Vredestein Wintrac Pro 

I bought these tires based on a recommendation from a friend and I am very impressed. I do mostly city/hwy driving in the Spring through Fall months and so I see many forms of weather and drive in it. On Dry, these handle as close to R compounds that Ive found in a 140 UTOQ rating. They stick, theyre quiet and seem to be holding up though theyve seen 30 minute track sessions as well. They heat up quickly, psrt of that may be due to my negative camber scrubbing them a little, but I use N instead of air and the drift in pressure is minimal (3-4 lbs max). On wet roads I have to try to get them to break loose sideways. I can corner almost as fast as on dry pavement -- That is amazing!! It is true that once they "give" they give all the way, but what good, sticky, well made doesnt? They scream at me when Im on the edge so I know how hard to push my car through the turns. What a great tire!! By far the best Ive owned. I will definitely buy them again.

The RE050As in 235/40-17s newly mounted on stock 8.5 x 17 M Double Spoke II M3 rims on 3-Mar-06. Its now 8-Apr-06, and Ive put 1025 miles on the tires. Ride quality remains excellent. These are quiet and smooth tires when driven on acceptly paved roads. Dry and wet stick are amazing. My M3/4 has a Dinan airbox/exhaust/Conforti ECU reflash, netting 15 more hp than stock (to 255). With the ASC off and nailing the throttle in the wet, the car just accelerates briskly without drama. In a downpour, the tires are confidence-inspiring. Dry stick limits are far too high to test on the public roads--Im looking forward to doing a couple of drivers education track weekends with these tires to safely test the performance envelope. One criticism I have are the RE050As need for a rebalance at this low mileage. Newly mounted the tires needed very few weights to balance. After 1000 miles, I had vibration problems at 90+ mph speeds. Ive recently had the RE050As rebalanced, and hopefully the tires will settle in better. Overall Ive been very happy with the purchase. Im hoping for at least 12K to 15K miles before replacing them with another set.

These tires have lasted me for 35,000 miles. three track meets per yr. (80 minutes ea. at 140.mph.) no problems. great handling. All around great tire for highway driving and track. Amazing wet handling. no issues up to 80 mph in heavy downpour..Buying another set for the rears..

The first thing that you must remember with this tire is that it is not going to last long. It is a soft compound that is rated for 14k miles; I have about 11k with about 3/32 to 4/32 left. I am replacing them because of the poor hydroplaning resistance. I was less than impressed with this aspect to begin with, and it has not gotten any better with high wear.



Now, with the negative out of the way, less get to the good stuff. In the dry, this tire flat out rocks. To say that my driving style is spirited just does not quite describe it, and this tire has put huge smiles on my face every time that I have had a chance to really play with my Mazda. The tire responds very quickly to driver input, holds a line like it is running on rails and never gave me any problem with sudden line changes in the middle of the corner. Everything from quick switchbacks to high speed sweepers were handled with confidence bordering on flat out insanity. Though I have no measuring equipment, I would not be surprised if these things allowed me to hit the magical 1g on a few nicely banked corners going up route 211 in Virginia.



If you live in a place that does not have to deal with winter, or can have a dedicated set of summer tires, then these tires should be on your list to check out. Just be careful of the puddles in wet conditions and I am sure that you will love the grip and control of these Bridgestones.

Just finished up my third drivers education event this season with 3959 miles on my 235/40-17 RE050A tires mounted on 8.5x17 BMW M3 wheels all around at Putnam Park Road Course (dry conditions, 80-F ambient temps). Tires are stickiest, 17 minutes into the session; the last 8 minutes, the tires begin to overheat, and grip falls off (and slip angles increase dramatically). The overheating is worse when carrying student passengers (tires overheat 15 minutes into the session). Despite the limitations of nonR-compound tires for open lapping, the Bridgestone RE050As continue to impress not only myself (the driver), but onlookers who are surprised to find that Im running regular road tires (instead of stickier R-compound tires). The RE050As breakaway characteristics are forgiving with plenty of aural warning of how much grip is available. On the road they remain quiet and smooth. I still have a slight vibration at some speeds--and will need a BMW-specific wheel balancing job. Wear seems appropriate for use--Im hoping for 5000 more miles before buying another set of five (I rotate the spare into service as well). Im not sure how much better the Pole Position version of these tires will be--as Im quite happy with the regular RE050As! At driving events, I wear a "Bridgestone" F1 Grand Prix winners cap to show pride in these tires.

