Bridgestone Potenza Sport vs Firestone Firehawk Sport
The data shows a clear pattern: the Potenza Sport repeatedly delivers shorter braking distances and faster lap speeds in both wet and dry conditions, often by meaningful margins, while the Firehawk Sport counters with markedly lower rolling resistance, slightly lower noise, and a lower purchase price. Notably, recent tests highlight a big surprise for the Potenza Sport-significantly improved mileage-shifting the value discussion in its favor over longer ownership.
Test Results
Independent comparison tire tests are the best source of data to get tire information from, and the good news is there have been five tests which compare both tires directly!
| Tire | Test Wins | Performance |
|---|---|---|
| Bridgestone Potenza Sport | four | |
| Firestone Firehawk Sport | one |
While it might look like the Bridgestone Potenza Sport is better than the Firestone Firehawk Sport purely based on the higher number of test wins, tires are very complicated objects which means where one tire is better than the other can be more important in real world use.
Let's look at how the two tires compare across multiple tire test categories.
Key Strengths
- Consistently shorter wet and dry braking and faster handling times; class-leading wet performance in most tests
- Very strong aquaplaning resistance, especially in curved aquaplaning
- Substantially better mileage and lower abrasion in recent tests, improving long-term value
- Precise steering and stable, sporty dynamics with high safety reserves
- Lowest rolling resistance in test groups, aiding fuel economy
- Quieter external noise levels by ~1-2 dB in several tests
- Lower purchase price, attractive entry point to UHP performance
- Stable, predictable dry handling with good straight-line aquaplaning performance
Dry Braking
Looking at data from five tire tests, the Bridgestone Potenza Sport was better during four dry braking tests. On average the Bridgestone Potenza Sport stopped the vehicle in 3.38% less distance than the Firestone Firehawk Sport.
Best In Dry Braking: Bridgestone Potenza Sport
See how the Dry Braking winner was calculated >>
Dry Handling [Km/H]
Looking at data from three tire tests, the Bridgestone Potenza Sport was better during three dry handling [km/h] tests. On average the Bridgestone Potenza Sport was 1.57% faster around a lap than the Firestone Firehawk Sport.
Best In Dry Handling [Km/H]: Bridgestone Potenza Sport
See how the Dry Handling winner was calculated >>
Wet Braking
Looking at data from five tire tests, the Bridgestone Potenza Sport was better during four wet braking tests. On average the Bridgestone Potenza Sport stopped the vehicle in 6.26% less distance than the Firestone Firehawk Sport.
Best In Wet Braking: Bridgestone Potenza Sport
See how the Wet Braking winner was calculated >>
Wet Braking - Concrete
Looking at data from one tire tests, the Bridgestone Potenza Sport was better during one wet braking - concrete tests. On average the Bridgestone Potenza Sport stopped the vehicle in 8.95% less distance than the Firestone Firehawk Sport.
Best In Wet Braking - Concrete: Bridgestone Potenza Sport
See how the Wet Braking - Concrete winner was calculated >>
Wet Handling [Km/H]
Looking at data from three tire tests, the Bridgestone Potenza Sport was better during three wet handling [km/h] tests. On average the Bridgestone Potenza Sport was 4.01% faster around a wet lap than the Firestone Firehawk Sport.
Best In Wet Handling [Km/H]: Bridgestone Potenza Sport
See how the Wet Handling winner was calculated >>
Wet Circle
Looking at data from one tire tests, the Bridgestone Potenza Sport was better during one wet circle tests. On average the Bridgestone Potenza Sport had 3.75% higher lateral wet grip than the Firestone Firehawk Sport.
Best In Wet Circle: Bridgestone Potenza Sport
See how the Wet Circle winner was calculated >>
Straight Aqua
Looking at data from four tire tests, the Bridgestone Potenza Sport was better during two straight aqua tests. On average the Bridgestone Potenza Sport floated at a 1.24% higher speed than the Firestone Firehawk Sport.
Best In Straight Aqua: Bridgestone Potenza Sport
See how the Straight Aqua winner was calculated >>
Curved Aquaplaning
Looking at data from four tire tests, the Bridgestone Potenza Sport was better during three curved aquaplaning tests. On average the Bridgestone Potenza Sport slipped out at a 5.56% higher speed than the Firestone Firehawk Sport.
Best In Curved Aquaplaning: Bridgestone Potenza Sport
See how the Curved Aquaplaning winner was calculated >>
Subj. Comfort
Looking at data from one tire tests, the Bridgestone Potenza Sport and Firestone Firehawk Sport performed equally well in subj. comfort tests.
Best In Subj. Comfort: Both tires performed equally well
See how the Subj. Comfort winner was calculated >>
Noise
Looking at data from four tire tests, the Firestone Firehawk Sport was better during four noise tests. On average the Firestone Firehawk Sport measured 1.66% quieter than the Bridgestone Potenza Sport.
