You've all read me whinging and bitching about the round, black pieces of crap that were on the blue beast. After my mechanic gave the hubs and drive shafts the all clear during the week i came to the conclusion that maybe it was time to either change tyres or put in another transmission.

I'll declare my allegiance here. I worked in Bridgestone's tyre factory in Salisbury, Sth Aus. for 10 years making treads and steel belting and fabric belting and sidewall and apex for the beads and anything else that could be extruded from hot rubber. I have only used Bridgestone tyres since 1990 and wouldn't consider anything else.

I gave the guy at my local Bridgestone dealer a call and spoke to him about what was on offer. Since i do very low K's a year (probably less than 10,000) i couldn't see the sense in paying for a set of performance tyres (Potenza RE003) or a luxury tourer (Turanza). I ended up settling on a set of Supercat 215/55R17's.

I spoke to the guy who did the wheel alignment after he'd finished. The fronts were out a little bit but the back alignment was ridiculous. L -1.5 R +2.6 I stopped wondering why the car handled like a piece of crap and where all the tyre noise was coming from right then.

On the road the difference is simply mind blowing. I'd give the road noise - or lack of road noise - at least 8/10. After what i've been putting up with for the last 15 months it was amazing to be able to hear music through the speakers at low volume levels. The whirring at low speed, the whining at 40+kmh, the shuddering and the level of high pitch headache inducing racket that was missing was bliss. THIS is finally what i remember 380's being like. Quiet, stable and comfortable and made for sitting on 110 locked in 5th eating up the K's. The Supercats aren't top of the range touring tyres but they're made by a company who make some of the very best and these are not bad tyres by any standards.

I haven't had a chance to push the braking or handling yet but that's not how i drive anyway and they've still got another 500 k's to go before all the silicone is scrubbed off the tread surface and out of the grooves. Until then i'll sit back and enjoy the peace and quiet. No more stressing about possible dodgy drive shafts, bearings, hubs or a transmission trying to self destruct. It's amazing how much more relaxed you are when all that racket is gone.

The best tyres i've ever driven on were RE002's and they set a new standard for low noise, braking and wet/dry handling. These are a different type of tyre, designed for driving around town or sitting on the open road with a car full of family. They're not a performance tyre, but the technology that goes into making something like these has, i think, redefined what a family car tyre is. The guy at Bridgey's wasn't sure whether or not the Supercat's are produced with the dual compound tread technology but i might do some digging and find out. That process took a long time to develop and we did it in SA before anyone else anywhere in the world and it was a game changer for the way tyres are designed and made. If you're after a new set of boots for your '80 give them consideration. I don't think you'd be disappointed.

I ended up getting the 4 tyres and a 4 wheel alignment for $570.

[.....]
The best tyres i've ever driven on were RE002's and they set a new standard for low noise, braking and wet/dry handling.
[.....]


That's why I put a set of RE003 Potenza's on my Magna AWD 6 months ago, after getting a set of 15" 002's for my R31 Skyline a few years ago.

I am very happy with the 003's.

Here are some more comments about Supercats from an earlier thread:

http://www.aussiemagna.com/forums/showthread.php?t=88999&page=1

Glad you solved your tyre problem for not many $.
I've been a big fan of Bridgestone tyres for many years.
Back in 1986 I fitted a set of RE47s to my old 1985 SE Magna manual, and they were by far the grippiest tyres I had ever experienced. I used to fly up and down Eagle On The Hill on those tyres and every passenger commented "I've never been up (or down) this bit of road so fast".
I had Potenza RE002s on the old 380 and they also stuck like shite to a blanket.
I currently have Potenza S-04 "Pole Position" on the XFR and they have been great. Just a little more expensive (coff) than the Supercats though.

[.....]
I spoke to the guy who did the wheel alignment after he'd finished. The fronts were out a little bit but the back alignment was ridiculous. L -1.5 R +2.6 I stopped wondering why the car handled like a piece of crap and where all the tyre noise was coming from right then.
[.....]


Were your tyres showing any signs of uneven wear at the rear?

Were your tyres showing any signs of uneven wear at the rear?

They were starting to, but they were garbage tyres that just didn't seem to show wear. When i bought the car it had 4 new tyres on it - Sailun brand Altrezzo on the back and Altenzo on the front. I'd only done just on 10,000 with them in 15 months and i switched them around twice in that time. The shoulder scrubbing was easier to see once the tyres were off the car, obviously.

Here are some more comments about Supercats from an earlier thread:

http://www.aussiemagna.com/forums/showthread.php?t=88999&page=1

Yep i agree with those comments totally. They're not a high speed, high grip, hard braking tyre. But for the standard family car driving situation i reckon they'll be perfect.

