Bridgestone RE71R Tires

[coolmody]

I haven't seen much talk about this tire here. Decided to try a set since the stock PSS haven't held up to track duty. It's a new tire from Bridgestone that is supposed to be the successor to the RE11. I was going to go with some of the popular proven tires (AD08R, RS3, ZII SS), but after looking at sizing and pricing, the RE71R's seemed worth it to try.

I got the stock sizes and they will be going on the stock 19" wheels

255/35/19 in front
275/35/19 out back

I'm excited to try them out at an AutoX in 3 weeks to see how they do. Given the 200TW rating on these tires, they should keep your car in the street classes, but some have reported the traction is closer to R compounds

[gthal]

I would LOVE to know how you find these for noise and harshness.

I am going to replace the PSS soon (will likely kill them next weekend at the track) and decided against a dedicated track set up. Therefore, either RE-11, AD-08R or these will be on the car. I've been warned the RE-71R are very noisy and rough which had me leaning towards the RE-11. I'm hoping your experience will be different.

Please update us when you have had some miles on them!

P.S. TireRack told me the RE-11A is being replaced by the RE-71R and the RE-11 will continue to be produced in a wider range of sizes.

[Mario_Kart]

post some pics when you get them installed.

[buildbright]

Excited to hear the review. Anyone know how heavy these are? Re-11's are tanks.

[gthal]

Originally Posted by buildbright

Excited to hear the review. Anyone know how heavy these are? Re-11's are tanks.

So are these... similar to RE-11.

It's the price you pay for stiffer sidewalls and better responsiveness. The PSS are light, in part, because of the soft sidewalls.

[buildbright]

Originally Posted by gthal

So are these... similar to RE-11.

It's the price you pay for stiffer sidewalls and better responsiveness. The PSS are light, in part, because of the soft sidewalls.

That's sad one of things that kept me away from these tires. I wish they would make them lighter.

[BigMacSmallFries]

Hey, I installed these tires today. Much more lateral grip, car has less understeer it actually feels neutral for the first time cornering hard, and more power can be applied before TC kicks in. I was disappointed though the sidewalls are not stiffer than the PSS even though I see in various forums posters are stating otherwise. Also I measured them with a ruler compared to the PSS before mounting and they measure 10mm wider so 255 is really a 265 and the 275 is a 285.

Question for you, what tire pressure are you running? I was hoping to get a better initial turn in from a stiffer sidewall but it appears that it does not behave any different than a PSS in that regard. AD08Rs definitely have a sidewall that is more stiff and the only thing lacking in this tire. The ride is very comparable with a PSS whereas the AD08R is more rough which is what I was hoping the RE71-Rs would be.

I'm going to play around with the tire pressure tomorrow but it seems like these tires need more than the 32PSI recommended for OEM. Any idea?

Originally Posted by coolmody

I haven't seen much talk about this tire here. Decided to try a set since the stock PSS haven't held up to track duty. It's a new tire from Bridgestone that is supposed to be the successor to the RE11. I was going to go with some of the popular proven tires (AD08R, RS3, ZII SS), but after looking at sizing and pricing, the RE71R's seemed worth it to try.

I got the stock sizes and they will be going on the stock 19" wheels

255/35/19 in front
275/35/19 out back

I'm excited to try them out at an AutoX in 3 weeks to see how they do. Given the 200TW rating on these tires, they should keep your car in the street classes, but some have reported the traction is closer to R compounds

[gthal]

Originally Posted by BigMacSmallFries

Hey, I installed these tires today. Much more lateral grip, car has less understeer it actually feels neutral for the first time cornering hard, and more power can be applied before TC kicks in. I was disappointed though the sidewalls are not stiffer than the PSS even though I see in various forums posters are stating otherwise. Also I measured them with a ruler compared to the PSS before mounting and they measure 10mm wider so 255 is really a 265 and the 275 is a 285.

Question for you, what tire pressure are you running? I was hoping to get a better initial turn in from a stiffer sidewall but it appears that it does not behave any different than a PSS in that regard. AD08Rs definitely have a sidewall that is more stiff and the only thing lacking in this tire. The ride is very comparable with a PSS whereas the AD08R is more rough which is what I was hoping the RE71-Rs would be.

I'm going to play around with the tire pressure tomorrow but it seems like these tires need more than the 32PSI recommended for OEM. Any idea?

Interesting comments. Everything else I have read suggests the RE-71R are a notably harsher ride than PSS and the sidewall is stiff like the RE-11. You are the first that I've heard suggest otherwise.

How is tread noise compared to the PSS?

[BigMacSmallFries]

Originally Posted by gthal

Interesting comments. Everything else I have read suggests the RE-71R are a notably harsher ride than PSS and the sidewall is stiff like the RE-11. You are the first that I've heard suggest otherwise.

How is tread noise compared to the PSS?

Yea, I agree as that's what I've read in various forums on the net. It couldn't be further from the truth. At most I would say the ride is 5% stiffer. I'm one of those people that can detect the slightest nuance so I feel most people commenting on these are imagining things. The ride is almost identical to a PSS. Prior to mounting the wheels I checked how much flex the sidewalls have just with my hands and the RE-71Rs were more stiff but it doesn't seem to have affected the ride much.

