The Bridgestone A001 receives broadly favorable owner reports for wet and dry grip, snow traction and resistance to standing water. Forty of 43 reviews are positive overall, although the full accounts include isolated wet-grip and dry-handling concerns. Noise is the most repeated reservation, criticised by about one in five of the 40 owners, while four praise it. Three repeat contributors remain positive overall, but their differing scores do not establish a shared ageing pattern. Although mileage often attracts praise, 41 reviews lack a stage of use and none is identified as end-of-life, so a general durability or grip-retention claim is not established.
What owners mention most counted across 40 reviews
Now on my second set on the front after 2 years, 20,000 miles. No wear on the rears after this mileage.. 8mm still !! Best tires for a family car, awesome wet weather safety and you won't get stuck during winter.
Update on my Nov 2012 review. Had two A001's on the front and I liked them - excellent grip in all conditions if this is your primary concern. They got me up a very steep hill in Derbyshire on 2-3 inches of freshly fallen snow. I also feel that they corner well too. The downside is that they now make a noise (after 18 months of wear) - sounds like your wheel bearing! Put them on the back and Vredestein Sportrac5 now on front but I get more understeer with these. Cured the noise though.
Check out how the BEST all seasons tires perform against premium summer and winter tires!
For cold and wet climate this is the very best tire I owned. The grip is amazing and the car is glued to the road. They must be very safe, and that 1-2% fuel efficiency loss is well worth it.
When it is hot expect to see them wear down faster.
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After a terrifying experience with mixed budget tires fitted by the previous owner on my Golf I decided to quickly ditch them and go for a whole new set. I almost went with the Bridgestone T001 but since it was Autumn at the time and nearing Winter I thought it be wise to go for the All Season A001 tire and I'm glad I did in the end.
On the dry I found there is little difference in grip levels compared to a standard summer tire and it holds corners very well. In fact it has a sporty feel to it which is surprising for an All Season tire! It coped very well on Hot Summers too, I drove 120 MPH with these tires on the German Autobahn in 30c heat and it never felt like it was going to waver - safe and stable.
The wet however is the A001's trump card, it is absolutely unstoppable in terms of grip and aquaplaning resistance in these conditions. The special compound and mixed tread pattern enables the A001 to cope standing water at high speeds (motorways) very well, a fantastic wet weather tire.
I found the A001 to have coped fine in the Snow & Ice, on a slippery snowy incline I saw a Mercedes C-Class tail sliding and got stuck midway, a tiny Nissan Micra followed after and tried to power its way up but failed in the end which surprised me. I had to stop on the incline to allow the two cars to clear a way. But once they did, while the A001 did slip slightly at first it had enough traction and bite to power my relatively heavy MK5 Golf up the snowy slope, I have to admit feeling a bit smug in the end! Generally it can cope compacted snow and ice fine but can struggle if there is really deep snow (like 4-5 inches) so you will need full on winters if deep snow is frequent.
Wear is good for an All Season tire, after over a year and covering 13,000 miles in various conditions the tires still have loads of tread left, I think they can last me another year at this rate. Overall if you want a single tire to cope the British weather all year round with confidence then the Bridgestone A001 is a fantastic choice, highly recommended.
These were my first set of replacement tires on my 58 VW Polo 1.4 FWD, and at the time of purchase Dec 2011 with 20875m on the clock, all I asked for was for a set of tires that would last me through the winter and also the summer. I must confess I couldn't care less about which tires they put on my car only that they were from a reputable brand. Fast forward two years and 19k+ miles later, and I'm still on the same tires. The fronts have about 2-3mm tread left in the center, and the rears don't look as if they have aged much at all with plenty of tread to last me another couple of years. Being a total tire newbie, I'm quite impressed by that, especially when I'm quite hard on my car. My usual routes take me on highways around the south/south-east/mid Scotland on a daily basis, and often in adverse weather too. What I definitely have noticed was how easy it has been to drive the car even in very heavy rain and also in bone dry conditions. I can't remember ever running into problems like aquaplaning, even during the wettest of days, and stability on the motorway during the few days a year of heavy snow we get in Scotland has been exemplary. The only bad points I can think of are 1) fuel economy (probably a combination of my driving style, inefficient dated petrol engine, and the tire), and 2) road noise.
I am really pleased with this tire. Previous Goodyear Excellence – on this car – were really well balanced but wore out in 22K to 24K miles (front pair), becoming really hard during the latter stages. Grip on compacted snow was non-existent. The A001s have been good all year round (though the last few winters have not been too bad) and lasted 32K miles. Hope the second set is as good.
I have literally just bought x4 of these for our Touran, following a nightmare driving experience over the weekend on Primacy HP's. I did not want to run two sets of tires, so when I heard about these being an all year round solution,it was a total winner.
When I left the house for the tire shop, it was all over place - traction control light on, every 2-3 feet it was sliding about until I got onto a clear main road.
Coming back on these A001's, is a total transformation - it is like the snow and ice don't exist. You can feel the tread pattern biting in, no wheel spin, no slips, slides - you can drive as normal (but taking care, of course) and on a safe stretch of road, I tested an emergency stop at 25mph (on compacted snow) and it literally stopped on the money. Nothing was untowards, total control and complete confidence now with the kids in the car.
I cannot comment on wear, as they are brand new. Guy at the tire shop runs them and he got 30K miles on the drive wheels, so if they last for that long then I will be very happy with that.
I paid £78.00 a corner (205/55/16/V) and also had a Hunter 4-wheel alignment done, which you will need to do to ensure the car is setup correctly.
Forget buying summer and winter tires, these do it all in one!
A001's are simply superb! On my A3 they are very grippy and very quiet, much quieter that the Michelin Primacy I had on before. As it is coming up to winter I wanted a tire suited to wet and slush etc and my only worry was if they were too noisy due to the tread but they feel soft, grippy and are quiet. The best tires I have had in 40 years driving. Have not tested progressiveness or wear as they have only done a thousand miles but I have had no probs with spirited driving in my remapped motor! They also seem to bulge out a little and protect alloys at kerbs.
