The New Bridgestone Potenza Sport A-S Is A Well Rounded All-Weather Performance Tire

So right over this guardrail are two high performance vehicles you should be quite familiar with. The ultra desirable Honda Civic Type R and then of course right behind me is the ultra high performance NSX Type S. Basically the last high performance version of the NSX before Acura decides to bring this vehicle into the next generation making it all electric. However today we're not here to talk about the cars. We're actually here to talk about the tires because Bridgestone has flown us out to Atlanta Motorsports Park just outside of Atlanta, Georgia to sample their latest lineup of Potenza Sport tires. Let me start of course with this model here. This is the flagship of the Potenza Sport family. It's the Potenza RE71RS. It's basically a track focused tire for those of you who want to get the best lap times in your race car. Moving over to here, this is the Potenza Race. It's essentially a track and street tire designed to compete against the Trofeo R and Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires. It's an R compound tire. And then over here you can see this is going to give you the best balance if you guys are looking for a tire, a summer tire for your sports car. It's the Potenza Sport. Think of it as their version as the Pilot Sport 4S tire. And then right here, this is the newest version or the newest member of the Potenza Sport family. It's the Potenza Sport AS which means it's an ultra high performance all season tire. And this is an all new tire from Bridgestone that is going on sale in early September. And this is the tire that we're here to focus on. So in today's video we're going to do things a little bit differently. We're actually going to drive vehicles equipped with each of these tires and we're going to find out has Bridgestone managed to create a new family of ultra high performance tires to appeal to enthusiasts. Stay tuned to find out. So typically I do a walk around to show you guys all the different aspects of the car. But again, we're not here to talk about the car. We're here to talk about the tire. So I figured I'd show you guys some points about each of these tires. We're going to start of course with the Potenza RE71RS. And to do that I'm going to pull out my cheat sheet because I can't really memorize everything that Bridgestone was telling us. But this tire here is basically known as the flagship of the Potenza sport family. It is a track focused R compound tire that's really designed primarily for the track. This one here is a 255 by 40 R18 width tire. It's actually taken off of the Civic Type R and the Civic SI race car that we'll be driving out on the track later on. Bridgestone says it's available in 38 different sizes from a 15 all the way up to a 20 inch rim. It's got a new asymmetric tread pattern and tread compound for enhanced drive performance. It also basically improves the contact pressure for enhanced wear on the track. So Bridgestone basically says this tire is going to last a long time on the track, basically all the way through your last lap and give you that consistent grip, that consistent feel. And you can see the tread compound is very aggressive, but don't be trying to drive this out on the street because it's really designed mostly for the track. Now over here, the next tire over is the Potenza Race. This is basically one step down from the RE71RS. This is the same tire that's on the front wheel of the NSX Type S that's right next to me. And this is essentially a street and a track tire. It's still an R compound tire, but it's designed to compete with the Pirelli PZero Trofeo R, the Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires. And this tire here, Bridgestone says they offer it in 13 different sizes for sports cars, sports sedans, and exotic cars. It builds basically on the base Potenza Sport design, but with a dedicated tread pattern and compound. And it's the original equipment tire on a Lamborghini Huracan STO. So again, very serious tire. It's going to give you the grip that you expect for those of you who have a high-performance car like an NSX or a Lamborghini. Now this tire here is probably the most all-around summer performance tire. It's the Potenza Sport. And this tire is going to compete with other tires like the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tire, a Continental Conti Sport contact tire as well. It's available in 83 different sizes. And this tire here is on the Nissan Z that we're going to be driving later on. However, this model is a 225 by 45 R18. It's actually the same size tire for the Subaru BRZs, which we'll be driving on the wet skid pad or slalom course. Now it's available in 83 sizes for sports sedans and sports cars. It offers precise steering, responsive handling, and performance for street driving. And Bridgestone also claims