Bridgetsone S-04 vs. Bridgestone RE760 ~ Suggestions?

[stokeless]

I agree with JazzleSAURUS ; I recently replaced my bald S-04's with a set of V12's as replacements and the difference is very noticeable. My next set of tires will be S-04's.


http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=104432

[NLS8520]

Originally Posted by JazzleSAURUS

So I'm seeing a lot of misinformation on the S-04 in this thread. I currently run a set on my BRZ, I went through 2 on my Forester XT, (one set purely spirited DD, one set was autox'd on,) and on the FXT I upgraded to RE71R because I liked the S-04 so much, but I was simply making too much torque and could break them free at will.

The S-04 has one of the stiffest sidewalls for a tire in it's class, (Max performance Summer, NOT all season.) In fact, the sidewalls are stiffer than RS3's, a popular tire for track day cars. The slop in this tire, quite frankly, comes from the tread. With an very stiff sidewall, and slightly sloppier tread, you get forgiveness with precision, they balanced it between the two instead of a medium stiffness sidewall, and medium stiffness tread. (Tires like the PSS are more of a balance, medium and medium.)

The S-04's are very close to the PSS in terms of overall performance.
The RE760 are fairly close to the V12 in terms of overall performance, (a bit better.)

The S-04's are quiet, very reasonably priced, wear well, have great street manners, and absolutely excel in the wet.

The S-04 is a softer tread compound, and will be grippier than the RE760, (look at TW, this only means something because they are BOTH bridgestone tires, and not cheater tires like the RE71R.)

I hope that helps, you shouldn't be cross shopping these two tires. (It's like cross shopping a BRZ and a WRX. Either you want boosted AWD, or you want sporty RWD. They are NOT comparable even though they are both fun!)

The S-04 is in a performance bracket above the RE760. If you think the RE760, by all accounts should still be a great tire, you'd be better off cross shopping with something like the Hankook V12, which I think the RE760 is likely a scoshe better than for fun since the V12 has very soft sidewalls.

Let me know if you have more questions about the S-04, I have a lot of miles behind the wheel of them. (120k?)

Excellent post. Comparing the S-04 and PSS for this platform which is better in your opinion?

[soulreapersteve]

Originally Posted by JazzleSAURUS

So I'm seeing a lot of misinformation on the S-04 in this thread. I currently run a set on my BRZ, I went through 2 on my Forester XT, (one set purely spirited DD, one set was autox'd on,) and on the FXT I upgraded to RE71R because I liked the S-04 so much, but I was simply making too much torque and could break them free at will.

The S-04 has one of the stiffest sidewalls for a tire in it's class, (Max performance Summer, NOT all season.) In fact, the sidewalls are stiffer than RS3's, a popular tire for track day cars. The slop in this tire, quite frankly, comes from the tread. With an very stiff sidewall, and slightly sloppier tread, you get forgiveness with precision, they balanced it between the two instead of a medium stiffness sidewall, and medium stiffness tread. (Tires like the PSS are more of a balance, medium and medium.)

The S-04's are very close to the PSS in terms of overall performance.
The RE760 are fairly close to the V12 in terms of overall performance, (a bit better.)

The S-04's are quiet, very reasonably priced, wear well, have great street manners, and absolutely excel in the wet.

The S-04 is a softer tread compound, and will be grippier than the RE760, (look at TW, this only means something because they are BOTH bridgestone tires, and not cheater tires like the RE71R.)

I hope that helps, you shouldn't be cross shopping these two tires. (It's like cross shopping a BRZ and a WRX. Either you want boosted AWD, or you want sporty RWD. They are NOT comparable even though they are both fun!)

The S-04 is in a performance bracket above the RE760. If you think the RE760, by all accounts should still be a great tire, you'd be better off cross shopping with something like the Hankook V12, which I think the RE760 is likely a scoshe better than for fun since the V12 has very soft sidewalls.

Let me know if you have more questions about the S-04, I have a lot of miles behind the wheel of them. (120k?)