I purchased these tires 18 months ago when they were heavily discounted and have put 33,000 on them with outstanding results. I rotate them evey 6,000 miles or so and they seem to wear very evenly. I dont drive "high school" style however I do drive a car that invites spirited driving from time to time and these tires have proven very solidly, not to mention qiuet and very smooth. I still have 5-6/32s on these tires so I would imagine that I could get another 15K miles out of them safely before replacement. For a tire with a 140 treadwear rating that is outstanding. thanks -Dan

As one of the instructors at this weekends Central Indiana Region Porsche Club Drivers Education at Putnam Park Road Course, I was able to test my 97 BMW M3/4-doors track performance with the Bridgestone RE050A tires. With 1413 break-in miles on the tires (and 9/32nds tread depth), the dry stick, steering response, and handling are absolutely stunning. Putnam Park is a 10-turn high speed road course that places high stress on the left side tires, especially the LF http://www.putnampark.com/



My M3s suspension and camber settings are stock, and the RE050As held up quite well despite only -1.2 degrees of camber. Running 8.5 wide rears with the 235/40-17s all around neutralized the E36 M3s factory-dailed understeer (7.5 wide + 225/45-17 fr; 8.5 wide + 245/40-17 rr).



Morning sessions with cool track surface temps yielded the best performance from the RE050As, while the late afternoon sessions overheated the RE050As (tall tread depth)--stick would drop off late in each 22-minute session. The RE050As breakaway characteristics are progressive, protesting with a dull low-sounding groan. Overheated, the car drifts wide of the intended path. With shaved 4/32nd tread depth, I suspect these tires would do quite well as dedicated drivers education tires.



I beat on these tires for seven 22-minute opentrack sessions, and the drive home from Putnam Park was just as smooth and quiet as before the track event.



Although Bridgestone is replacing all the S03s and RE050s/RE05As with the RE050A Pole Positions, I still highly recommend the nonPole Position, nonrunflat RE050A--its been the best performing road/track tire Ive ever had.

This tire is the best street tire I have ever driven! The sidewalls are very stiff, so feedback and steering response are enhanced. The air pressure never needs adjusting. Every Saturday morning, I wake up, check the tire pressure, and it is right where I set it when I first got them 12000 miles ago. Now that's a high quality tire! They are starting to make some road noise now, but most likely that is because I need to rotate them. Tread life is great. After two auto-x events and daily driving, they hardly look worn. Treadware rating of 140 is very conservative. It should be higher, like 220. I'm definitely buying this tire again when the time comes, and that time is not coming soon. No wonder most auto manufacturers (like BMW, Mazda, Nissan, Honda) use this tire for their "summer tire package".

I drive a small car with a lot of power(280 lb/ft of Torque and 263 HP)and mistakenly thought that I colud get away with UHP tires yearlong, so got rid of my factory RE050A and got the Pirelli Zero Nero M+S(Which Ill review separately). Thats when I really missed the stickiness and steering response of the Bridgestones. These tires didnt squeal like the Pirellis, and the straight line dry traction under full power is excellent. Ill be keeping the Pirellis for winter, but Im buying the RE050A for summer. I miss the dry traction a lot.

These were the OEM tires that came on my 08 Infiniti G35. When new, these tires were great! Very responsive, good conering, decent wet tire traction, and low noise levels. However, just a shade under 15,000 miles and these tires are worn down to about 2/32" tread depth. That, in my book, is absolutely unacceptable!! There is no wet traction available whatsoever and the noise levels are pretty high. One would think for the price of these tires, you would get much better wear and lower noise levels. I am researching new tires and these will definitely NOT be a consideration. Please steer clear of these by all means!!

Probably the single worst tire for tread wear I have ever come across. This is my 3rd Infiniti G sedan with these tires and they start going bald at about 12000. They are toast by 20000. I lease my cars so I have to stretch it out as long as possible so I only have to buy 1 set before I hand it back. Any other tire but these would last my entire lease.

There is a good reason why the tread wear rating for the Bridgestone Potenza RE050A is just about as low as it gets. These tires are terrible. They are expensive and yet they preform poorly and wear even faster. The manufacturer must give a HUGE discount to the car makers for using these tires in hopes that you will foolishly buy another set when they wear out so quickly.

Use any other tire but these as a replacement tire. I have always used one of the Kuhmo models as replacement tires and I couldn't be happier with that decision.

If replacing your tires often is appealing to you then the Bridgestone Potenza RE050A is your tire.

I've gone through 2 sets of Bridgestone Potenza RE050As. I am a spirited driver and I enjoy throwing my RWD sedan into turns. Obviously, the biggest downfall of these tires is the tread wear as indicated by the wear rating. I was lucky to get 20K miles out of both sets, at 15K they were at the "must replace" stage. I assume if I was 'easier' on them I could stretch it to 30K but I then again I'd just buy a set of janky all seasons. The tradeoff for quick tire wear is outstanding performance. In both wet and dry summer days, these tires just always hooked and were always predictable. These tires perform the same down to the belts, unlike other tires that lose performance as they wear. The sidewall is incredibly stiff and doesn't flex in the turns. If you don't put on a lot of miles, they are a great tire.