it's the leader in the wet handling performance. And it's an OE fitment that you'll find on some Lamborghinis, some Maseratis, and on some Ferraris. And as you can see, it's a really aggressive looking tire. And again, it's going to give you maximum grip, but everyday drivability for those of you who want to attack your favorite back roads. Now moving on to the last tire here, this is the newest tire that I mentioned earlier from the Potenza family. It's the Potenza Sport AS tire. And it replaces an older tire that had a very crazy long name, the Potenza RE980 AS+. Now that tire came out about three years ago. This is the replacement for that tire. And Bridgestone says they've made some improvements to the wet and dry performance with a focus on delivering precise steering and handling. They also have improved the winter performance. They're claiming it's the best in the segment. And they've also enhanced the wear life because this is the first tire with their enlightened tire technology, their rubber technology. And it also has the peak life technology. And what that essentially means is Bridgestone had to develop a new rubber compound that allows the silica to bond to the polymers a lot easier, which essentially means that it extends the wear or the wear life of the tire. And of course it increases the grip. Bridgestone actually says this tire comes with a 50,000 mile warranty, which is pretty good for an ultra high performance all season tire. This is the tire that we're going to be driving on the BRZs on the wet slalom course. It's a 225 by 40 R18. Bridgestone says that this is going to become their bread and butter tire. And actually, I forgot to mention how many they're actually going to be in terms of sizes. 48 sizes for sports sedan, sports cars with an expansion to 76 sizes in 2024. And they've also included the Y speed rating, which is required to address competitive gaps. Because as you guys know, cars today are just getting faster and faster, which is ridiculous. And then I mentioned earlier that 50,000 mile tread life. I also particularly like the way this tire looks. I actually had a lot of experience in the Michelin Pilot Sport 4 all season tire. That's essentially what competes with this. I had that on the Mustang Mach-E that we owned for a little over a year. So I'll be curious to get behind the wheel of all four of the tires, but this is the one that essentially is going to be appealing to most people because it is a tire that you can run all year round. Don't stall this car out. So the flagship tire for the Bridgestone Potenza line is the RE71RS. And this is literally a track competition tire built for people who are looking for the best lap times on their race car. This is primarily for track driving. It's not necessarily great for road driving, but this Si is literally a race car that Bridgestone is borrowing from Honda. And it's a 255 by 40 R17 wide tire. So we're going to go out here on Atlanta Motorsports Park. We're going to see just how much grip this tire actually gives you. And keep in mind, this is, I don't drive race cars very often, but I'm going to try my best to talk with you. It's going to be a little bit loud though. And I'm following this Civic Type R in front of me, but the grip of these tires is insane. I mean, this is a pretty modified Civic Si, obviously. It's got a Hondata tune. It's got freer, or it breathes easier. It has a lot less weight, clearly. The one thing I'm noticing immediately is the steering response. Like you can feel everything in this thing. The tires are transmitting all the feedback. But I'm going to shut up. I'm just going to drive for a little bit, give you guys my thoughts later on, because this tire literally makes this whole experience a more complete experience, just because of how much grip and how much stability and how much feel I'm getting through the steering and from the suspension. Wow, there's so much grip here. Amazes me is the turn-in response. You turn the wheel, the front tires immediately grip. Drive these cars on rails, on a track. You need to stop. That grip from the tires also helps to slow this thing down. No understeer, really. This is a front-wheel drive car. That grip you can expect from the flagship track tire. We're going to hop into the race, the Sport, and of course the new Sport AS tire, and we're going to see what the rest of the Potenza family is down the line. So if you guys are looking for the best all-around summer tire, this is what the Bridgestone Potenza Sport tire is made for. Think of this tire as a competitor to the very, very good Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tire, which I have raved about constantly. I had that on my Porsche Cayman GTS, and then I had the all-season version on the Mach-E. This Nissan Z is equipped with the Potenza Sports. Typically, it comes with the Potenza S007, which is a little bit more