Bridgestone in SA also used to make the Bob Jane Aussie All-Rounder and their own in house brand named Skyway. We used to laugh like hell at the Skyways. Big tall sidewalls, horribly rounded tread surface - nothing like the flat profile you see these days. From memory they were a fabric cross ply. But laugh as we did they were still made to a higher standard than a lot of the imported garbage that was coming into Aus at that time and they sold an absolute bucketload of them.

Your symptoms sound like scalloped tires. The low grumbling or whining/wobbling sound at low to medium speeds is a classic symptom.

Since rotating my tyres front to rear only, I've never come across this problem again.

A lot of places seem to recommend that only directional tires have to be restricted to front/rear rotation only, but I've found all tyres perform best that way.

In my humble opinion, side to side rotation is a leading cause of scalloped tyres with really bad road noise by end of life.

Glad you solved your tyre problem for not many $. <--- certainly cheaper than a new tranny. I'm really looking forward to driving the car in a relaxed manner, rather than trying to analyse every creak, grind and groan. I wouldn't have believed a low quality set of tyres could make a car sound like it was ready to die on the side of the road. I was checking out the cost of RACQ membership on Friday because i was 99.9% certain that i had no choice other than to get the top level cover.

I had Potenza RE002s on the old 380 and they also stuck like shite to a blanket. <----ain't that the truth!! 002's on good suspension felt like they were designed for the 380. My old 2008 Platinum just stuck to the road no matter the corner or speed.

Your symptoms sound like scalloped tires. The low grumbling or whining/wobbling sound at low to medium speeds is a classic symptom.

Since rotating my tyres front to rear only, I've never come across this problem again.

A lot of places seem to recommend that only directional tires have to be restricted to front/rear rotation only, but I've found all tyres perform best that way.

In my humble opinion, side to side rotation is a leading cause of scalloped tyres with really bad road noise by end of life.

Yep also. Think about it this way. A tyre is made up of (generally speaking) 35-45 pieces of rubber (or rubber coated bits) all made of different compounds - soft, hard, flexible, rigid. They're stuck together with rubberised cement, every piece in it's assigned place, and then the tyre is laid down in a half mould (think bottom half of a bagel). The top half is lowered onto the tyre and it's pumped up with high pressure air and forced into a shape. The moulds are heated to a couple hundred degrees C with high pressure steam. That's where it gets all the tread pattern, the lettering on the sidewall, all the pretty patterns etc. (That's also where your tread surface is covered in silicone because they spray the moulds before the tyre goes in to stop the compounds sticking or grabbing inside) You put them on your car and drive for 10,000km and the rubber bits all creep into a nice comfortable position and lock down tight because there's nowhere else to go. Then you take them off that side and put them onto the other side, reversing the direction of rotation. So over the next 10,000 km everything starts to creep back to where it started and then keeps going the other way. Then 10,000 later etc etc etc.

Most people seem to think a tyre is injection moulded around steel belts, but it's a far far different process. Most tyres consist of a carcass, sidewall, bead, bead apex, tread under cushion, tread wing strip, tread. Apart from the wing strip and the tread (single or dual compound) which are extruded together out of the same die, everything else is stuck together with rubber glue and then moulded under high pressure and temperature. I NEVER take my tyres from side to side. Only front to back.

So how long have you had it? It's quite possible the last owner (apart from buying cheap crap tires which doesn't help) has rotated them side to side.

The strongest forces on the steel belts are created by heavy braking (far more so than hard acceleration). Alternating the direction of this force on the steel belts by rotating side to side can stretch the steel belts in cheap tyres, leading to scalloping.

Rubbish (worn out) shocks are also a trigger for scalloping.

I've had it 15 months but the tyres were (not so cheap) Made in China tyres.

Okay, so who knows what the last owner did with those tyres.

Since i do very low K's a year (probably less than 10,000) i couldn't see the sense in paying for a set of performance tyres (Potenza RE003) or a luxury tourer (Turanza).
I thought that'd be a perfect reason to get the RE003s? Not many people can say that they get 4-5 years out of performance tyres lol lol

On a more serious note it's good to see that ditching the crap tyres that came with the car has made the improvement in driveability and refinement that you were looking for.

Hi Guys,

I am due for new tyres. I currently have Toyo Teo Plus and were able to get 45,000 on the fronts, but I found that wet grip was not too good. So I am thinking this time to go for the RE003 for better wet weather grip however are concerned they will be significantly noiser than the Toyo Teo. Has anyone noticed how noisy the Bridgestone RE003 are? Thanks in advance.

I made some positive comments about the set of Bridgestone Potenza 003's earlier in this thread.

Here are some more of my comments:


I finally got my new tyres today and settled for the latest recently released Bridgestone Potenza 003's(not the earlier 002's which I was considering) in standard 215/60/16 95V size/load

https://www.bridgestonetyres.com.au/...drenalin-re003

which are most certainly a "sporty" (rather than a "touring") tyre.

