Bridgestone Weather Control A005 Reviews - Page 3

Given 91% while driving a Renault Talisman 160 edc estate (225/45 R17) on mostly motorways for 16 spirited miles
So the two A005’s on the front of my Renault Talisman were taken off today after a year and just over 26,000 kms on the front wheels. There was plenty of tread left, and the tires wet performance had. It degraded. Front left 4.3mm tread left. Front right 4.5mm tread. So nowhere near worn out. The big pluses of these tires is the excellent wet road grip, low noise, and low rolling resistance. Today I have had four Bridgestone weathercontrol A005 EVO tires fitted. I will review in due course.
Helpful 20 - tire reviewed on October 21, 2020
Given 81% while driving a Renault Talisman 160 edc estate (225/45 R17) on mostly motorways for 18,000 spirited miles
So this an update on these tires which have been on my car for almost a year and have covered 18000 miles so far. Up until now the tires have worn evenly. Looking at the fronts in particular, there is no sign of any severe degradation. I commute to London from northern France, but in recent months have been making round trips to northern Italy where I am now. Currently we have been experiencing temperatures of daily highs hitting 36C. On previous trips in July and August, it was even hotter. This has not affected the integrity of the tire. On the autoroute/autostrada the car tracks straight and true. Road noise is not an issue. In the wet, this tire inspires confidence. I have had to make a couple of emergency stops on wet/greasy roads and the ABS was not activated. I have not experienced any snowy conditions. Fuel consumption has not been affected adversely with the Bridgestone tires. To maximise the range of the relatively small 48 litre fuel tank on the Talisman (due to the rear wheel steering), I cruise at 110kph as per the GPS. The car averages 5.2 l/100 kms at this speed or 51 mpg which I think is excellent for such a big car. At 130 kph fuel consumption increases to 6.8 l/100 kph. Regarding ride comfort, I have the XL version of this tire. I run the tire pressures at the lower option as recommended by Renault of 2.3 Bar fronts and 2.1 Bar rear which is for constant speeds up to 160 kph. If heavily laden the pressures should be adjusted to 2.6 F, 2.4 R. Ride comfort has been fine at the lower setting and the tires have worn evenly. I chose this tire because I wanted a specification which leaned towards wet, icy or slushy conditions. The tire has a high resistance to aquaplaning and I have experienced quite a few events of high speed driving in heavy rain. These tires appear to be wearing better than the original summer Continental rubber on the front. Looking at the front tires right now, there is still some way to go to the wear bars. I haven’t noticed any dramatic loss of performance so far. My plan is to make another trip to Italy in October, then replace all four tires before the onset of winter. I am not going to wear the tires right out. On my previous car, a 2016 BMW 518d estate, I fitted Michelin Cross Climate tires which were excellent. I see that there is an EVO version of the Bridgestone A005 now. Perfect timing. Also the Michelin CC tires are now available in the Talisman’s size. The company who supply my tires in a France and fit them at my home, are offering free fitting with the Michelin’s. However the French brand are €39 more each than the new Bridgestone A005 EVO’s. It will be a difficult choice.
Helpful 13 - tire reviewed on September 18, 2020
Given 66% while driving a Honda Civic 1.8 5 door (225/45 R17 W) on a combination of roads for 4,800 easy going miles
Fitted these as a replacement for the OEM Bridgestone Turanza, based on 4 & 5 star reviews. Liked the wet weather safety performance so after quite a lot of research ordered these through Halfords online and had them fitted at a local Halfords autocentre. They had performed really well as a daily tire, with no real noticeable concerns. Clearly a 1.8 Honda Civic is never going to really push tires to any limits so across 12 months (all of the seasons) they have done as expected and safely ferried the kids, the shopping, the dogs etc... However very disappointingly exactly 1 year and day after being fitted the car had its annual MOT and was failed because the tires on the driven wheels had started to fall apart. 12 months and 4800 miles after being fitted! The tread blocks were split and flaps of tread were hanging off. The tires have been returned to Bridgestone for examination and replaced at our cost to pass the MOT. I'm very disappointed in the short life of these tires and what I'm more concerned about is that after contacting both Halfords and Bridgestone UK they advise that they wouldnt recommend fitting these tires in the UK unless living up north or in Scotland where its apparently colder or has more chance of snow. I've checked several websites and have yet to find this information in the usage guidance. So in summary I wouldn't recommend the A005 Weather Control tire if you're expecting a reasonable level of wear from your tires. They apparently cannot cope with one of the seasons. The heat of a summer!
Helpful 24 - tire reviewed on September 12, 2020
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Given 85% while driving a Alfa Romeo Giulietta (205/55 R16 V) on mostly country roads for 10 easy going miles
Tried these tires wife works at local hospital 11 miles away but some nice hills and poorly salted roads in winter can be an issue and she cant miss a shift due to weather and I drive her there. These are on my personal car not company car. Grip in all conditions (not met real snow) has been excellent ex motorbike rider like the corners bends and roundabouts :) I put the car in the line I want and the tires keep it there, can wheel spin on a spirited start but other than that performance wise great tire. Tread wear, at 10,500 miles service mechanics flagged that I was close to legal limit! that is somewhat disappointing as Bridgestone states " Offers the same high mileage as Bridgestone summer tires" Hmmm not so happy with this especially when I made the decision to fit All Season it means you can not mix any other tire type on the car so I either have to replace all 4 or suck it up and accept I am only going to get 10k miles on front tires. Before you all say heavy right foot I have been driving economically for the last year these tires were purchased 17th January 2019.
