Re: tires...

["Christopher Morgan" <cmor@home.com>]

From: David Bergesen <djbergesen@dotstar.net>

> OK. No one has said anything about the Bridgestone Potenza RE71s. They are
> GREAT!

I've yapped it up about them in the past.  I've been using them since '87
when they first came out (195/60-14's on a Quantum FWD).  I got a set of
205/50-15's for my Golf a while back, and they lasted through my Passat and
Quantum Syncro.  Two of those tires are on my Jetta (along with a couple of
new ones).  I get about 30k out of a set.  They've made it through so many
cars because I usually have three sets of tires per car
(stock/snows/RE71's).

> I have always loved BFGs, but the steering response of these tires
> (205/50ZR15 $81 from Tirerack) is fantastic. I really like these tires!

Yup, they just 'feel' good.  They may not have the highest ultimate grip
(but it is pretty high), but they are fun up to their limit and then they
break away very predictably.  It's really not something that can be
explained with numbers.

> ...For
> the price, they are better than the BFGs, or the P700s, according to the
> survey stuff from tirerack, if you put any stock in their survey results.

I haven't really compared them to any other performance tires, so I can't
comment.  However, I had A008RS's for track use (they lasted ~500 miles),
and they made the RE71's feel like the stock GA's.

> ...I
> like them, they look and perform great, and I WOULD recommend them to a
> friend on a budget.

If your friend might have to drive through snow, make sure they have enough
money in the budget for snow tires.  They are virtually undriveavble in
slush and snow.  Also, they are slightly on the noisy side, but not too bad.
For $81 they are a great deal.  When I got them for the Golf, I paid ~$125.

> If I had had more money, I would've sprung the other
> $30/tire to get the 215/45ZR15 Michelin Pilot SX GTs. For some reason,
when
> I did have the money, no one could get them, they were so backordered

Actually, I'm going to be ordering a couple more RE71's in the near future.
I'm sticking with what works.

-Chris