I have only done 40km on them at highway speeds(+) and have so far found them to be no noisier or bumpier than the "touring" type Bridgestone Turanza Er30's that were on the car at purchase 5 months ago.

http://www.aussiemagna.com/forums/showthread.php?t=105159&p=1630756&viewfull=1#post1630756

http://www.aussiemagna.com/forums/showthread.php?t=105159&p=1632659&viewfull=1#post1632659

To summarize salient points:

Bridgestone 215/60/16 Potenza RE003's on TL AWD standard size wheel 6"x16".

Quiet, smooth, comfortable, lots of grip wet and dry, excellent braking wet or dry, consistent even wear pattern(none that I can see after 6 months 6,000km).

Excellent for the price.

Would I buy again?

Yes.

Of couse, my comments may be quite pointless for you if your required tyre size is other than what I have set out above.

But -

P.S. @georgegeo - Thanks for using an already open and quite recent thread to ask for advice, rather than being lazy and selfish and requesting information only to suit yourself and not considering the needs of ALL members.

Not only the ones we have now, but also those in the future who are faced with an ever expanding number of threads rather than keeping relevant information concentrated over a smaller number of more worthwhile threads.

You have obviously taken the trouble to search, rather than just take the easy way out.

Thank you.

I had Nankang NS2 (I think) and have had Austyre's (The Tyre Factory's in-house brand), before moving on to the RE003's.

So far (5000kms) have noticed this much;
Tread wear does seem to be pretty nasty, however will re-evaluate that at 15k kms. Still early days yet
Grip, phenomenally better, in the dry AND wet weather. Compared to the previous tyres, these feel like Tiger claws grabbing and pulling you up the road.
Noise, again, the RE003's obliterated my previous tyres here. A good 50%+ improvement here. They've been much quieter.

Next up for me is Goodyear Asymmetric F1's, which a friend has recommended after using them on his XR5 Turbo for the last 12 months. Not sure how well they'll compare to the RE003's yet, but have high hopes.

I had Nankang NS2 (I think) and have had Austyre's (The Tyre Factory's in-house brand), before moving on to the RE003's.

So far (5000kms) have noticed this much;
Tread wear does seem to be pretty nasty, however will re-evaluate that at 15k kms. Still early days yet
Grip, phenomenally better, in the dry AND wet weather. Compared to the previous tyres, these feel like Tiger claws grabbing and pulling you up the road.
Noise, again, the RE003's obliterated my previous tyres here. A good 50%+ improvement here. They've been much quieter.

Next up for me is Goodyear Asymmetric F1's, which a friend has recommended after using them on his XR5 Turbo for the last 12 months. Not sure how well they'll compare to the RE003's yet, but have high hopes.

What tyre size are you referring to?

As a former seller of tyres and wheels, I believe it is quite important to specify what size you are talking about, as not all types of tyre are available in all aspect ratios/rim diameters.

The tyre you have fitted to your car might only fit a very small proportion of other members cars/rims.

You're quite right ^^ I had issues finding tyres that would fit the OEM 380 wheels. My beloved Michelin Pilot Sport 3s weren't available - closest size was 225/50/17 but that was too small. The RE002s were arguably the best tyre for the 380 and they came in both 215/55/17 and 225/55/17 (the former being OEM but I went the latter). I'm willing to bet that those Goodyears aren't available to fit the 380 (let's not forget that this thread is in the 380 section too).

I had no issue with noise with the RE002s - there might have been some on coarse bitumen but it was a while ago so I can't recall 100%. It didn't bother me either way.

You're right Red, the 225/55/17 is a good size for OEM rims. Fixed my speedo error too.

You're right Red, the 225/55/17 is a good size for OEM rims. Fixed my speedo error too.

Flyby, speedo errors are by design and not a fault of the manufacturer. ADR requires all vehicles speedos to over read. As car owners are allowed to upsize their tyre/ wheel combos, models such as base model 380/magna etc with the smallest overall diameter will over- read the most. Sports and luxury models generally have the largest overall diameter and still require to over read but by a lesser amount. Otherwise, one can take their brand new base model car from showroom to a tyre place a and fit largest tyre/ wheel combo and be instantly defectable and if one happens to pass a camera, will get fined. These days with under maintained fixed speed cameras, you don't want to get a speeding fine.

What tyre size are you referring to?

As a former seller of tyres and wheels, I believe it is quite important to specify what size you are talking about, as not all types of tyre are available in all aspect ratios/rim diameters.

The tyre you have fitted to your car might only fit a very small proportion of other members cars/rims.

Thought I'd missed something, thanks. All have been 235/40/18

Thanks for the feedback. The tyre size i need is OEM 215/55/17. I did ask about going for 225/55/17 however as it is less common its more expensive for no real benefit.