Bridgestone vs Dunlop

Nomad4g63 · Jun 1, 2009, 11:00 AM

I am in the market soon to be buy tires and have been looking for a review on the new Bridgestone Potenza RE-11s but have found nothing. Tire Rack has been slacking in adding a review on testing these tires so im a little lost.

Im in between the:

Bridgestone Potenza RE-11's V.S. Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec

Any experience OR review on the Bridgestone Potenza RE11 would be very helpful

shinnster · Jun 1, 2009, 11:28 AM

there is a review on the re11 in the current grassroots motorports magazine.
I think they said it is better overall grip than the re01rs but may have lost some of the initial turn in.

The dunlops are hard to beat for the price, so it really depends what your budget is and what your use is.

If you have the money i'd say re11, but the dunlops aren't really an inferior choice.

Ookami · Jun 1, 2009, 11:33 AM

Dunlop Star Spec all the way, it's cheaper, you'll get 10mm more rubber width wise (245mm is really 255mm) unlike the RE-11. Only tire worth considering over the Star Spec is the Yokohama Advan AD08 if you have money to burn.

**Neal@tirerack.** · Jun 1, 2009, 11:46 AM

My vote is for the Dunlop also. Price vs. performance makes it a better way to go. There's a large following of Z1 Star owners on this board also who have had great results.

Evo_Someday · Jun 1, 2009, 09:27 PM

You'll find a set of 4 Z1s is about $250 cheaper than the Bridgestones. That's why I'm getting them.

SS RX7 r2 · Jun 2, 2009, 11:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Evo_Someday

You'll find a set of 4 Z1s is about $250 cheaper than the Bridgestones. That's why I'm getting them.

I agree with the rest - Z1s.

While the re11 > re01r, the re01r Bridgestones didn't work nearly as well as the Z1 star specs on the relatively heavy Evo. At the last SCCA ProSolo championships ALL the STU class (Evos, STis, etc) ran Dunlops.

Now smaller cars like civics and miatas like the re11, as the softer sidewall seems to work on lighter cars. So consider where your source of info is coming from.

donour · Jun 3, 2009, 08:39 AM

OP: If you don't already know, SSRX7r2 (rick) is one of the fastest guys in the country in SCCA STU classes which requires these types of tires. He's been very successful on the z1s.

On the other hand, I have found the RE-11s to work better than the dunlops. They were good enough for my car to win the Houston national tour and trophy at the farmington one. I have data logs from both if you want to look at them.

d

RaNGVR-4 · Jun 3, 2009, 01:14 PM

After watching and driving on RE11's, they are floppy. the sidewalls are far too soft. Stick to the dunlops unless you stretch the tires on a wide rim. (looks stupid, but increases turn in)

donour · Jun 3, 2009, 02:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RaNGVR-4

After watching and driving on RE11's, they are floppy. the sidewalls are far too soft. Stick to the dunlops unless you stretch the tires on a wide rim. (looks stupid, but increases turn in)

What pressure did you run? You have to go really high with the RE-11. The Z1 likes 35-38 psi. The RE-11 needs at least 7 psi more. Most tires fall off above 40 psi, the RE-11 doesn't. It's amazing how ridiculously high you can go without loosing the contact patch.

d

RaNGVR-4 · Jun 3, 2009, 04:21 PM

On an M3 we were at 42/41. Ill go dig the pictures up to show how much the tires roll off the rims, give me a few...

spool_sample · Jun 3, 2009, 04:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by donour

What pressure did you run? You have to go really high with the RE-11. The Z1 likes 35-38 psi. The RE-11 needs at least 7 psi more. Most tires fall off above 40 psi, the RE-11 doesn't. It's amazing how ridiculously high you can go without loosing the contact patch.

d

I've noticed this same exact characteristic on my RE-11s. Anything below 41-42 psi up front just sucks.

I've had good results with 41f/46r, but I haven't tried going any higher with the pressures yet. They seem to just keep getting better with more pressure - I wonder where the extremes are. They're like damn cross-plys.

That said, I agree that the sidewalls are a bit soft. That's my only complaint about the RE-11. Once these are done, though, I really want to get my hands on a set of AD08s (which are about the same price... hint, hint to OP)

RaNGVR-4 · Jun 3, 2009, 04:59 PM

Ive never seen any other tire deflect this much, not even the re01's

Evo_Someday · Jun 5, 2009, 08:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RaNGVR-4

Ive never seen any other tire deflect this much, not even the re01's

You never saw me autocross on General Exclaim UHPs.. hahaha. Felt like driving on marshmallows. They made the car both understeer and oversteer at the same time. $99 tires FTL

donour · Jun 5, 2009, 09:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RaNGVR-4

On an M3 we were at 42/41. Ill go dig the pictures up to show how much the tires roll off the rims, give me a few...

That's not enough. Go higher -- way higher. I tried 56 psi one day and was still in the 98 percentile of steady state grip.

I'm not saying that you should run 60 psi, but 42 isn't going to be enough for the M3, a car that lives and dies by transitions.

d

RaNGVR-4 · Jun 5, 2009, 01:32 PM

To me, thats just an inconsistent tire then. If you can stay within the 98th percentile of grip with a 15 psi change, how are you supposed to fine tune grip for the day? All our local STU guys swear by the Dunlops right now, and likely will until they can afford the AD08's.

You are right that the M3's are transitional monsters, thats all they have on us AWD guys really. And the Bridgestones, both RE01R and the RE11 both killed the transitional response on the M3 above. Once the dunlops went back on, it was a whole different car.