My WRX runs Bridgestone Potenza RE710s (yes 710s) 205x55 on 15s. I previously ran Pirelli P6000. Oh my gawd (janice from friends) what a diference. P6s understeered everywhere (wet and dry) and the potenzas give so much more grip. I'm putting them to a serious test this Sunday on what will probably be a rather slippery Knockhill circuit, so will let you know how I get on.

 

Potenza's do vary. The original RE011's I inherited with new age wheels were very stiff and had very precise handling and loads of grip wet and dry, tramlined quite a bit though. RE050's just fitted feel a bit softer and don't tramline at all and have less wet grip, but still feel very precise. They have more rounded shoulders than the 011.

 

Well Knockhill was very slippery and got worse as the day went on and the rain grew heavier. The b-stones performed very well. I found the usual understeer if I put the power down too early, but the grip came back sharply when throttle eased slightly - the answer (as most of you will already know) is to power out and not into the corner. It was great fun blasting past snaking rwd cossies and watching the fwd boys sliding wide under too much power!

The one thing that seriously impressed me was the braking stability - my early car doesn't have abs (which I prefer) and didn't lock-up once (and yes, I was braking very hard, you synics - pedal was fading towards the last lap of each session).

I'm soon to be spending a few quid on some upgrades - 17" rims, big brake kit and a whiteline rear arb, but I'll definately be putting the b-stones near the top of my tyre option list, although I may be tempted to try something else for further comparison.

At the end of the day tyre technolgy is moving so fast that yesterday's hero is tomorrow's zero as I find with my bike tyres every year!