-in miles. Suspension has a moderate track alignment.

I had about 6k miles - 6 Auto-X's, 2 track days - on the RE050A's that they replaced.

Based on the limited experience I had yesterday, the RE01R's have better turn in, better steering response and are stickier overall that the RE050's.

FWIW, I really only care about performance on the track, but the car definitely seems to be more responsive on the street, as well.

__________________
THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR GERMAN ENGINEERING

How is the ride compated to PS2 or RE050A. Is it much harsher than both on 19" wheels. Please give me your opinion. Mark

I'm a huge fan of the RE01Rs although I have yet to run them on my Cayman (they don't make a great rear tire size for the rear 18 inch wheels). I have autocrossed them back to back with Falken Azenis 615s on a nationally prepped STS 1989 Honda Civic and they are head and shoulders above the Falkens. They have much better grip and make placing the car so much easier. I also currently have them on my 2002 H Stock Honda Civic Si and I like them more than any of the previous tires I have autocrossed on (Falken Azenis, Bridgestone SO3).

If you look at the results of the SCCA national championships in 2007, Bridgestone REO1Rs were clearly the popular choice among the classes requiring street tires.

I haven't driven them on the street much, but I would be shocked if they weren't terrific. The only issue might be rapid tire wear as the rubber compound is quite soft. I say get 'em. You won't regret it.

Alan - the RE01R is available in 255/35-18, which would be perfect for my new 9" front wheels. I agreee that the available sizes are a poor match for the rears. Did you ever hear of anyone running different types of tire on the fronts and the rears? Maybe Kumhos on the rear, as the sizes are better for the rear... I guess I don't see any reason why this couldn't work. You could adjust understeer/oversteer by selecting appropriate tires for the front/rear.

Fort: I've heard of people using different tire brands front and rear. Good combinations probably exist, but it may take some trial and error to discover them. It's difficult to guess which combos will work, due to differences in compounds, tread patterns, and even effective tread widths. I use the term "effective tread widths" because tires of the same spec width (e.g., 275) don't all have the same measured width when mounted, or the same operating width under spirited driving. Thus, tire selection is not always a matter of wider is always better, especially when choosing between adjacent widths such as 265 versus 275. In such cases, tire weights also come into play.

That's something I definitely would not recommend, despite sizing differences.

Can you explain the reason for your view? I see no reason why this wouldn't work in an AX, where tires don't have time to heat up. Front/rear tire balance is no different than front/rear tire pressures, front/rear tire width and/or wheel width, front/rear sway bars, front/rear springs, etc. as a way to tune the car's behavior.