Bridgestone Potenza RE-71R

[bigjae1976]

$250 a tire a Costco and comparable dry grip to the NT01...don't see a reason to at least not try the RE71 if you run 275/35R18s.

Interesting.

[///Mobbin]

Just ordered a set of 275/35R18's from Costco to run at COTA. Will report back on my thoughts after running them.

[WarrantyTracker]

Please let us know if you have any issues at Costco. Some of us have ordered square sets, and when we went to install they have balked, saying they will only sell the stock sizes BMW delivers for the car.

[Richbot]

I'm lucky to have soloperformancespecialties.com based local to me and they have a tire machine and a mounter a guy who knows how to use both.

Just bring loose wheels and tires and he mounts them. My personal best is 4 unmounted 18x9.5's 219M, 2 18x10's with 275/35-18 and 2 18x10's with 275/40-18's stuffed in my E90, and I didn't even have to take the child seat out

I hate tire shops with a special passion

[///Mobbin]

Tires are on and they gave me no issues, looking forward to trying them out at COTA in 3 weeks. Also looking forward to watching the F1 race in person this weekend!

[///Mobbin]

Originally Posted by Richbot

I hate tire shops with a special passion

I hear you! It took 3 hours to get my tires mounted yesterday and I made the mistake of grabbing lunch next door and then waiting it out. While I was waiting I found a mobile tire mounting business in town and called to get a quote. Mail ordering my tires and going to get them mounted in front of my house next time! The even have a balancer.

[8600RPM]

So did my first track day on my new re 71r. Have stock zcp wherls and 245/19 and,265/19.

Car has ebc yellow pads but otgerwise,stock brakes and fluid and suspension. I had done 6 track days in the past 2 months,on PSS tires and I was constantly fighting terrible understeer. Unless I slowed way way down through turns, my car,would push hard, especially after a few laps.

After 6 events, the pss fronts were corded at outer walls from constantly pushing.

I ordered camber plates but haven't installed yet.

All I can say is that the,re 71s were a game changer. I picked up 5 seconds on tge same track I ran the prior 2 weekends. Went from a 1:56 to 1:51. Nothing else changed.

Most amazing was the car had almost no understeer. Felt like I had a different suspension, it was nuts! Tires did not squeal at all vs pss which were constantly.

The,wear pattern over the front tires was virtually even with no extra outside edge,wear. Again shocking. Makes me question need for camber change now.

Also you can change these left to right as they are not directional so get lots of life if some outer edge wear happens.

I havent used any other common track tires but I am certainly going to stick to these for all events. Probably 20 this season.

[FMLYSDN]

Originally Posted by 8600RPM

So did my first track day on my new re 71r. Have stock zcp wherls and 245/19 and,265/19.

Car has ebc yellow pads but otgerwise,stock brakes and fluid and suspension. I had done 6 track days in the past 2 months,on PSS tires and I was constantly fighting terrible understeer. Unless I slowed way way down through turns, my car,would push hard, especially after a few laps.

After 6 events, the pss fronts were corded at outer walls from constantly pushing.

I ordered camber plates but haven't installed yet.

All I can say is that the,re 71s were a game changer. I picked up 5 seconds on tge same track I ran the prior 2 weekends. Went from a 1:56 to 1:51. Nothing else changed.

Most amazing was the car had almost no understeer. Felt like I had a different suspension, it was nuts! Tires did not squeal at all vs pss which were constantly.

The,wear pattern over the front tires was virtually even with no extra outside edge,wear. Again shocking. Makes me question need for camber change now.

Also you can change these left to right as they are not directional so get lots of life if some outer edge wear happens.

I havent used any other common track tires but I am certainly going to stick to these for all events. Probably 20 this season.

I would install the camber plates as I found it helped turn in and I am wanting to ensure even wear.

I was told that although the tires are directional, they can actual be rotated left to right.

Anyone want to chime in?

