Aus spec Bridgestone re001's

bensale · Postby **bensale** » Tue Dec 23, 2008 7:09 pm

I'm looking at buying a set of 185/60/14 Bridgestone Adrenalin re001's. However, this size is made in Australia... This thread viewtopic.php?f=30&t=33410&hilit=re001 has an absolute horror story about the Aus spec re001's which has me really worried.

I was hoping some other people with the Australian made tyres could share there experiences or give me some advice. I'm hoping NMX516's experience is only isolated as I was 100% behind buying a set of these considering there performance and price.

Cheers,
Ben

philz · Postby **philz** » Tue Dec 23, 2008 7:37 pm

What will it be used for? Trackdays?, weekend? daily?

They are good tyres for the price, and for daily they are more than adequate and should cater well for spirited driving.

However I don't know about it's tracking performance.

I have 195/50 re001, great tyres for the price, and I use them for daily no problems at all.

feel_ixx · Postby **feel_ixx** » Tue Dec 23, 2008 7:39 pm

My brother uses 15" on his Ford Fiesta, it grips like no tomrorrow

bensale · Postby **bensale** » Tue Dec 23, 2008 7:43 pm

They'll be for almost 100% road use. However, I am considering getting into tracking the car. At the very least they'll see a driver training day and perhaps a few track days over their life. I've only called one place to check prices, $109 each fitted and balanced. But yes, mostly road use.

feel_ixx · Postby **feel_ixx** » Tue Dec 23, 2008 10:24 pm

I thinnk for track you should have some dedicated tyres instead of using them for road and track. E.g. if you bought some semi slicks, not good for road use. That being said, I'm going to be looking innto getting these as they have a good name and are cheap. And I lost rear traction twice on the way home today. .

rjastra2 · Postby **rjastra2** » Tue Dec 23, 2008 11:24 pm

Well, judging by the latest Motor tyre test (though not even remotely in your size), the Re001 did well in most individual tests (and won overall) yet did rather poorly in track times. Perhaps this isn't the tye for you if you wish to track your car.

Steampunk · Postby **Steampunk** » Wed Dec 24, 2008 12:36 am

keep in mind that NMX516 pushes his car to the limit and places beyond

so I would think that you will be OK with what you are going to use them for. I had the superceded GIII in 185/60 R14 and they withstood track abuse very well.

Alex · Postby **Alex** » Wed Dec 24, 2008 10:06 am

So this thread isn't just about RE001's, your asking about the difference in quality between ones made in different countries?

bensale · Postby **bensale** » Wed Dec 24, 2008 3:15 pm

Alex wrote:So this thread isn't just about RE001's, your asking about the difference in quality between ones made in different countries?

Essentially yes, if they were made in Japan I would have no issues buying the re001's, it's just the stories I've heard about the Aus spec ones.

feel_ixx wrote:I thinnk for track you should have some dedicated tyres instead of using them for road and track. E.g. if you bought some semi slicks, not good for road use. That being said, I'm going to be looking innto getting these as they have a good name and are cheap. And I lost rear traction twice on the way home today. .

I considered doing this, although I would probebly still pick something like an re001 as my dedicated track tyre due to the semi's being twice the price.

rjastra2 wrote:Well, judging by the latest Motor tyre test (though not even remotely in your size), the Re001 did well in most individual tests (and won overall) yet did rather poorly in track times. Perhaps this isn't the tye for you if you wish to track your car.

Having never tracked the car I doubt that the tyres would make a huge difference to the times the first few times out, more would be in my own abilities, or lack there of.

1red5 wrote:keep in mind that NMX516 pushes his car to the limit and places beyond so I would think that you will be OK with what you are going to use them for. I had the superceded GIII in 185/60 R14 and they withstood track abuse very well.

I think that is essentially the conclusion that I am coming to.

Thanks everyone, further advice/opinions much apreciated.

Fatty · Postby **Fatty** » Wed Dec 24, 2008 4:15 pm

fattima had big chunks falling out of his tyres at phillip island the other week. i don't think he's running the re001's tho... anyway he is really pushing that car to its limits so until you reach that sort of driving level i think you'd be ok. as you said, your lap times would be held back by your relative inexperience more than tyre choice, i doubt you'll be really pushing the limits of the tyres just yet. but having said that, given your recent effort at the go kart night and your prior karting experience, you might just surprise yourself when you do track the car. i reckon you could be pretty quick :wink:

bensale · Postby **bensale** » Wed Dec 24, 2008 4:33 pm

Thanks Fatty. Fattima is running Bridgestone G3's. While I don't think i'ld be really slow there is no way i'd be able to push the car as hard as he does the first time out. Interestingly he was running them at P.I last time and had no problems. Was he going signifigantly harder or was it much hotter?

NMX516 · Postby **NMX516** » Wed Dec 24, 2008 4:37 pm

I should bite my tongue re the RE001's, so as a reasonably priced alternative, I've been told good things about Kumho Ecsta SPT KU31's. A fairly new tyre, and aimed at the performance market. I got quoted a price on these cheaper than RE001's, but this was from the guy who sold me the RE001's and so I think he was giving me a keen price because of what had happened with the Bridgestones. Might be worth considering some of those Ben

Edit: I almost forgot, apparently RE001's aren't going to be made in Japan any more - at least not the 195/50/15's anyway.

fattima · Postby **fattima** » Wed Dec 24, 2008 5:46 pm

Ben,

See pic of my tyre, it was a warmer day than last time and I did three sessions with no real break so over 30 minutes on the track. At PI the tyres are getting loaded up for extended periods through some of the high speed sweepers, this probably didn't help. Also I did have a full sideways slide off at Siberia into the gravel trap :oops:

, shame you weren't there with the camera this time :lol:

Unlike NMX516 the damage on my tyre is on the outer edge, same thing happened to Chris with the green NA. Tyres were run at 32 psi hot and I noticed no degradation in handling. I'll keep running the tyres but will keep and eye on them, the grip of the G3 is pretty good.
Anyway just get some tyres whatever they are and come out and play

bensale · Postby **bensale** » Wed Dec 24, 2008 6:14 pm

Yikes

Although thats nothing like as bad as NMX516's tyres. Thanks Bruce, I agree with the sentiment of your post

NMX516, I've read everything you've had to say on the subject, its almost the only reason this topic exists :frown:

I actually cant find anything on the ku31's on the Kuhmo website, there is the KH31 though, although it doesn't say which sizes it's available in. Thanks for your advice.