Cromax

After just giving away my set of Bridgestone Adrenalins for scrap, I thought I would provide you all with a review of my perception of the performance wet & dry, longevity and overall opinion of value. Please understand this is only an objective opinion of the performance of the particular set of tyres I had fitted to my car.

Benchmark tyre: Bridgestone RE040

Distance travelled on these tyres had been 90% Daily Commute, 8% Long Distance (Intertstate) and 2% Track.

I bought these tyres when they were first released (before RE050 existed), thinking they would be the bee's knees of Bridgestone's Ultra Performance range.

My expectations were that it would grip and respond as well if not better than the OEM RE040 in the dry, that noise levels would be greatly improved and that ride harshness would reduce.

Performance Dry:

Grip levels were not as good as the previous RE040 I had when new. Optimal grip levels were achieved at ~20000km +/- 5% where they almost achieved what the RE040s did throughout their life. When pushed to the limits they were quite progressive to a point, where they would just give way. Grip levels dropped off quite dramatically at 55000km, where the tyres would either overheat quickly and fade out, or cool down too quickly when stationary and wouldn't bite in. Responsiveness throughout their life felt woolly. Noise levels were greatly improved throughout the life of this tyre, however they were still not quiet enough to be classed as a Luxury Sports tyre. Ride harshness was also greatly reduced, which is obviously where these tyres were greatly improved. Great improvements in ride quality resulted in almost no tram lining in almost all situations.

Dry performance barely exceeded expectations.

6/10.

Performance Wet:

Grip levels were greatly improved over the OEM tyre. Throughout their life, they handled quite predictably, only throwing surprises when really pushing luck. They tend to let go too quickly without warning, again, not as progressive like the OEM tyres. Tram lining was more pronounced in the wet, however still greatly improved over OEM tyres. Excellent in a straight line.

Wet performance exceeded expectations by a fair margin.

7/10.

Longevity:

These tyres lasted 60,000km with a fair amount of abuse. The tread didn't delaminate even though it was sitting on the wear indicators before a couple of weekends worth of abuse. There was 1mm of tread at disposal.

Wear performance greatly exceeded expectations.

9/10.

Value:

It is not however worth what Bridgestone are asking for them. I got them for $250 per corner 2 years ago (225/45/18), however the asking price now for the same profile is almost double that.

Value therefore does not meet expectations.

4/10.

Overall:
Not a bad tyre, however, what they are expecting us to pay for them is quite a lot more than they're worth. Today, Falken FK452s are going for more than $100 less per corner, and these tyres would out perform against the Bridgestones in the same profile, they just aren't worth the money.

Therefore, the verdict is, either spend more and get something decent, or spend less and get something similar.

6.25/10

Weighting:
Dry Performance - 30%
Wet Performance - 30%
Wear - 15%
Value - 25%

Black-8

Thanks, a friend of mine is thinking to get these tyres, I'll let him know of your review, maybe he'll reconsider

lzhmax

I think RE001 is called adrenalin...not RE010
u can only get RE010 from japan or US..
adrenalins are good tyres. running on them now and the dry grip is quite good.

Cromax

Yeah, they are RE001s. I had couple of typos in there.

I think I suggested my writeup was an objective opinion. My writeup is as accurate as possible with the data that I have collected to produce a report that I believed would be useful to the community. I've attemtped to substantiate my findings by providing some background, however with an objective opinion, one can only provide so much data.

As a side, making a statement such as "Adrenalins are good tyres etc." is not a competent analysis and therefore is of null value.

In any case, I have rated these tyres as better than average purely because I've had much better tyres on this same car.

And here's my point: If you're going to buy Adrenalins, look at the cheaper tyres on the market before making a decision. You'll get just as much wear out of a set of Hankook K107s and they'll perform just as well, Kumho KU31s won't handle as well but will last as long if not longer, Federals will grip as well but won't last as long.

thisllub

I want to know how you get 60000km if you drive it hard enough to break traction occasionally.
My first 2 sets of tyres lasted 23000 and 25000 and I never break traction.

Cromax

I'm pedantic about things like tyre pressures and tyre rotations. I keep my car in alignment, to the extent that when I got this set of tyres, the tyre guy said the alignment was spot on so he didn't charge for it. I also try to keep the car balanced through corners ... the smoother you are the more speed you can get

Apart from that ... I don't know.

MissyK

Very interesting write up. It all sounds like dejuvu!
How are you finding your new tyres? The Falkens?? They can be a bit noisy yea?

tofu_box

why the hell are u asking each other on the forum when u living under the same roof O.o

bluerx

i knew it i had every one in new zealand telling me that the re001's when better but when i mention that the rx8 came with re040 they said the re001 won't last as long but give better grip due to the softer compound. So i changed my rims and tires and stayed with the re040's but my rims are 18x9 so i when with 245/40/r18 and man they grip it felt unbelevable but the first few days i thought i had mad a bad decision due to how twitchy the stearing felt it was so percise that motor way driving was a hassle now its calmed down or i got used to it

P.S. the 245/40/r18 beware these cost more because they came out on the nissan R34( i think) GTR but it was worth it

thisllub

For what it's worth;

Approaching 30000 k's on the current set of Bridgestones.
The simple answer is that cheaply sealed rural roads are like razor blades to tyres.

A year in Brisbane has put little discernible wear on my tyres.
60000 is a real possibility

MissyK

Cromax, give the review on the Falken Azenas..... because I HATE THEM - take them off my car!!!!!!! lol