What kind of longevity are you getting with your Bridgestone RE050As?

[spearfish25]

I bought my car in March and have about 5,600 miles on the odo. While prepping for a track day this weekend, I measured my tread depth on my stock sport 19" Bridgestone RE050As. The front tires have 7/32" of tread left and the rears about 5/32". Granted when I got the car, the rear tires may have spun at times but I've never done any bigtime burnouts. I also did one track day earlier in the summer. At this rate, I'll have to get new rubber some time next summer (winter tires will keep these in the garage for about 5 months).

What kind of tread life/mileage have you guys gotten from these tires? Mileage and tread depth measurements would be helpful.

As an easy measuring tool, get a penny and a quarter. If you can cover the top of Lincoln's head on the penny, you have at least 2/32" left (legal minimum). If you can cover Washington's head on the quarter you have at least 4/32" left. Finally, if you can cover the top of the memorial on the back of the penny, you have at least 6/32" left. As a reference, these tires when new had 10/32" of tread depth.

[bullitt5897]

9500 miles and tires are on their last legs not slicks yet but probably close to 2/32" if not less in the rear.

The car has seen some drifting (not too much), Track days (2), Aggressive street driving, and a few burnouts (well maybe more than a few lol)

[spearfish25]

Originally Posted by bullitt5897

9500 miles and tires are on their last legs not slicks yet but probably close to 2/32" if not less in the rear.

The car has seen some drifting (not too much), Track days (2), Aggressive street driving, and a few burnouts (well maybe more than a few lol)

Looks like I'm on track for about 9-10k on them as well. Not the most robust tire but what can I expect for a 140 treadwear rating. I've been looking into alternative on Tirerack and Hankook Ventus seems to have a better rating (280) at a better price (~$200 each). Given I do a couple track days a year, I probably won't notice much of a handling loss, but I'd love to get more mileage from a tire!

Bullitt, will you save the tires for track days? If the track is dry, the nearly bald tires would be sweet to run on those nice days.

[racerxj17]

Originally Posted by spearfish25

Looks like I'm on track for about 9-10k on them as well. Not the most robust tire but what can I expect for a 140 treadwear rating. I've been looking into alternative on Tirerack and Hankook Ventus seems to have a better rating (280) at a better price (~$200 each). Given I do a couple track days a year, I probably won't notice much of a handling loss, but I'd love to get more mileage from a tire!

Bullitt, will you save the tires for track days? If the track is dry, the nearly bald tires would be sweet to run on those nice days.

ehh....even on a slick, well prepped dry track, near bald tires will not have anywhere close to the grip of the tires new. its not the tread that affects the grip, its the amount of heat cycles. as you cycle the heat through them, they get harder and harder and grip less....

[kannibul]

Originally Posted by racerxj17

ehh....even on a slick, well prepped dry track, near bald tires will not have anywhere close to the grip of the tires new. its not the tread that affects the grip, its the amount of heat cycles. as you cycle the heat through them, they get harder and harder and grip less....

I'm assuming you're referring to new tires that have some break-in time, since new tires are SLICK when brand new.

As a biker, new tires are like riding on slightly oily tires for the first 50-100 miles - gotta take it easy on the turns and stuff...

[spearfish25]

Originally Posted by kannibul

I'm assuming you're referring to new tires that have some break-in time, since new tires are SLICK when brand new.

As a biker, new tires are like riding on slightly oily tires for the first 50-100 miles - gotta take it easy on the turns and stuff...

I've read this very fact you state above. However, as a rebuttal:

My buddy has a Mazda Speed 6 with AWD and we did our final track day of the season yesterday. The morning was bitterly cold with rain and the track was more of an ice-skating rink (slippery, not icy). I was struggling to accelerate out of corners and kept losing the back end if I was too energetic. My buddy in the AWD Speed 6 had brand spanking new tires and was driving away from everyone on the track. Coming out of a turn, he could put all the power down without much slip at all. Vettes were hitting guard-rails and he was laughing as he lapped Mustang GTs. Now granted there is a big AWD factor here, but if the tires were truly oily and slick when new, I'd think he'd have had bigger issues up front.

I guess if I had new tires too, I'd have seen how much of a problem new tires really were .

[benfiji]

I'm at 3 on the rears and 5 on the fronts after 16,000 miles (all street use). My concern is they are experiencing inside tire wire much faster as I am at 8 on the outside of all tires. I know this was a problem on my 350 as well but it seems more pronounced on the 370. Anyone else having similar issues?

[m4a1mustang]

I have a tick over 13k and after a visual inspection they look exactly as they did the day I bought the car.

[WShade]

Same tires on the G. 18.5K - 20K with conservative driving. But, I didn't replace them until 24K and they were howling like a bad wheel bearing.

[spearfish25]

Originally Posted by m4a1mustang

I have a tick over 13k and after a visual inspection they look exactly as they did the day I bought the car.

Visual inspection as in using a coin to measure or just eyeballing? Probably the same because you drive like a grandma !

[m4a1mustang]

Originally Posted by spearfish25

Visual inspection as in using a coin to measure or just eyeballing? Probably the same because you drive like a grandma !

Just a visual inspection. And yes... I don't slide the car around everywhere so the wear has been very nice so far.

[370Zsteve]

Originally Posted by m4a1mustang

I have a tick over 13k and after a visual inspection they look exactly as they did the day I bought the car.

Steve, this cracks me up. Until I read your thread, these guys had me convinced that 8000 miles was about the longevity of the Bridgestones. But they only tracked it...... "once".....hmmmm.

[m4a1mustang]

Originally Posted by 370Zsteve

Steve, this cracks me up. Until I read your thread, these guys had me convinced that 8000 miles was about the longevity of the Bridgestones. But they only tracked it...... "once".....hmmmm.

Yeah, I used to be worried reading about the wear but after driving around for a while I determined high wear only comes from a lot of track use or boy-racer driving on the street.

I have plenty of fun in my Z but I don't track it (yet) and I am not a punk kid, so my wear is pretty good. I fully expect 30k+ out of these if I don't take it to any track days.

[ChrisSlicks]

Yeah, it all depends on how you drive and where you drive. I usually only get about 6000 miles on mine which includes 140 auto-x runs, and a few track days.

For anyone interested I'm selling my nearly new RE50A's.
FS: OEM 19" Bridgestone RE50A tires

[JoeD]

Originally Posted by m4a1mustang

Yeah, I used to be worried reading about the wear but after driving around for a while I determined high wear only comes from a lot of track use or boy-racer driving on the street.

I have plenty of fun in my Z but I don't track it (yet) and I am not a punk kid, so my wear is pretty good. I fully expect 30k+ out of these if I don't take it to any track days.

Well said.