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  • Bridgestone RE01Rs

    As was discussed here Hanchey and I just switched to the RE01R after running for the past 18 months on Yokohama AD07s. When we started running STU 3 years ago it was generally a group running on Falken 215 or Falken 615 tires. The 615s were cheap, had too much tread void/depth, and hated heat... but we learned how to make them work and in '05 had a pretty competitive set-up. Nationals Day 1 was Hanchey 1st, me 3rd... and we threw it away on day 2 with cones.

    The Falkens had to be kept cool at any cost, and this meant spraying them with water between every run (esp. with 2 drivers), even when it was relatively cool. If you ever spun a tire the run was over, as the tire was cooked. Keeping them cool was a challenge, but if you kept that bottle spraying and your foot out of the throttle once they broke loose, it worked and they were "quick". Then the Yokohama AD07 came out...

    This tire was a big improvement, both in feel and heat resistance. They didn't grow in pressure or in surface heat nearly as quickly as the Falkens. Minimal tread void and molded with less tread depth. Sure, they still needed a bath when it was hot, but in most instances the water bottle went unused. The pressure growth was minimal between runs and they worked in a fairly wide range of pressures. One big advantage was they were oversized - they always seemed to run 8-10mm larger than their markings or their competitors. In classes with real tire width limits (STU) they were the hot ticket to an extra 10mm of tire. Cost was considerably more than the Falkens, though, and we tended to run them shaved to 4 or 6/32". We ran 2 sets in '06 and into '07 with lots of runs on each set. In '06 it was 2nd in STU and 1st in STU-L on these tires.

    I was running the same set we had run since July of '06 up until this last weekend. At a LaGrave BMW event 2 weeks ago I ran the old 255/40/17s on 17x9s in front and 265/35/18s on 18x10s in rear. They still worked fairly well, but a terrible course design and huge crashing dip caused us to back off in the M3 and not really try for the fastest time (was causing damage to the car from the massive dip). The course was so bad that it was hard to tell if the tires were off, but they were all pretty old.

    This last week we switched to the RE01R in the M3, on new 18x10s all around. Hanchey has a set of 245s on his STi running 17x8.5" wheels. We ordered both sets full tread depth, based on recommendations of others - a big mistake. They are 11/32" deep and have lots of void. Hmm... we hoped for the best and ran them again at the site run at 2 weeks ago (LaGrave).

    It was pretty gross. Lots of tread squirm and at this hot event (saw 108°F track side) they got boiling hot. Didn't cool them enough and the performance went away pretty quickly, with Hanchey not getting within a second of his first run, even with what felt to be better driving thereafter. We had the same result in the M3. Transitions were terrible due to the squirm and steady state cornering was poor due to... heat? Pressures? Wouldn't take a set and performance was 2+ seconds off our typical competitor metric. I couldn't put power down any better than with the old/dead Yokohamas, which was part of the reason to switch to the wider wheels/tires and newer Bridgestone "gumballs".

    So now we're frantically trying to get these tires dismounted and shaved before a Divisional event in 2 weeks, at the same site. It promises to be as hot or hotter and we are out of ideas. Dropping pressures might help, and we'll try that too.

    Anyone else with experiences running on the AD07 and then RE01R, feel free to chime in! Hoping this discussion can help us all get a better handle on the new Bridgestones...
    Last edited by Fair!; 08-06-2007, 10:06 AM.
    Terry Fair - www.vorshlag.com
    2018 GT / S550 Dev + 2013 FR-S / 86 Dev + 2011 GT / S197 Dev + C4 Corvette Dev
    EVO X Dev + 2007 Z06 / C6 Dev + BMW E46 Dev + C5 Corvette Dev

  • #2
    Re: Bridgestone RE01Rs

    What I have learned from the Bridgestones.

    1) shave them
    2) very sensitive to tire pressure (narrow sweet spot)
    3) keep them cool
    4) kinda numb at turn in, not at precise as the Yok
    5) can really be abused in sweepers and still grip (car must be balanced for this to work)
    '11 Mustang GT / '95 Frankenpreza

    "A turbo: exhaust gasses go into the turbocharger and spin it, witchcraft happens and you go faster."
    - Dr. Clarkson

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    • #3
      Re: Bridgestone RE01Rs

      Originally posted by Paul
      What I have learned from the Bridgestones.