[8600RPM]

Originally Posted by FMLYSDN

I would install the camber plates as I found it helped turn in and I am wanting to ensure even wear.

I was told that although the tires are directional, they can actual be rotated left to right.

Anyone want to chime in?

I meant they are not asymmetric, so yes you can rotate left to right

[FMLYSDN]

Originally Posted by 8600RPM

I meant they are not asymmetric, so yes you can rotate left to right

Doh!!!

Sorry. Read it over and I totally misread it the first time.

[ThunderMoose]

Originally Posted by 8600RPM

I meant they are not asymmetric, so yes you can rotate left to right

They are directional though so be careful if you run in rain with them swapped.

[8600RPM]

I wasn't speaking correctly, I mean I'd have to get them recounted on the other side. Still pretty cheap to get double life but as I saw these wore so evenly across tread it may not be relevent. Now my stock pss I shoukd have done it

[bigjae1976]

Originally Posted by Richbot

I'm lucky to have soloperformancespecialties.com based local to me and they have a tire machine and a mounter a guy who knows how to use both.

Just bring loose wheels and tires and he mounts them. My personal best is 4 unmounted 18x9.5's 219M, 2 18x10's with 275/35-18 and 2 18x10's with 275/40-18's stuffed in my E90, and I didn't even have to take the child seat out

I hate tire shops with a special passion

That's pretty good!

But I still think I hold the record for 9 wheels and tires in an E90.

[z3papa]

Originally Posted by ThunderMoose

They are directional though so be careful if you run in rain with them swapped.

When you flip tires right to left, you are not changing their directional setup. You are taking tires from the driver's side with the outside worn, and moving them to the passenger side with the worn side mounted to the inside.

[FMLYSDN]

Originally Posted by z3papa

When you flip tires right to left, you are not changing their directional setup. You are taking tires from the driver's side with the outside worn, and moving them to the passenger side with the worn side mounted to the inside.

That's only if you're taking them off the rims. If you're rotating the the rims around then the directional orientation holds true. I believe most individuals utilizing a square setup aren't taking them off rims but rotating them.

[ThunderMoose]

Originally Posted by z3papa

When you flip tires right to left, you are not changing their directional setup. You are taking tires from the driver's side with the outside worn, and moving them to the passenger side with the worn side mounted to the inside.

Originally Posted by FMLYSDN

That's only if you're taking them off the rims. If you're rotating the the rims around then the directional orientation holds true. I believe most individuals utilizing a square setup aren't taking them off rims but rotating them.

I agree with both comments. I wasn't referring to flipping on the rims but rather the more common practice (like with Nitto's and Hoosiers) of just moving tires from right to left and vice versa. In the dry, you'd probably be ok with rotating RE71's, but in the wet (and I learned the hard way) you have to maintain direction.

So...in summary...we are in agreement with each other.

[Vox Populi]

I've made many posts about this. But the 71r is a better performing tire than NT01 (wet and dry). Full stop. I have three weekends of data to show this.

[FMLYSDN]

Anyone like to comment on optimum tire pressures (cold or hot)? I've been told that there is negligible impact?

Chime in, I'd love to get some feedback.

[dbyrd]

Discount Tire has them for $249 each as well - just ordered a set of 275/35/18s.

My NT-01s corded after 3.5 days, and I'm ready to try something new. I had to leave the track early yesterday - bummer.

Thanks, Ryan and All.

[redpriest]

You will want to add camber plates. I corded my RE-71R on the outside with plenty of meat left on the inside; trust me. I've flipped the RE-71R to get maximum life out of it, and with this careful management, was able to get 6 track days out of them (~14-18 hours of track time, btw)

[lutfy]

Originally Posted by Vox Populi

I've made many posts about this. But the 71r is a better performing tire than NT01 (wet and dry). Full stop. I have three weekends of data to show this.

Amen brother! Spot on, I attest the same comment.

Lutfy

[///Mobbin]

Seriously looking forward to trying these tires out, phenomenal reviews across many platforms.