Bridgestone  Turanza EL450 RFT

This is clearly a luxury performance all-season. Great choice for a sporty small to mid sized general use car. When pushed to higher performance levels, the tire gently says no thanks. No real faults, just not suitable for real sport use. The ride is quite stiff. Surprising when considering the limited sport potential. Doesn't hydroplane but feels like it will. Huge amount of tread grooves and sipes. Works in snow except for braking grip when compared to real snow tire. Long wearing. Perfect choice for base Mini Countryman or small Mercedes.

Avoid these tires if you ever need to drive on snowy/icy roads, these are practically slicks on snow/ice despite being marketed as all season tires. Dry/wet handling is fine for what they are, but they're very unpredictable in snowy/icy conditions. The ride is somewhat harsh probably due to them being run-flat tires, you will feel more vibrations and road imperfections than you should in a luxury vehicle. I am looking forward to replacing them with better tires on the market.

I rarely write reviews on tires as most of them have been pretty good to me. However, when I purchased my UX, these tires came with them and they are the worst tire I've ever had when it comes to a light or heavy snow tire, RFTs or not, it's unacceptable. For all-season, they do great in the spring/summer/fall, but the moment winter hits here in Chicago, even with a light dusting of snow. The car will literally slide at 5mph despite my wheel being turned to try and turn through a traffic light. Dangerous.

That's my only real gripe, in rain it does all right. Tread life is excellent thus far, but I would never run this tire again if you live anywhere where there's even a small chance of snow.

One of the best tires I've owned. So quiet and comfortable. Yet, good traction as well. And the fact they are run flats makes these tires a home run. Would buy again for sure.

I did not write a review of these tires sooner because I had nothing to compare them with. The tire seemed good, but with a new car and new tires it was hard to judge how good. I recently replaced them with Michelin AS3+ tires so I am happy to report how the Bridgestones compare with the highly rated AS3+ tires. They compare very well. The run-flat Bridgestones were created for this car and Alfa did a very good job of tuning the tire to the car. Traction and cornering are very similar to the Michelins for everyday and sporty driving, as is tracking and ride. The Bridgestones have a slightly softer sidewall that I think is better suited to the Alfa than the Michelins. The Michelins can be a bit harsh in Dynamic mode if you have the adaptive suspension. Steering response with the Bridgestones was simply perfect on the Alfa, but the Michelins are just a bit too responsive on the highway in my opinion. In short, the Turanzas are very good tires that compare favorably with the ultra high performance Michelin AS3s. I think the Bridgestone Turanza OEM tires are as good or better for the Giulia than the Michelins. Which is very good indeed, especially for a run-flat.

My car is leased, so I removed the run-flat Bridgestones with about half the tread left and will re-install them when I turn it in. Half the tread left after only 5,000 miles indicates a rather fast wearing tire, but I blame myself for that. The Alfa Romeo just begs to be driven hard, and the first 5,000 miles put a big dent in the tread. Multiple zero to 60 in 5.2 second starts a day will do that I guess. I'm sure a more reasonable driving style (good luck with that with the Giulia) will result in greatly improved wear. Still, I suspect that the 400 wear rating may be a little too high for this tire.

The OEM Turanza run-flats are excellent tires and are particularly well suited for this car. I would definitely buy them again, even over the Michelin AS3+

This was the OEM tire and could not purchase anything else. It provides great responsiveness and comfortable ride.

I really love this tires, the ride is pretty good.

They are very responsive and quiet for run-flat tires.

So far, so good. They are lasting far longer than the OEM Pirellis that were done at 10K miles.

At around 14,000 miles (12.500 of it driving in AZ heat and cold), the Turanza EL450 RFT (OE on my Countryman) did its job: Most of my driving is in highway and suburban conditions but I recently bought land in the AZ desert that required driving on primitive roads (i.e., graded dirt roads but aren't maintained). [It's Mini's SUV, right? So, I used it as such!] The sidewall of the right front tire was deeply gouged during a recent Saturday trip. The culprit was likely a rock with a sharp edge. They're all over the place, especially near the edge of the road. The RFT's shape held up and allowed me to drive ~10 miles further on primitive roads then another 15 on paved highway and street. The tire was toast and needed complete replacement, but I got safely home. Driving on it was the only option on those first 10 miles of graded dirt (AAA doesn't go to places it can't find using GPS), and just about every tow service I called was closed. Because of the confidence it would provide, there was no question that a replacement tire would be another Turanza EL450 RFT.