Helpful 18 - tire reviewed on August 12, 2020
Given 76% while driving a Ford Fiesta (195/45 R16 H) on a combination of roads for 12,000 average miles
Summary. Strong points: safe braking both in the dry and in the wet, effective road holding in the rain, including good resistance to aquaplaning. Weaknesses: very expensive, limited sporty attitude. Other features: honest in the dry, fair comfort with tolerable noise, normal wear, not bad the fuel consumption. Unfortunately, too little experience in the snow to make up my own opinion about this. On balance, satisfied with the purchase, so far. And if you want to know something more, let's read below! Bought brand new to fit our second car, an old glorious Ford Fiesta 5th generation, 5-doors, 1,250 cc, 55 kW, these Bridgestone Weather Control A005 195/45 R16H replaced both worn Petlas Velox Sport PT711 (195/45R16V, summer, I reviewed on August 8, 2019) and old Dunlop SP Winter Response (175/65 R14T, winter). We live in a little country town northern in Italy, at the edge of the plain, near lovely hills and ancient cities; so we used to drive in combination of roads, including plain or hilly country roads, city routes, ring roads, highways and on occasion motorways, covering however short mileage (less than 10,000 km/year). The climate of our own region is characterized mostly by good weather alternated with some rainy days, not rarely characterized by heavy precipitations; in winter there are also some foggy, frosty days, but snowfalls are usually rare. On that basis, we chose to try these four-season, that promised a good compromise between summer and winter tires. After two years, I can say that the first valuable strength of these tires is actually the effective breaking grip, both in the dry and in the wet, comparable to that I would expect from a reliable summer tire (and that I didn't just take me for granted by a four-season). In particular, the braking system of our car is maintained in full efficiency and these tires comply well with them, by transferring with good precision the stopping power to the roadbed, giving the feeling the car is always firmly in contact with the ground while decelerating, even in case of uneven ground. So I noted no appreciable breaking decline compared to the previous summer tires at all, and eventually some improvement compared to the old winter tires, especially in the wet. Apart breaking, in the dry the dynamic performance of these tires are fairly good, although with poor sporty attitude. At cruise speed or little more the driving is quiet and cornering doesn't concern, as the car moves where I want it, while the robust sidewalls (the A005 are "XL" by default) improve the feeling of stability, taking at the same time no much away from the comfort. In this regard, these tires are somewhat noisy, but I find the pitch not so much annoying, after all. Conversely, I get few satisfaction whenever I look for a bit of sportiness on dry grounds, for example trying to ride spirited on our funny hilly roads. This is because of both suboptimal subjective handling and road feedback as the gas is pushed on. In particular, by increasing the speed, road feedback seems me to get somewhat muffled in the straight, becoming conversely some edgy and a bit nervous in the corners, where in addition the car tend to oversteer a little. This behavior, I didn't observe with the previous tires, tend to intensify in summer, as temperature increases. However, it should be noted that this feature affects mostly my subjective feeling, yet without impairing car stability. In particular, the tendency to oversteer in the dry occurs progressively, is well predictable and easy to compensate, whereas road feedback remains always sufficient to understand when the car is about to approach the limit. Changing the subject, I must actually deserve a special mention to the behavior of these A005 in the rain, that is in my opinion the second, very interesting strong point of these tires. I already said about the fully satisfying wet braking, effective and precise. In addition, these A005 don't lose out even in challenging conditions, like braking on heavy wet asphalt, wet cobblestone or track made slippy by wet foliage. Moreover, on wet asphalt, handling gets more funny, steering neutral and road feedback more confident, giving the feeling to get at any time the precise state of the current ground-tire connection. By pushing the car to test its limit while cornering in the wet, the loss of lateral grip occurs gradually and well predictable, with no surprises. Last but not least, despite the large footprint of our tires, I could appreciate a reassuring resistance to aquaplaning as on occasion I happen to cross without problems some unexpected, relatively deep puddles at a speed well higher than the fateful 70 - 80 km/h... Because of only trivial snow falls occurred the last years in our region, I've unfortunately no adequate experience with these A005 in the snow, to have a reliable opinion about that. Likewise, I haven't encountered really heavy icy roads or ice storms, so far. However, in winter I often run foggy roads covered by frost. In that conditions I used to drive very careful and only a couple of times I tried to test handling by speeding up in some roundabouts. That said, I find both breaking and road holding satisfying also in such conditions, as I ever had the feeling to have full control of the car. As regards economic balance, one must consider, first of all, the expensive selling price of these tires. Nevertheless, we bought them with the hope that this noble Japanese premium brand could offer us a bit more quality, compared to cheaper options. On the other hand, since we fitted these tires, fuel consumption declined appreciably: despite my tendency to spirited driving (on the contrary my wife drives more slowly), I noted some improvement in the milage covered with a tank of gas, compared to both the previous summer and winter tires. Finally, I don't calculate precisely the wear of these tires. However, after two years, almost 20.000 km, a certain wear is noticeable. Nevertheless, I don't appreciate any detectable loss of performance so far, and there are still several millimeters of available tread. As we travel few km per season, I think these tires will last at least three more years. In conclusion, to date these Bridgestone A005 have substantially well suited our needs, especially as regards safety concern and performance in the wet. With the limitation that I cannot say nothing about snow driving with these tires so far, on balance, I'd most probably buy them again and I'd recommend them to those that have requirements similar to ours, but are also willing to take in to account a not light purchase price.