Tread noise is up just a touch, I would say it shouldn't be factored into buying these or not. Cornering is flatter as well, it seems like these are similar to the AD08R with a sidewall of a PSS. That's how I would describe these. For those looking for an identical ride to the PSS with the traction of the AD08R these are your tires. I wanted a more visceral experience with a bumper ride, I prefer the AD08R. If I could change my decision, would have gone with the Yokos.

[coolmody]

Originally Posted by BigMacSmallFries

Hey, I installed these tires today. Much more lateral grip, car has less understeer it actually feels neutral for the first time cornering hard, and more power can be applied before TC kicks in. I was disappointed though the sidewalls are not stiffer than the PSS even though I see in various forums posters are stating otherwise. Also I measured them with a ruler compared to the PSS before mounting and they measure 10mm wider so 255 is really a 265 and the 275 is a 285.

Question for you, what tire pressure are you running? I was hoping to get a better initial turn in from a stiffer sidewall but it appears that it does not behave any different than a PSS in that regard. AD08Rs definitely have a sidewall that is more stiff and the only thing lacking in this tire. The ride is very comparable with a PSS whereas the AD08R is more rough which is what I was hoping the RE71-Rs would be.

I'm going to play around with the tire pressure tomorrow but it seems like these tires need more than the 32PSI recommended for OEM. Any idea?

I've driven it around the streets and the things I've noticed so far are in line with what you are seeing; better lateral traction, much better straight line traction. Initial turn in feels like a PSS as you have described. It doesn't have that sharpness I was expecting as the shape and look of the tire looks to be much stiffer than a PSS.

I'm running 32/32 on the street right now. I'm taking them to an Auto-X tomorrow to get some hot temperatures and pressures. There is rain in the forecast, so that will change some of the results.

Originally Posted by gthal

Interesting comments. Everything else I have read suggests the RE-71R are a notably harsher ride than PSS and the sidewall is stiff like the RE-11. You are the first that I've heard suggest otherwise.

How is tread noise compared to the PSS?

Tread noise is the same as a PSS (kind of). Under normal driving on normal roads you wouldn't even be able to tell the difference. However I notice when I go on irregular road surfaces like a bridge that has a different texture, the tires start to make a strange noise, like they are singing to me. This also happens when I drive on lane lines, some cross walk lines, and any other road irregularity.

Pics of how they look on the car and how they wear to come shortly.

[chillindrdude]

Please post up their performance in the wet.

[coolmody]

Pics of how they look on the stock 19s.

[///BMW (+)]

those look dope!

[gthal]

They have a more square sidewall like the RE-11... looks better than the rounded PSS IMO.

[coolmody]

Got a chance to take them to an autocross today. Forecast was rain, but it stayed dry and warm the entire day.

My first thoughts was, holy f@$! these are greasy! I was all over the place on my very first run. They felt worse than my original PSS. I was running 36F/36R psi cold so I thought I had over inflated. I gave it another shot on my second run, and they still felt greasy, but got much better. After my third run, they had started to warm up and roughen up and the tires started behaving like what I was reading about them. Very sticky for a street tire, but still get loud if you overdrive them. I was probably experiencing the slickness at the start, because the tires were so new and I had only put very few kms on them in city driving.

I played around with the tire pressures, but didn't notice too much difference. I started with 36F/36R cold, and after a run they would go up to 39F/39R. I had no reason to move from this, as I wasn't experiencing much roll over and they were holding well.

They also look to be holding up well. Here's some pictures of the front and rear tires, after 12 runs.

[aus]

New tires have a layer that's very slick that lets them come off of the mold. You were probably still wearing through that layer the first couple runs.

Thanks for the update.

[coolmody]

Update on the treadwear after 2000kms of city/highway driving, 2 autocrosses (17 runs), and a track day (5 x 20 min sessions).

The wear shown is mostly from the track day, and it looks like the centre rib is wearing at an odd angle. The outside edge of the centre rib is worn down to the wear bars, but the inner edge of the centre rib shows much less wear. Tires were sitting at 41psi hot, and the driver side front was still rolling beyond the side arrow markings on a CW track.

[FTS]

too much toe-in probably.

[tres]

i have been running these tires since june and have no issues and i actually find them a lot more quiet than my previous pss and a lot more grip. they do run wider also.

[gthal]

Originally Posted by tres

i have been running these tires since june and have no issues and i actually find them a lot more quiet than my previous pss and a lot more grip. they do run wider also.

Great feedback! Might replace my RE-11's with these when the time comes.

[coolmody]

Treadwear update. ~5000kms, 2 autocrosses, 2 track days.

Rear:



Front:

[gthal]

Originally Posted by coolmody

Treadwear update. ~5000kms, 2 autocrosses, 2 track days.

Rear:



Front:

Not really safe for rain driving but good for another track day

What's tread noise like now?