Bridgestone Potenza RE040 - crap tires? **Updated with pics!**
 

Hi, first post here. I don't own a RX-8, I drive a MS3 with a set of powdercoated RX-8 wheels. And it came with the stock RE040.

My stock RE050 on the MS3 were not the grippiest tires ever, but the RE040 are not as good. Wet weather handling is NO WHERE near the RE050. And I don't know why, but at low speeds, say anywhere below 40mph, these things are kind of dangerous. But once you get up to freeway speeds, then it's fine. But once you're at freeway speeds, there's another problem... noise!

There's still a decent amount of life left in these RE040, but they're so loud! Louder than the RE050 when they were dead... http://www.fmvperformance.com/forum_...t/icon_sad.gif The amount of noise is probably more annoying than anything else about these tires.

Oh well, I got them for cheap so I shouldn't complain, and anything is better than my gummy-bear-like winter tires. Just wanted to know your opinions on it.

Anyway, here are some pictures as requested.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y28...x/DSC03030.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y28...x/DSC03032.jpg

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http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y28...x/DSC03038.jpg

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http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y28...x/DSC03040.jpg

Seriously need to get a dSLR... :(

And a drop...

And a tint...

And a new coat of wax, this one is at least 4months old...

The aren't the worst, but aren't the best. At this point though, their main problem is that your set is likely quite old. Age is not kind to both winter and summer tires. If they were stored for a while since use, they might get a little better in a few k miles when the harder, more oxidized outer layer wears off. All of the uni-directional tires I've had experience with, got louder with wear. In one case, I got new ones well before they were worn out because it became unbearable. My next set will be RE-760's for the exact reason that they can be rotated side-to-side as well as front-to-back.

Oh they most definitely have been stored.

I was surprised by how twitchy they are in the rain though, ESPECIALLY in low/residential speeds.

The re040 don't age well. Nice tyre when new but after a few heat cycles they become stones and very slippery in the wet.
Definitely not the tyres' fault per se, it's their condition :)

By the way... I will be camping here for some R3 wheels! A new set is worth half of my car... -.-

Post pics of your ms3 with rx8 oem wheels :)

Pictures posted as requested.

That looks like San Francisco or Daly City to me. I used to live in the Bay Area, Union City ;)

That is San Francisco, yes.

updated with better pictures.

What part of SF is that or district, if you don't mind me asking. It's near the ocean from the last picture posted.

thats one sexy MS3,

have you given thought into other tires?

Sunset.

Well I got the RE040 for $200 with decent amount of tread left, so I REALLY shouldn't complain. Not to mention I have a dedicated set of winter tires for the snowboarding season, so these will last me a while.

I was more shocked than anything by how these perform. They don't make the car any less fun to drive, just that, they're loud as hell and awfully twitchy in the rain...

And thank you! I can't wait to drop it. But I'm not one to save and mod, I only throw money into car if I have extra cash that I can spend without regretting :)

Yeah the RE-40 is crap, the noise is unbearable. Even the cheap crap Accelera and Champiro i'm using isnt as loud as the RE-40 when they are worn.

have you tracked the RE-40?

I think they're pretty good for an OEM tire. They don't have the most grip, but they are a pretty decently communicative tire. I went out on the track the first month I had my RX8, and the RE-40s lasted quite sometime. I managed to get THREE trackdays on them, and two summers. Pretty good if you ask me.

I don't give a shit about noise. Blame Mazda for their lack of NVH control. The RE-40 is a decent tire.

I did one track day on the RE040's. I thought they were OK for that. Not great, but OK. On the street, they didn't last very long for me. About 10K miles. They were very sensitive to cold weather. I spun my car, on an expressway curve, at about 65 mph on a 35F rainy day, with about 6 months of use on the tires.