Helpful 18 - tire reviewed on June 22, 2020
Given 90% while driving a Renault Clio II 1.2 16v (185/55 R15) on a combination of roads for 8,000 average miles
Great tire, I have had them for about a year now and they are really good at handling differernt road types. Managed to drive them on some mud and also handled well with little slip. I replaced all 4 of my random tires when I bought the car with these and haven't looked back since. Hardly any tire noise when driving at high speed on the motoroway.
Helpful 18 - tire reviewed on June 15, 2020
Given 94% while driving a Kia Motors ceed (225/45 R17 W) on a combination of roads for 100 average miles
After much in depth research plumped for these as against the Cross Climate + as I was not prepared to accept the dry braking penalty associated with them for use in the UK. First ‘dry’ findings are slightly softer ride compared to OE Primacy 3, and in my view more acceptable. Noise the same. Handling as good as if not actually better. If they perform to that claimed then I will be well pleased. Very promising start.
Helpful 27 - tire reviewed on April 24, 2020
Given 80% while driving a BMW 320d efficient dynamics (205/55 R16 V) on mostly motorways for 3,000 average miles
Having worked for Bridgestone for almost 9 yrs untill 2012 I wanted to try Bridgestone's latest 4 season product. Now reviewing a product is tricky, it all depends on what you had before and what your personal feelings and preferences are about certain characteristics of a tire. Currently I'm driving a BMW 320d EfficientDynamics model, 163hp/380Nm on the rear wheels. I bought the car with Goodyear EfficientGrip's on the front, and Conti PremiumContact's on the rear. All tires were RunFlat models, so extremely stiff sidewalls to cope with punctures. Ride comfort was a bit harsh sometimes, but handling like a sportscar. Mostly moderate highway driving for work, doing 1000km a week. Tires lasted roughly 80.000km Then onto the Bridgestones themselves. I bought the new Driveguard ones because i wanted the runflat option. Your car needs a TPMS system for that though. I've done some 5000km now, tires are performing just fine. So far excellent grip in wet conditions! In dry it also seems to behave like a normal summer tire. They're not as ridgid as the previous runflats, so steering is a bit less razor sharp, but the comfort improved! Fuel consumption is slightly higher, but with this car i'm still averaging 5liters per 100km, so still very good. Havent tried them in snow or ice yet. Noise is pretty similar compared to my summer tires, only the frequency is a bit lower. Only with certain long exits on the highway theres this slight rumbling noise which hints you that you're driving something else than summer tires. So far so good! I can't say anything about wear yet, but as it's a 4 season tire, I expect them to wear a bit faster than average. So far, I'm very impressed by the wet performance! As for the review by the Golf GTD owner below here, mate, step off the accelerator because my BMW has similar power levels and I think they will last about 25k-30k miles...
Helpful 17 - tire reviewed on March 12, 2020
Given 51% while driving a Volkswagen Golf 7 GTD (205/55 R16 R) on mostly country roads for 9,000 average miles
Tires fitted in emergency just before a long Scandinavian road (read rough road & track) trip. They were ok to begin with for grip all round but have progressively dropped off. They're nearly worn out now and I won't buy again simply because they've only done 9000 miles and are down to the legal limit. They haven't lasted long enough to be tested in snow but have been fine on rough and cold, wet roads. Maybe better suited to a lower powered car.
Helpful 24 - tire reviewed on January 20, 2020
Given 89% while driving a Suzuki 2007 Vtt Suzuki swift (185/60 R15 V) on a combination of roads for 1,500 average miles
Iam very satisfied with a005 they are the best tire for rain and wet roads the grip is phenomenal you feel like you drive on dry road. Unfortunately
I haven't driven in snow yet so I don't test them on snow/ice conditions. In summer they were ok with good grip and normal brake distance. I will make a new review when I will test them on snow. I also notice that they were a bit noisy the first days but after a few days the noise stopped.My car is a suzuki swift and iam from Greece. I really recommend them especially for rainy countries or countries with hot summer and a few days with snow .
Helpful 20 - tire reviewed on January 8, 2020
Given 90% while driving a BMW 130 (225/40 R18 W) on a combination of roads for 100 spirited miles
Purchased for a BMW 1 series, with the weather getting worse and the rears needed replacing soon. The original fronts were always a little weak by design. Have gone for 1 size increase (the maximum for my wheel size). This has increased the tire height marginally but also increased the footprint. Took car out and about on a usually bumpy road with it raining and in the limited time I have had the tires, there is a definite improvement.
Helpful 19 - tire reviewed on December 21, 2019
Given 64% while driving a Peugeot 308 (225/45 R17 W) on a combination of roads for 11,000 easy going miles
I have bittersweet thoughts about this tire (Peugeot 308 II series):