fuel-efficiency-minded. It gives up some grip for some efficiency, but let's see what it's like here on the road. The one thing I'm noticing immediately, the grip from these tires is just so much better. I'm shocked at how good the grip actually is, because the last Z that I drove, I remember it was a little more tail-happy than I wanted it to be. The back end liked to step out a lot, and I would happily trade the grip or the fuel efficiency for the grip that these tires are giving me. I'm also noticing the steering in this car feels heavier, which I like. It's giving me more feedback from what the front tires are doing to what the steering wheel is telling me, and it just makes this car, which remember, it has a very old chassis. I feel like I'm driving a car from 15 years ago. It makes this car feel a little bit stickier. I mean, I would love to try out these tires on a Toyota GR Supra, because the Supra has a better chassis than the old Z, but I have to admit, this tire upgrade is what Nissan should be putting on the Z from the factory, because what you're essentially getting here is more grip in the wet and in the dry. You're getting more response, more feedback coming through from the wheel, which is going to help you as a driver, especially on these curvy back roads. And then the noise levels. There is some road noise. I mean, this is a sports car. It's not going to be quiet. I'd have to really drive the S007 back-to-back with the Sport to see if this tire is actually quieter or louder. But from what I'm feeling, see to my pants, it's not horribly loud in here. I mean, you do hear some road noise, obviously. There's a little bit of wind noise. The exhaust noise in this car sounds okay. The Z itself, the one that I'm driving, has the nine-speed auto. I have it in sport mode right now. The exhaust on this car was always a little bit weak. It actually will let me downshift down to third there. Let's see if it'll let me go to second there. Wow. Let me go to second there. Oh, it bounced off the limiter. Oh, there's just so much grip from this car, which is good because the tires literally are saying, come on chassis, keep up with the grip I'm able to give you. And it's kind of lame how the rest of the car is not following. Hopefully, whenever I drive the Nismo version, Nissan kind of fixes that. But Bridgestone certainly has delivered a tire here, like second gear pull. No wheel spin whatsoever. And I'm shocked. I genuinely am shocked at how good the tire grip is from this Patenza Sport. It literally rivals the Pilot Sport 4S that I've driven on so many high-performance cars. And that's the kind of thing is Michelin has always been dominating that segment for enthusiasts. They've always been talking about that. But this new Patenza Sport, I have to say, is a great all-around tire. Now, remember, it is a summer tire still. So if you guys live in a cold weather, fair weather state, you're going to want to swap out to a winter, or you could also swap out to the new Bridgestone Patenza Sport AS tire, the all-season tire, which let's go ahead and do that because Bridgestone has set up a really cool wet skid pad with some BRZs on that new all-season tire. So let's go ahead and cue over and see how that tire performs out on that little track. So here we are in the 2023 Subaru BRZ, and this is equipped with the new Bridgestone Patenza Sport AS tire. This is their all-season ultra high-performance tire. And Bridgestone actually set up this autocross course. And as you can see, it's wet because there are sprinklers going off. So we're getting a chance to basically drive this car as you would if, let's say, you were coming home from a track event and it started raining and you had to deal with some corners on your favorite back road. And it really shows off the grip that this tire has because, first of all, the road is soaking wet. But I'm actually having some trouble getting this thing to step out because the tires just have so much grip. And that's kind of what is super surprising. Because this tire competes with the Pilot Sport 4S all-season tire. And I got the back to step out a little bit there. We have the traction control on. This is an automatic version, which is not my preferred choice. But I have to say, these tires really make you feel like a hero when you're driving because there's just so much grip. The steering feels really responsive. There also isn't that much noise to the tires as well. They are pretty quiet. But because they're supposed to also be an ultra high performance all season, they let you have a little fun when you're going through some corners. Yet at the same time, Bridgestone says that you can also drive this vehicle all year round, like in the snow, because it supposedly has the best winter performance in the segment. Now, I won't be able to test that out today, but I have to say, I'm super impressed with