New Bridgestone Potenza S007A

Link:  https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Bridgestone&tireModel=Potenza+S007A

The original S007 was the OE tire for the Ferrari F12, and then non-runflat versions propagated to some other performance/exotic cars; I guess this is a variant for mass consumption. Apparently it replaces the RE-11(A). In terms of wet grip, dry grip, and NVH, it's supposed to land somewhere between the S-04 Pole Position and the RE-71R.

Anyone know more about this tire and/or planning to run it soon?

Interesting. This seems like it might be a hybrid between the "Max Performance" tires in Tire Rack parlance and the dry motorsports focused "Extreme Performance tires" (they've classed it as extreme). The marketing blurb suggest wet performance is still a priority and the tread pattern seems similar to the Max performance tires. Like the Conti ECS they have a blurb about use in cold temperatures, flexing causing cracks, but the warning isn't as severe as with the other extreme tires. The wear rating is 240. Not a lot of sizes yet.

Yup.

The person I chatted with at Tire Rack said not to expect wet performance on par with the Max Performance Summer category leaders.  However, dry grip and feel should be better.

I'm all for options, but that's slicing the bread a little thin.  How much difference is a 240 treadwear from the 200's?  ...and is somewhat who doesn't want a 200 really dissatisfied with the current Max Performance offerings like the Pilot Supersport and Conti Extreme Contact Sports?  

I'm sure it's a great tire, but not sure who it's for.  

xflowgolf said:

I'm all for options, but that's slicing the bread a little thin.  How much difference is a 240 treadwear from the 200's?  ...and is somewhat who doesn't want a 200 really dissatisfied with the current Max Performance offerings like the Pilot Supersport and Conti Extreme Contact Sports?  

I'm sure it's a great tire, but not sure who it's for.  

I can't speak for anyone else, but I've found the PSS/PS4S to be a little soft-feeling.  AFAIK the other offerings in the category are even more so, on top of not performing as well.  My car's OE tire doesn't have that problem so much, but it's a big downgrade in every other respect, mainly because it's 2 generations old at this point.  I'd love a current tire that's a notch up in terms of handling feel, without going all the way to something as noisy, short-lived, and temperamental as an RE-71R.

I doubt I'd personally go for this tire just because I don't want to give up wet grip.  But I'm giving it a hard look.  And when I think of people who have performance cars they drive on the street but rarely or never in the rain, I can easily see how they might want something a bit harder-edged than the current Max Performance offerings with fewer downsides than the <200 TW types.

In terms of who it's for, I bet some OEMs, semi-casual autoXers and track day participants will be all over this. Presumably the 240 rating is more honest than some of the 200TW tires. If you want to have one do it all set of tires, that still has semi-reasonable wet performance (TBD), these S007s could be the one.

There's been a change in convention of late where very high performance new cars are selling with Pilot Sport Cup 2, etc. tires. When the various magazines do their tests, their impressions are heavily colored by these tires. The cars clad in practical Max performance tires sometimes get killed. eg. Ferrari has made dismissive comments about GM's propensity to slap race tires on street cars, something to the effect of "what if it rains?" Practicalities aside, I guess they had to say this when Ferrari 458 laps barely faster than a lower powered, heavier, $44k Camaro SS 1LE. ;)

Tire Rack review is up:  https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/testDisplay.jsp?ttid=239

Wet performance below that of the S-04 Pole Position is a bummer.  That'd put it comfortably below the Michelin PSS and way below the PS4S in that respect.  Nice to hear it has the response of a higher-performance tire than the S-04, but sucks to hear it lacks the feedback or feel.

Still, it looks like a good tire if you absolutely have to have one for both street and light track use.

Looking at other tire rack tests, the previous gen 200TW tires were ~.5 secs in the dry behind the RE71. That's where the S007A lands. 

When was the last time the S-04 was updated? I'm not sure if it's a decade old or if it's been updated without a name change? I'm surprised it's slower than the RE71 in the wet, although Tire Rack notes the track wasn't horribly damp and the performance of these tires could vary greatly because of that.

The prices of the S007A seem pretty good, but it's a 240TW tire. It would be interesting to see a comparison of this tire to the PS4 S and the Conti ECS.

Snrub said:

Looking at other tire rack tests, the previous gen 200TW tires were ~.5 secs in the dry behind the RE71. That's where the S007A lands. 

When was the last time the S-04 was updated? I'm not sure if it's a decade old or if it's been updated without a name change? I'm surprised it's slower than the RE71 in the wet, although Tire Rack notes the track wasn't horribly damp and the performance of these tires could vary greatly because of that.

The prices of the S007A seem pretty good, but it's a 240TW tire. It would be interesting to see a comparison of this tire to the PS4 S and the Conti ECS.

Good question on the S-04.  And completely agree on testing against the PS4S and ECS.  Would love to see that.  Are you reading this, Tire Rack??  :]

AnthonyGS said:

What I’ve often wondered is how would some older cars like the c5 z06 lap on these new wonder tires.  Tire tech seems to be a bigger influence on things like lightning lap times than many other factors now.

Sounds like the makings of an excellent GRM article! It would also be interesting to see these semi-road worthy competition tires up against the less expensive 200TW variety.

IamFODI 

Good question on the S-04.  And completely agree on testing against the PS4S and ECS.  Would love to see that.  Are you reading this, Tire Rack??  :]

I kind of get the impression Tire Rack doesn't want to step on too many toes with their tests. For big name brands like Pirelli, Goodyear, Yokohama, who tend to produce mid-tier tires, Tire rack's testing does them no favors. In many businesses manufacturers provide incentive, kick backs, etc. to retailers. eg. I've bought Sumitomo ZIIIs in the past and Falken FK510 recently based heavily on tire rack's data, that's money out of the big boy's pockets. When they do these dissimilar tires from the same brand tests, it feels like a promotion than anything else, as much as it's somewhat useful. I really like it when GRM tests tires, and recent tests of the PS4S and ECS have been a nice addition to the usual 200TW tests.

In reply to Snrub :

Interesting points.

Have you seen http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/?  What do you think?

Snrub said:

In terms of who it's for, I bet some OEMs, semi-casual autoXers and track day participants will be all over this. Presumably the 240 rating is more honest than some of the 200TW tires. If you want to have one do it all set of tires, that still has semi-reasonable wet performance (TBD), these S007s could be the one.

 

For me, this. 

It's what I wanted when I was looking for tires last year. 

Being in SoAZ, I tend to not worry about wet performance, but some grip in the wet is a good idea...

IamFODI said:

Interesting points.

Have you seen http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/?  What do you think?

I have. It's helpful for sure. A couple limitations seem to be different tire selection in Europe. For a tire I was recently considering they also had somewhat conflicting results from the same magazine in different years. GRMs results seem consistent. What are your thoughts?

In reply to Snrub :

I like that they sometimes do interesting comparos, like PS4 vs. PS4S vs. PSC2, Trofeo R vs. R888 vs. Giti Sport GTR3, etc.  Tire Rack doesn't seem capable of unconventional-but-interesting stuff like that.