Bridgestone RE-11's on 2010 19 inch Rims

[BlakSnake]

I installed my new Bridgestone RE-11's a couple of weeks ago, but have not had a chance to take them for a serious ride until today. I am extremely happy to report they work incredibly well. As everyone is aware, the F1's were like driving on marbles through the first three gears, but the RE-11's are an enormous improvement. Temperatures today were in the mid 60's here in southern New Mexico, with clear skys and dry. Numerous straight line tests yielded the following: Basically, 1st gear still needs to be feathered cuz the RE-11's will still spin heavily, but these tires start hooking really well in second (still spin immediately after shifting at WOT but hook up shortly thereafter) and third gear is solid. It was a weird feeling, as I am used to being able to spin the tires pretty extensively through second into third, and now it just hooks up and goes.

 

The tread wear rating on these tires is 180, compared to most of the other extreme performance tires at 220 or greater. The rubber is soft, and I am not expecting these to be a high milage tire at all. I only drive the car a couple thousand miles a year, so I simply wanted a tire that was going to be a step change improvement in traction over the F1's and work on my 19 inch rims.

 

I installed the following sizes:

Front 245/40/19 26.7" tall

Rear 285/35/19 stock height, but ever so slightly smaller in diameter than the F1's.

The rear is the stock size. The front is slightly narrower and slightly under the 27 inch stock height, but the difference is not noticeable.

 

While most of my testing today consisted of straight line blasts with WOT shifts (shear unadulterated fun!), I did try to evaluate them for handling in the corners and my initial impressions are very positive. However, I can't wait to take off to the mountains next weekend if the weather is good, to try them out on the winding roads for some highly spirited driving in the twisties!