Long-Term Review: Bridgestone S04 Pole Position
 

I thought I would give my two cents on these tires since they're now being demoted to spare status.

Just for some background, my Z is a daily driver that will see the track occasionally (intermediate level driver). I bought these tires for extra grip without killing me when it decides to pour in the Houston area. I got them February of 2014 and I've done:

Sizes: 265/35R19...305/30/R19
- at least 20K miles
- 5 track days on the front
- 4 track days on the rear

Below is what's left on the rear:
http://i.imgur.com/Gf9Bid6l.jpg

As far as how these tire behave, they are very grippy in daily driving situations when new. Wet and dry conditions yielded stable and predictable handling characteristics. On the track, they were perfect for learning racing lines and the car's handling capabilities. These were very forgiving when you start to break loose; it's a gradual loss of the rear end. I tend recommend these tires to friends who want to learn how to track their Z. They have enough grip to fly around the corners, and the owners don't have to commit to buying a full set of wheels and tires for track use if they don't like the "track experience".

If anyone has any questions, I'd be happy to answer them. This is all I can think of at the moment.

Pretty much sums it up. I did a track day on a set of S-04's. For beginners it is plenty of tire to get you acquainted with what a track day calls for. The brakes will need attention first IMO. I have since upgraded to an 18" wheel for the track and run the Hankook R-S3's. Night and day difference in performance level on the track as it should be considering they are in two different categories.

The S-04's are a great tire for DD which I still use mine for.

Thanks for your review.

s04's are great street tires for sure. the 's' stands for street according to dori dori when he was explaning about s03's like 15yrs ago. lol

I'm not so sure they're following that nomenclature. The RE760 and RE050 aren't that impressive.

i think RE stands for ...

never mind..

oveRpricEd?

I 2nd everything here. I've had them for almost 10k miles on my daily driven Z and love them.

Stands for "Race Equiped".

nope...

not that either..

Thinking about replacing my PSS with these tires. Don't want to pay 1400+ again for tires when I see these on tire rack for 800 and change. Car is 100 percent street car and I have about 20K miles on the PSS and I'm at 4/32 all around. Anybody think these will wear any better than PSS? May just get them to save some money regardless.

It's probably about the same. It all depends on how you drive it and whether you keep your alignment in spec.

Also note the even wear on my rear tire... SPL FTW

Yeah thats kind of what I figured. how did you like those sizes on the sport wheels? I was thinking probably just doing 265/285 combo to keep the stagger down, not that it will make a difference for the driving I'm doing.

I have about 18K on mine with 12K while boosted. They have done a great job for me on the street. I'm not one that spends a lot of time burning rubber so they will last if you have a good alignment. I'm lowered on coils and spent the money on SPL front arms to go with my rear arms and toe bolts. I figure that it would not only improve handling but over time I will recoup my money in not having to replace tires every 12K mi or less.

I ran mine at the track in the wet a couple weeks ago. They were great! I seemed to have more traction than the rest of the crowd for sure. They stuck like it was dry.

I bought these when I upgraded my 18"s to 19" Te37sl.

I love them, I got some beefy 305s in the rear too.

They were super super grippy when they were new and not broken in, now not as much but compared to my previous OEM 18" tires these are night and day.

Highly recommended for daily driving.

http://i.imgur.com/2yEq93G.jpg?1

Unfortunately we didn't have full rain a few weeks ago, but I was in better shape than others.



One of my friends ran R888s :rofl2:

there's definitely more grip in the rear with the 265/305 widths. However, the 10 inch wheel would never use all of the tire unless I was on the track.

the 265/285 route would be great, IMO

I own the S-04's too and have been happy with them so far. I have about 10k on them and the only issue I have had was at the drag strip with high humidity and dew point. Other than that no issues at all and they are quiet and grippy. Ive been curious of the auto cross with these tires so with the OP's remarks I just may try them out.

s04's are great. i run them on my gnosis on my G35C. i like the re11's even more..that i run on my nismo wheels on my z.
check out pics in my non-existent albums page.

Are you off the grid or something? Lol

Did you replace those tires? They have plenty of tread left.

Yes, they are sitting in my closet. They're useless on the track now.