Potenza Re55 Life Expectancy?

[abu]

Hey

I bought a near new set of BRIDGESTONE POTENZA RE55 S tyres which I will be running on my car occasionally on the street but more directed at track work

Just wondering what the life expectancy of these tyres are, I will be mainly using them for track but occasionally clocking up maybe 100km a week on the street

Do they wear out reasonably quick on the street?

Would it be preferable not to run them on the street and only on track?

What sort of km would I get out of a near new set till they are useless?

Main reason I ask is that I don't want to run them on the street and burn them down real quick or wreck them, if that's the case then I would rather change to a set of normal street tyres and only run the RE55's when I'm doing track work

Thanks

[bnr#@]

I would not use them on the street, s the S is a soft compound tyre and will wear very fast.

It would also be a very harsh ride. Have used the SR2 compound ones on the street and it was not pleasant...

Best to have a second set of wheels with them on it and change for the track.

Also you would be very unhappy if you coped a nail in one driving on the street....

[NZM.031]

i know they are a completly different grade of tyre but a mate of mine has falken azenis rt215s on his wrx.. has had them on for over a year now and they are still in excellent condition.. it isnt a daily driver... so it doesnt rack up many kms... but when it does come out it gets a good thrash.. if he gets 2 years out them, that makes it $500 a year for the best upgrade yet.. money well spent.

[scathing]

I used to run Falken RS-V04s on the street. They were a very soft compound as well.

I did a reasonable amount of street driving on them, and 2 track days. 8000km, and they were gone.

[[WLDCRD]]

I'm using SR2 compund and it lasts a while.....only cos its mainly parked at home! I knew i wouldnt get many kms out of it but i didnt realise they wouldnt be that great on the street, especially in the wet. They are ok i suppose for normal street driving, but for the money you are better off getting really good street tires. But i still like them

[abu]

Thanks guys, that's pretty much what I needed to know

Although the car isn't driven Monday - Friday, usually only on weekends for short a short period of time, I would rather get the most out of these tyres on the track as I don't drive the car too hard on the street anyways

It's hard to get power down on the street with normal street tyres but might grab a decent brand and a new set of tyres to run around on if need be. I get strip & fits as well as balancing done for free so doesn't bother me if I need to get the street tyres taken off and RE55's put on for a track day every now and then but would be a shame to wreck the RE55's on the street!!

Thanks again

[phunky_monkey]

Also, after too many heat cycles the tyres will start to go off. Street driving will cause more heat cycles, so will deteriorate the tyres quicker.

[abu]

That's a good point, thanks for that Dane

Also I am running nitrogen in the tyres, any specific tyre pressure I should be running and is nitrogen the better option?

Thanks

[djr81]

What tyre pressures you run is heavilly dependent on how many laps you are running, how hot it is, how heavy your car is, what compound the tyre is what the suspension set up is, whether it is the front or the rear of the car & whether it is the left or right hand side.

For sprints, hillclimbs etc the objective should be to get the things as near as you can to working temperature when you need them to be working. Loosely the lower the pressure the faster they will build temperature in the tread face. The problem being, however, that under pressured tyres offer less grip which hurts lap speed. So, as ever, it is a compromise.

Nitrogen? Well when you do a track day you let air out. So you will need a refill everytime you go to a track day. To be perfectly honest much of what is said about nitrogen in tyres is a load of bollocks. Air is 80% nitrogen anyway. Just try & use dry air.

[abu]

Perfect answer, thank you

[super_s13]

I work at Bridgestone and i will tell you that they will wear very quick on the street. Some of our customers up here in Darwin only get 3-4 track meets from a set and that is only around 20 laps per meet. On the street they will be worst an not that great grip wise anyways due to the different and uneven surfaces. Only use them on the track and pressure wise will depend on how many laps your doing at a time and the weight of your car. The more you do the hotter the air gets etc. and then the pressure goes from 38 to 40+ very fast Lots of options but the cost is to high for these to use on the street. Buy some re001 for the street mate there wicked. If you can get your hands on cheap g3's there prob better but alot of the time there more expensive. \

Good luck

[Russman]

They're crap for the street. My car almost changes lanes when there is an uneven surface like at traffic lights (wheel wells). Noisy and they wear out quick. Just have another set of rims and tyres for the track. Heaps better... If you do run them on the street make sure they're not too low on pressure.

[bnr#@]

If you run them on the street make sure your'e not to low on money....lol

[[WLDCRD]]

They're crap for the street. My car almost changes lanes when there is an uneven surface like at traffic lights (wheel wells).

wow! i thought it was just my bad driving! haha

[R33GTRKid]

i love my re01's so much so i bought 2 complete sets at a bargain price! now I am told you cannot get them here any more and they reckon try the re001, they are absolutely nothing alike

[-Stokesy-]

i love my re01's so much so i bought 2 complete sets at a bargain price! now I am told you cannot get them here any more and they reckon try the re001, they are absolutely nothing alike

I had Re01's on my car when it came from Japan and i managed to keep them through compliance, they were awesome!

Then i got defected and was made to change them, bastard's

[Angus Smart]

I would buy the used re55 or similar from gordon levin, 40% or less usually on them

run them on my car for the whole year on the street, driving quiet often i would go thru a used set in about 3-4 months.

@ 50 bucks a pop or whatever they were thats pretty good for the level of grip in all conditions!

[Dush]

I want to buy a full set of RE55's for street use... I wonder how they are in the wet? ABU, can u PM me were you bought the Tiress form and how much the prices are?

What different models of RE55's are there...?

[_Ryan_]

I want to buy a full set of RE55's for street use... I wonder how they are in the wet? ABU, can u PM me were you bought the Tiress form and how much the prices are?

What different models of RE55's are there...?

trackside in kilsyth do em

[Paragon]

apart from that you should be running an aggressive alignment (camber) for the RE55s on the track which unless you change for the street would chew the inside edges in no time.