Nissan 370Z Forum - View Single Post - Bridgestone Potenza S04 Pole Position Tire Review

johncy2000 · 02-19-2014, 02:21 AM

If you are in the market for some tires and you have as much power as a Z or G, you might want to read this.

After months of researching for what tires to get for the Z, I finally decided to pull the trigger on some Bridgestone Potenza S04 Pole Position's. Coming from Advan Sports, I doubted that the S04 was not as capable as the Advans because the wear characteristics were 180 for the Advans and 280 for the S04s.

The Advans were great tires and I pushed them to 25k miles before I had to replace them due to camber wear. The only thing is that these tires are about $450-$500 a piece!
In my opinion not worth buying again although it was good.

The Bridgestone S04 Pole Position really caught my eye when I was looking at pricing. They were $500 cheaper than Michelin Pilot Super Sports which is in the same class as the S04. (Max Performance Summer Tire) It was a deal I could not refuse.
Upon installing these Bridgestones, I was very surprised how much more balanced and planted the car felt. Maybe it's the 20mm wider tires I'm running now. Lol but I tried to break them loose near the limit and they just gripped for days!

Here are the specs:
S04 Pole Position
280 AA A

Advan Sport
180 AA A

Stock Nismo 370Z tire sizes are:
245/40/19 27.4" Diameter
285/35/19. 27.4 Diameter
I upgraded to:
265/35/19. 26.3"Diameter
305/30/19. 26.3" Diameter

About an inch lower all around.

I have just over 800 miles on these tires so the outer casing of the tires need to burn off a little more. It drives better every day!

These tires are priced in the Hankook V12 range but have more direct feel to them than the V12s. The sidewalls on the S04 are a little stiffer than the Hankooks. I had V12s on my old Benz and it was great riding. The only thing is that you could feel the sidewalls folding over under heavy cornering. Hankooks are more of a Grand Touring tire you can take to the track and ride home in comfort.
Since the Bridgestones have a stiffer sidewall, they are a little noiser than V12s.

All in all, I think I made a great call on these tires. Michelin performance for Hankook pricing you can't go wrong with that! The Bridgestone Potenza S04 Pole Position FTW!!