POSITIVES:
- Dry and wet handling and grip, both in the summer and winter (up to 38°C in the summer and down to -7°C in the winter).
- Price compared to competition, 225 45 17's cost me 85€ per tire (Italy).
- Comfort is very good, pretty silent for 4s tires and the general driving comfort is good.
- Road feedback is good, feels like a summer tire in warm weather and in the winter (dry and wet) I always feel safe.

NEGATIVES:
- Snow handling and grip, just TERRIBLE. I know that these are 4s tires and not winter tires so I wasn't expecting them to perform as the latter, but as soon as there is a minimal amount of snow on the road you start to feel unsafe. When the road is flat they perform better than a summer tire, but you really need to slow down (1st or 2nd gear) and watch you driving. When the road starts going uphill or downhill is where they throw in the towel, almost NO grip and handling is reaaaally sketchy.

I can't really say much about the wear, I'm up to 18'000km and for now it looks to be normal.

Would I buy them again? Absolutely not! As I said above, I know these are not winter tires and I cannot expect them to perform as such, but the idea behind this model is that you should feel relatively safe when the conditions get a bit rough (and that's what the ads publicize), and in a couple of occasions I really feared for my safety and believe me, the weather was far from being anywhere nearto a snow storm/blizzard like.

If you are absolutely sure you won't be driving on snow, or if you have other options in case it snows, then I would recommend this tire, otherwise try with another model/brand.


Helpful 21 - tire reviewed on December 13, 2019