How'd you like the S-04's while autocrossing? Instructors told me my skills surpassed the limits of the stockers at my very last event, so I'm shopping. Plus, treads are getting low.

Not looking to set times or get first place, just have fun and learn new driving techniques. Also will be my all use tire (dd, spirited drives, auto-x and track) since I'm way to lazy to change the tires before and after each event.

[JazzleSAURUS]

Originally Posted by NLS8520

Excellent post. Comparing the S-04 and PSS for this platform which is better in your opinion?

I genuinely think they are very close.

I think the S-04 is a bit more comfortable, and better in rain, I think the PSS is a bit more direct, and has a bit more communication.

I continue to run the S-04 because I view the tires as soooo close, and the price point on the S-04 is much better.

I run them at 37 PSI with great results, and even wear.

[JazzleSAURUS]

Originally Posted by soulreapersteve

How'd you like the S-04's while autocrossing? Instructors told me my skills surpassed the limits of the stockers at my very last event, so I'm shopping. Plus, treads are getting low.

Not looking to set times or get first place, just have fun and learn new driving techniques. Also will be my all use tire (dd, spirited drives, auto-x and track) since I'm way to lazy to change the tires before and after each event.

I think on the Forester XT with all the torque I had, I was simply outdriving them by a long shot. I was giving up a lot of time that was confirmed when a local let me 'try on' his set of RS3's and I picked up a repeatable 1.3 seconds.
I ended up with another .5 with the RE71R's at the next event.

On a lighter car where this tire is racking up miles, and hits the occasional autox event, the S-04 is great. In fact, bump the pressure and make it work. You'll like the tire. Once you start going to events back to back, or expect your tire to get some high mileage and hit the track, you're going to want dedicated rubber anyway. Since you are hitting the track, I'd say you may want to jump right to a tire like the RS3 so you don't overheat/chunk out the S-04. You'd see this behavior with the PSS too, FWIW.

[Mr.Impreza]

Originally Posted by JazzleSAURUS

So I'm seeing a lot of misinformation on the S-04 in this thread. I currently run a set on my BRZ, I went through 2 on my Forester XT, (one set purely spirited DD, one set was autox'd on,) and on the FXT I upgraded to RE71R because I liked the S-04 so much, but I was simply making too much torque and could break them free at will.

The S-04 has one of the stiffest sidewalls for a tire in it's class, (Max performance Summer, NOT all season.) In fact, the sidewalls are stiffer than RS3's, a popular tire for track day cars. The slop in this tire, quite frankly, comes from the tread. With an very stiff sidewall, and slightly sloppier tread, you get forgiveness with precision, they balanced it between the two instead of a medium stiffness sidewall, and medium stiffness tread. (Tires like the PSS are more of a balance, medium and medium.)

The S-04's are very close to the PSS in terms of overall performance.
The RE760 are fairly close to the V12 in terms of overall performance, (a bit better.)

The S-04's are quiet, very reasonably priced, wear well, have great street manners, and absolutely excel in the wet.

The S-04 is a softer tread compound, and will be grippier than the RE760, (look at TW, this only means something because they are BOTH bridgestone tires, and not cheater tires like the RE71R.)

I hope that helps, you shouldn't be cross shopping these two tires. (It's like cross shopping a BRZ and a WRX. Either you want boosted AWD, or you want sporty RWD. They are NOT comparable even though they are both fun!)

The S-04 is in a performance bracket above the RE760. If you think the RE760, by all accounts should still be a great tire, you'd be better off cross shopping with something like the Hankook V12, which I think the RE760 is likely a scoshe better than for fun since the V12 has very soft sidewalls.

Let me know if you have more questions about the S-04, I have a lot of miles behind the wheel of them. (120k?)

S-04 it is! Thank you very much! You answered everything I wanted to know

[JazzleSAURUS]

Originally Posted by Mr.Impreza

S-04 it is! Thank you very much! You answered everything I wanted to know

Great, I'm sure you'll enjoy them if you're coming from stocks and looking for a nice big upgrade that is still a nice tire to rack up mileage on.

I hope you like them as much as I've loved them.