Drivers describe the Bridgestone Potenza RE050A as a sharp, sporty UHP tire with strong steering feel and confident dry grip, and many high-scoring reviews also praise its stable handling and braking in the wet when temperatures are moderate. However, a substantial share of owners report a firm/harsh ride and rising road noise as the tire ages, alongside notable performance drop-offs in cold conditions (and very poor snow/ice ability). Wear rate and value are polarising: some achieve long life with correct pressures/rotation, while many others see rapid wear-especially on driven axles/inner shoulders-making cost a frequent complaint.
What owners mention most counted across 178 reviews
Tire is awe full. Grip is OK on dry and wet and that's it.
Tire is like a stone, uncomfortable at all. It wears super fast.
All in all. Not gonna buy again, ever!
After 24000 miles (3 years: 2y in front + 1y in back) my front tires need to be replaced (maybe they can hang on for another 1000 miles). The back tires are ok, maybe they get another 20000 miles?!
I have exchange the front with the rear tires at 8000 and at 16000 miles. I guess the "low" wear is due to that exchange.
I usually check the pressuare, assuring 34psi at front and 37psi at back.
This are the factory tires, and i will put another Potenza RE050A.
I can't compare this tires to others because i haven't tried another tires in this car, but i don't have nothing bad to say about this tires. So i think they are good tires. Anyway they are some of the top tires from bridgestone, so they must be good.
These tires aren't noisy (at least in my car).
I'm from Portugal so you can figure it out the weather: mostly sun, but some heavy rain/wet roads, and some/little snow.
Check out how the BEST all seasons tires perform against premium summer and winter tires!
MX5 2L 3.5 Sport 2011. Mostly fast motorway and occasional trackday. Manufacturer fitted Bridgestone Potenza RE050A. Good grip in dry and plenty in wet but noisy and lots of bump thump over anything but the smoothest tarmac. Rears have significant and uneven wear after 20,000 miles. Report suggests 29 psi too low. Recommend 32 psi for normal use but expect increased noise and discomfort. Tail end now so wayward will be changing rears v. soon as some areas down to wear bars. Fronts show very little wear apart from shoulders due to manufacturers recommended low 29 psi inflation. Thinking of ditching Bridgestone in favor of Toyo T1R, as worked well on previous Mk3, 2L Sport.
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Alful tire. Bad grip when weather is anything buy very hot. Wears fast, noisy, very rigit and uncomfortable. Feels like the cheapst tires out there but costs a pretty peny. Buy something else
First off lets start by acknowledging that these are an old model tires. They have been around for 10 years now.
My experience with them - I did a very gentle break in as the car was new too so i had it easy on the engine;).
I have never been more disappointed by a tire in my life. If the tarmac temperature is below 20 degrees they have no grip. The car is sliding around to the point where it is ridiculous. Its extremely easy to overwhelm them. Once you warm'em up the tire their grip improves but I can't afford doing a warm up lap each time I want to go the shops so unless its very hot and sunny where you live -avoid! The sidewalls are very hard and stiff and have no elasticity. If you hit a pothole with a low profile RE50A I guarantee an unreparable cut on the sidewall. The ride quality is unbearable! You feel every single imperfection on the road. I have had a racing slicks that offer greater comfort. These tires have considerable rolling resistance and this means poor fuel economy and you have probably guessed it, they are noisy. They are UHP tire so they wear fast especially if you push them. I called Bridgestone and complained to them. Bridgestone sent someone who even came with me on a test drive to see why did I feel so disappointed. His conclusion was that the tires are performing as expected and that yes they are lacking in performance but they are a very old model and suggested I spend another 400 EUR buying the RE070 or S001. When I pointed out that the RE070 is also a very stiff tire and that the S001 is getting bad reviews and is being beaten by Goodyear and Dunlop in the reviews he simply said "that is correct... ahhh we are bringing a new tire to replace the S001 in the coming year". I wish I could say something positive about Bridgestone but I am extremely disappointed with the RE050A I will try to sell these and get Dunlops MAXX RT or GoodYear Eagle F1 A2
150bhp/177lbft FWD car so nothing spectacular but on hard acceleration out of corners they skip and start to run wide when compared to my old thinner width Michelin Pilot Exalto PE2s.
Used on mostly motorways and A roads, they've lasted almost 18k miles which I think is ok but again, the old Michelins had more tread left at roughly the same mileage. They are pretty comfy in comparison though.
I need to replace my fronts now but wouldn't touch another set of these with a bargepole.
93%
Member
Opel
215/45 R17 W
50,000 miles
Mostly Motorways
Easy Going
a very good tires on all achievements. bought new 4 years ago for opel corsa of my spouse it had before conti 3.The beginning a huge difference in noise was later appeared in the RE050A steering acquired feeling the dry handling from another planet in the wet equally good.To car driven more than my wife but also mena.poly good the duration in time without cracks. changing now after 50 thousand miles with 70% at national speed and leisurely pace. what to put now because the BRIGESTONE is accurate joints and especially to RE050A. Maybe go to something cheaper not because they are good RE050A but why is expensive
During week car driven almost exclusively on motorway at 80-90kph, very easy kms. On weekend, city driving. Pretty good wet and dry grip until last 1/3 of wear. Good road performance and feedback. Wear average considering majority of kilometers are very easy (need replacement about 20000mi).
Major NEGATIVE: from about 15000km (~10000mi), became more and more noisy. At 35000km my car sounds like a 10 year old taxi. Tried aligning wheels twice but was informed problems was tire. Apparently common problem.
60000 miles on about 3,5-4 sets of these tires all together. In a Volvo C3 they performed very good also.
They are excellent tires! But I'm not so sure if tey give the same in rear wheel drive cars (i.e. MB or BMW)? That is the question.
Amazing tire, you can push to the limit anytime anywhere safely, as a race car driver i tend to be mostly demanding with grip in dry conditions. I couldnt ask for much more!