Best In Noise: Firestone Firehawk Sport
See how the Noise winner was calculated >>
Wear
Looking at data from two tire tests, the Bridgestone Potenza Sport was better during two wear tests. On average the Bridgestone Potenza Sport is predicted to cover 34.26% miles before reaching 1.6mm than the Firestone Firehawk Sport.
Best In Wear: Bridgestone Potenza Sport
See how the Wear winner was calculated >>
Value
Looking at data from two tire tests, the Bridgestone Potenza Sport was better during two value tests. On average the Bridgestone Potenza Sport proved to have a 26.39% better value based on price/1000km than the Firestone Firehawk Sport.
Best In Value: Bridgestone Potenza Sport
See how the Value winner was calculated >>
Price
Looking at data from two tire tests, the Firestone Firehawk Sport was better during two price tests. On average the Firestone Firehawk Sport cost 16.9% less than the Bridgestone Potenza Sport.
Best In Price: Firestone Firehawk Sport
See how the Price winner was calculated >>
Rolling Resistance
Looking at data from three tire tests, the Firestone Firehawk Sport was better during three rolling resistance tests. On average the Firestone Firehawk Sport had a 25.77% lower rolling resistance than the Bridgestone Potenza Sport.
Best In Rolling Resistance: Firestone Firehawk Sport
See how the Rolling Resistance winner was calculated >>
Fuel Consumption
Looking at data from one tire tests, the Firestone Firehawk Sport was better during one fuel consumption tests. On average the Firestone Firehawk Sport used 5.17% less fuel than the Bridgestone Potenza Sport.
Best In Fuel Consumption: Firestone Firehawk Sport
See how the Fuel Consumption winner was calculated >>
Abrasion
Looking at data from one tire tests, the Bridgestone Potenza Sport was better during one abrasion tests. On average the Bridgestone Potenza Sport emitted 21.33% less particle wear matter than the Firestone Firehawk Sport.
Best In Abrasion: Bridgestone Potenza Sport
See how the Abrasion winner was calculated >>
Real World Driver Reviews
Tire Reviews also collects real world driver reviews for the Bridgestone Potenza Sport and Firestone Firehawk Sport.
In total the Bridgestone Potenza Sport has been reviewed 124 times and drivers have given the tire 80% overall.
The Firestone Firehawk Sport has been reviewed 6 times and drivers have given the tire 76% overall.
This means in real world driving, people prefer the Bridgestone Potenza Sport.
Conclusion
The Firehawk Sport shines where efficiency and refinement matter. It repeatedly posts class-leading low rolling resistance (e.g., 7.1-7.6 kg/t vs 9.9-10.2 kg/t for Bridgestone), slightly lower exterior noise, and a lower purchase price. Dry behavior is stable and predictable, but its wet grip and wet handling are inconsistent across tests and generally trail the Potenza Sport. For drivers prioritizing fuel economy and a quieter, lower-cost tire-and who drive moderately in predominantly dry conditions-the Firehawk Sport remains a sensible choice.
Key Differences
- Braking: Potenza Sport stops shorter in most tests (e.g., dry 32.6 m vs 34.6 m; wet 43.1 m vs 48.7 m in Auto Bild 2025), a meaningful safety margin.
- Wet handling and lateral grip: Bridgestone is typically 3-6% quicker on wet tracks and circles; Firestone can feel understeery in the wet.
- Aquaplaning: Straight-line results are mixed, but Bridgestone leads in curved aquaplaning; Firestone occasionally edges straight aquaplaning.
- Efficiency: Firestone's rolling resistance is ~20-30% lower (≈7.1-7.6 kg/t vs ≈9.9-10.2 kg/t), yielding lower fuel consumption.
- Noise and comfort: Firestone runs slightly quieter; subjective comfort is similar overall.
- Wear and value over time: Bridgestone's projected mileage is roughly 46-59% higher in recent tests, offsetting its higher purchase price and delivering better price-per-1,000 km.
Overall Winner: Bridgestone Potenza Sport
Based on the tire test data and user reviews we have in our database, the Bridgestone Potenza Sport has demonstrated better overall performance in this comparison. However, as you can see from the spider diagram above, each tire has its own strengths which should be considered in your final tire buying choice.Similar Comparisons
Looking for more tire comparisons? Here are other direct comparisons involving these tires:
Bridgestone Potenza Sport Top Comparisons
No other comparisons available for this tire.
Firestone Firehawk Sport Top Comparisons
No other comparisons available for this tire.
Footnote
This page has been developed using tire industry testing best practices. This means we are only comparing tests which have had both tires in the same test.
Why is this important? Tire testing is heavily affected by things like surface grip levels and surface temperature, which means you can only compare values from the same day. During a tire test external condition changes are calculated into the overall results, but it is not possible to calculate this between tire tests performed on different days or at different locations.
As a result you will see other tests on Tire Reviews which feature both the %s and %s, but as they weren't conducted on the same day, the results are not comparable.
Lots of other websites do this sort of tire comparison, Tire Reviews doesn't.