how this performs out in the wet, especially in a car like this, because this is exactly the type of car that you want to be driving this kind of tire on. It's a 225 by 40 R18. And this car just really loves to get sideways. And these tires really show how much grip this chassis has and how playful it is. And it really lets you have some fun when you want it. But the beauty is, is you can drive it all year round. I think that's the appeal of this new ultra high performance tire is being able to use it all the time, even when the weather gets a little bit cold. So here we are, we've saved the best for last because we are back in the NSX Type S. The last time I had a chance to drive this car was last year. I believe I was at Sonoma Raceway and I had very limited time with the car out on the track. But here we are back at Atlanta Motorsports Park. Earlier, I was out here in the SI race car. Now we're on the Bridgestone Potenza race tire. This is essentially one notch below the 71 RS tire. It's still a track tire that's designed to also be used on the street. This is essentially a replacement for the Trofeo R's that you could get on this car as well from the factory. And I have to say, after spending some time in the even more aggressive tire, the 71 RS tire, the Potenza race tire, you can feel is in the same family. I mean, this is still an R compound tire. It offers plenty of grip. The NSX Type S is really just a car that has a tremendous amount of capability. So it needs a tire like this to really push its limits and show you its limits. And I have to say, the steering in the car feels really crisp and responsive. The tire really gives a lot of grip and feedback. The wheel itself could use a little bit more heft to it, but that's just the NSX in general. But overall, you'll be able to tell that this tire has that all-around capability where you could, you know, essentially race this at the track and then take it back onto the street as you drive it home. And that's kind of the whole purpose of the Potenza race tire. This is the tire that is the competitor to the Pilot Sport Cup 2 tire and the Trofeo R. We're letting the other NSX pass us there. It's really quite a sight to see both of these NSXs out on the road. But in terms of all-out performance, this is supposed to give you the best of both worlds, but it's also still an R compound tire. But I have to say, I'm impressed. This thing really shows you the capability and just the speed that these tires can handle. The brakes on this car also are great, especially when you have it with these like sticky tires. In terms of which one's my favorite, it's really hard to choose a favorite. Obviously, they're all so different. And to really give this tire a proper comparison test, I'd have to drive it back-to-back with the Trofeo R and the Pilot Sport Cup 2s. But I have to say, Bridgestone really has developed a tire here that can go toe-to-toe with the best from the two other brands. And the NSX is definitely a car that can show off the capabilities of this tire. So at the end of the day, Redline spends a lot of time reviewing a lot of brand new cars, but we've never really actually talked about tires. And let's be honest here, tires are the most important aspect of any new vehicle because this is what glues your vehicle to the road. And after spending the day driving on four different Bridgestone tires, these are, of course, their newest tires from the Race Compound tire, the 71RS tire, to the Potenza Race on the NSX, to the Potenza Sports on the Zs, and of course, finally, the Potenza Sport All-Season tire on the new BRZ. Bridgestone really does have a huge lineup of tires here that'll appeal to pretty much every enthusiast based on your needs and your wants. If you want something that's still sporty, but can also be driven in the wintertime, that's where the Potenza Sport All-Season comes into play. If you want the ultimate race car tire for getting the best lap times, this is where the Potenza RE71RS tire comes into play because these tires here are a serious track tire that is designed, again, to get you the best lap time. But with all that said, I hope you guys have enjoyed my pretty interesting video on comparing these four new Bridgestone tires. I'd like to personally thank Bridgestone for inviting us out here to the Atlanta Motorsports Park. I'd also like to thank Rob, of course, who's behind the camera, putting up with my shenanigans and getting all this footage out here for you guys on this rather hot and somewhat cloudy day. If you guys are also looking to see the latest cars that we're testing, and tires perhaps, be sure to follow us on Instagram at Redline Underscore Reviews. Like us on Facebook. And as always, guys, please keep subscribing to the Redline Reviews YouTube channel for all the latest reviews. Thank you so much for watching. I'll catch you all in the next video.