Believe it or not the Acura NSX uses Bridgestone Potenza P255/40YR17 rear and P215/40YR17 front tires and the tire performance as rated by Edmunds.com was a 9.0 out of 10. Did we get screwed or what?


http://www.edmunds.com/new/2002/acur.../standard.html **left click editors rating at the top right corner of the page

 

I'm not sure, but I think they're the Potenza S02's and not our Potenza RE92's. But, yes, I agree, our stock Potenza's suck.

 

Maybe the profile makes a huge difference?

 

Subaru WRXs share our problem. They come stock with 16" RE92s and they hate them as much as we do.

As a matter of fact, one of the WRXs was running RE92s at the Ice Race event on Stinson Lake, New Hampshire. That was a funny sight! My friend was driving, going about 70, then tried to turn into the first corner... needless to say, there was much cone blood all over the front spoiler.

 

Yeah, it's not protenzas in general, it's the RE92s. I've never had the RE92s, but my friend had them on his wrx and they were horrible. S-02s are supposed to be good. My friend and I both have S-03s now and they are the sh*t!

 

I for one also agree that they are very horrible, I have heard that the RE92's are very good in dry condition by in wet conditions they get bad...i found out the hard way thru some snow last thursday fishtailed out but lucky there weren't ne cars near me and i was able to get total control of the car
Hopefully these tires will wear out soon so i can get new ones

 

better in the dry, but not by much i'm afraid. and yes the tread will fly off but you may blow some sidewalls before then. be careful on those.

 

Serin,

Didn't you once have a maroon car?

GC

 

That aftermarket Potenza's have a another process in their construction that the stock craptenzas don't. I actually have 37K on my original tires and I still have a decent amount of tread left. I guess the 7.5K rotations and correct inflation has added to their tread life. I am still ordering new tires today, the craptenza's are just flat out dangerous on a wet surface.

 

there are a bunch of different Potenza models..

 

Potenzas are good in general. A while back Bridgestone put the Potenza name only on their hi-po models. Now it seems most of their line are Potenzas (and Turanzas), including the *sic* RE92. You guys remember the RE-71's?

 

Yep! Very good replacement tire on the late '80's ealy '90's V8 Mustangs...worked well on my '88 5.0L LX.

 

Yes, the stock Potenzas do suck, but they don't suck nearly as bad as Nitto 450's. I got the Nittos when I wore out my Potenzas because they were about $200 cheaper than Pontenzas. These are the loudest, roughest tire I have ever ridden on. The mud tires on my Dodge 4X4 that I used to have didn't make that much noise!

 

Not all the Potenza tires suck. I have RE950s and they are phenomenal (235/45-17). They are a little louder than the RE92s but they FAR surpass them in every other aspect.

Tony

 

not i

 

Really?? I just put on my Nitto NT450's about 5K miles ago and I'm just lovin' em! In wet conditions I have yet to slip (and I do give it hell!) and the sidewalls are a lot stiffer than the RE92's. Granted they're both V-rated tires, but if I had to get the Nitto's again I would. However, as with most performance tires, if you run over a snowflake, you'll go flying off the road. Ideally I would love to get the Toyo Proxes T1-S's, but they're a little on the expensive side so I was thinking my next set (18's of course ) would be the Nitto NT555's since I'm so happy with Nitto. If the 450's were available in 235/40/18's, I would get them in a heartbeat (I like the tread design better than the 555's)
To tell you the truth, these are my first performance tires that I've bought so I have nothing to compare them with except the stock Potenzas. Does anybody have any other comparision with Nitto's other than the RE92's? I'm curious to know if there's any big improvement over Nitto's.
Oh by the way, I have my stereo up too loud to hear the road noise that the Nitto's make and I don't remember how much the RE92's made. I'll try to listen to the tires when I go home tonight.

 

Want to buy a set of Nitto 450's with 15,000 miles on them? j/k

 

Hey, how's the tread holding up at 15K?

 

Looks to be about 1/2 gone. I guess they are holding up about like the Potenzas. I got about 35K out of them and they had about 1/8" of tread left on them when I got rid of them.

 

yes, I agree that our stock wheels suck big time especially in the rain. Those tires make your car hydroplane and slide to one end especially during those rainy weathers. Mine are still in good condition but i decided to change em out for the safety of my family. I've switched over to "HANKOOK Ventus HR11 H405 215/50R-17
and the ride is much better now. The ventus is comparable to the potenza's s-2 but much cheaper in price, and they are also O.E specified for the 17" maxima rims. For those that are interested individual tires run $70 bucks a piece, and $359 for a set of 4 mounted, balance, and rotation every 5000 miles. Not bad eh?????