Bridgestone RE-11 vs RE-11a tires

I've been using Bridgestone RE-11 tires for a few years now and love them. Lots of grip when it's dry AND wet, quiet at the limit and even good traction before they warm up. I've heard they've been replaced with RE-11a tires. How do they compare?

Second question: If I was looking for tires with similar performance characteristics, but with a W or Z speed rating instead of V what would you suggest?
My car is a daily driver and I'm running OEM size tires ('91) on stock 15" and 16" rims.

Your feedback is appreciated.

Tks!

You may like to check out my tire spreadsheet. Am I correct that OEM size is 205/50-15 and 225/50-16? Looks like Kuhmo Ecsta XS, Bridgestone g-Force Rival, and Falken RT-615K are W-rated tires.

Tire feel

jwmelvin said:

You may like to check out my tire spreadsheet. Am I correct that OEM size is 205/50-15 and 225/50-16? Looks like Kuhmo Ecsta XS, Bridgestone g-Force Rival, and Falken RT-615K are W-rated tires.

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Yes, those are the sizes. Thanks for the spreadsheet, but what do the tires feel like to drive on?

Tks!

imflipside said:

but what do the tires feel like to drive on?

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That I cannot tell you. I drive on Advan AD08 R and love them. They are available in your size but are V-rated at that size. My understanding from what I have read is that the Ecsta XS is great in the dry and pretty bad in the rain, the g-Force Rival is popular with the autocross crowd (and seemingly well regarded generally), and the Falken RT-615K are great in cooler weather but can get mushy is pushed for too long in the heat (i.e., on a track or through multiple autocross runs).

This Tire Rack test may also help you.

imflipside said:

Second question: If I was looking for tires with similar performance characteristics, but with a W or Z speed rating instead of V what would you suggest?

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You're referring to these speed ratings:

W - sustained speeds of 168 mph
Z - sustained speeds in excess of 149 mph
V - sustained speeds of 149 mph

Differences among these are virtually meaningless, unless you expect to do sustained driving over 149 mph. And if you do, I'd like to know where. :biggrin: Otherwise, don't worry about the speed ratings.

Any of the "extreme performance" tires will give you great performance. And most are available in 205/50-15 and 225/50-16, including these:

BFGoodrich g-Force Rival
Bridgestone Potenza RE-11A
Dunlop Direzza ZII
Falken Azenis RT-615K
Kumho Ecsta XS
Toyo Proxes R1R
Yokohama ADVAN Neova AD08 R

nsxtasy said:

You're referring to these speed ratings:

W - sustained speeds of 168 mph
Z - sustained speeds in excess of 149 mph
V - sustained speeds of 149 mph

Differences among these are virtually meaningless, unless you expect to do sustained driving over 149 mph. And if you do, I'd like to know where. :biggrin: Otherwise, don't worry about the speed ratings.

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So, it's not unsafe to run the Bridgestone or Yokohama tires at NSX top speed for a few minutes at a time (say 270 km/hr?).
Any idea what qualifies as "sustained"?

Tks!

I'm not sure what qualifies as "sustained". I also don't know where you're likely to get to top speed in an NSX. You'll need a straight, smooth piece of road without any traffic or other hazards (or law enforcement). I'm not sure how long the straight needs to be to get up to top speed (remember, the rate of acceleration slows down considerably as you get closer) but I'm guessing 5-10 miles.

Good luck!

Just ordered a set of Yokohama Advan Neova AD08 tires for summer!

Now if it would just stop snowing...

i'm wondering about using re-11's in the front with re-11a's in the back.the reason is that i bought a set of re-11's a few years ago.the fronts are 205/45-16,because you can't get them in 215 width.the rears are wearing out a lot faster,which i think is common,so i hoped to just replace them and then wear out all 4 tires at about the same time before i get new wheels.

the problem-re-11's only now come in 255/40-17 in the rear at tire rack,not the stock 245 width that i have.that's bit wide to run with the 205 fronts,but re-11a's come in the stock 245 rear width that i want and now have.

so,which one,255's in the same tire,or 245's in the newer re-11a?

robbiedawg said:

so,which one,255's in the same tire,or 245's in the newer re-11a?

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I think you'll be fine, either way.

If you go with the 255 in the RE-11, you'll be increasing the outer diameter by 1.3 percent over stock, whereas the 205 front has an outer diameter 1.5 percent smaller than stock. Changing the front-to-rear ratio by 2.8 percent overall should not create any problems for the TCS.

Any differences in handling - either by going to the 50 mm "stagger" (difference in width, front vs rear), or by mixing the RE-11 with the RE-11a - are going to be minor, probably imperceptible.

So there's no compelling reason to go with either one. Sorry if you were looking for a definitive choice, but really, either one should work just fine!

I see the RE-11A on TireRack in 205/55R16 - no issue with running a 55 series tire up front?