      2) very sensitive to tire pressure (narrow sweet spot)
      3) keep them cool
      4) kinda numb at turn in, not at precise as the Yok
      5) can really be abused in sweepers and still grip (car must be balanced for this to work)
      I concur. #2 & #3 are the biggest issues. You have to find the right pressure... and it will be LOW! I run 30 front / 28 rear... that's REALLY low for a street tire, but the pyro shows excellent / even heating.

      Gotta keep them cool. Sub 140* is optimum.

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      • #4
        Re: Bridgestone RE01Rs

        When Jason and I tested the tire temps, ideal was 36f / 34r (same for both cars).
        '11 Mustang GT / '95 Frankenpreza

        "A turbo: exhaust gasses go into the turbocharger and spin it, witchcraft happens and you go faster."
        - Dr. Clarkson

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Bridgestone RE01Rs

          Originally posted by Paul
          What I have learned from the Bridgestones.
          2) very sensitive to tire pressure (narrow sweet spot)
          I don't remember, but was the conclusion that bleeder valves in your tire valve stems were not legal ? I've been pretty happy with mine, though I don't run SCCA at all. Set it to 32psi and it stays at 32psi, no matter what. Work great for the Porsche time trials...
          Toth: "I would sue Duck, but I don't know what I would do with 3 pennies and a hoopty GTO."
          Me: "I never finish anyth..."

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          • #6
            Re: Bridgestone RE01Rs

            One more thing I forgot to add. It took at least 3 events before my RE-01Rs came in. Full tread, no scrubbing. They were pretty slick and the car was really loose the first 2 events. They started working alot better the 3rd event and now (at 5 events) I like them alot.

            I think shaving them from the start would have definitely helped in this area.

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            • #7
              Re: Bridgestone RE01Rs

              Thanks John. We're hearing this from a lot of folks. Brian is taking both sets today to be shaved to 3/32". $15/each so not a huge cost (not much more than it costs when you buy them new). Pain in the butt driving halfway to Ft. Worth twice, but oh well...

              I'll mount them up the day before the Divisional and have Amy drive the car to work - get some more heat cycles in them.
              Terry Fair - www.vorshlag.com
              2018 GT / S550 Dev + 2013 FR-S / 86 Dev + 2011 GT / S197 Dev + C4 Corvette Dev
              EVO X Dev + 2007 Z06 / C6 Dev + BMW E46 Dev + C5 Corvette Dev

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              • #8
                Re: Bridgestone RE01Rs

                Sure thing. I totally forgot about this until I saw a post I made to Stokes & BJ about it. I always like to try the tires at full-tread first, then buy the next set shaved. So far, these are the only one's I've had that took so long to come-in.

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                • #9
                  Re: Bridgestone RE01Rs

                  Just picked up the tires for the STi and M3. Lots less rubber (10/32" down to 3/32"), but at least no more mold release.

                  "These tires must have been as slick as snot - there was mold release still over the tread." - so said the tire shaver.

                  And that was after street driving the set on the M3 for 2 days to scrub them in. I had run Hanchey's set at TMS and LaGrave a couple of weeks earlier, too. Still weren't fully scrubbed. I think Bridgestone is using some badass mold release that takes "several events" or "a lot of street driving" to break through. This could be why so many folks see performance improvement after several events on RE01Rs.

                  McCall's first set was first used at a MW Test-n-Tune event where we all put 50+ runs on them, and they street drove them a bit as well. Could be why they worked so well early on, than we saw?

                  I relearned a valuable lesson - always shave competition tires... even ST tires.
                  Terry Fair - www.vorshlag.com
                  2018 GT / S550 Dev + 2013 FR-S / 86 Dev + 2011 GT / S197 Dev + C4 Corvette Dev
                  EVO X Dev + 2007 Z06 / C6 Dev + BMW E46 Dev + C5 Corvette Dev

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Bridgestone RE01Rs

                    Originally posted by Fair!
                    I relearned a valuable lesson - always shave competition tires... even ST tires.
                    Just out of curiosity, once you start shaving street tires, what is left in the spirit of ST classes to begin with ?
                    Toth: "I would sue Duck, but I don't know what I would do with 3 pennies and a hoopty GTO."
                    Me: "I never finish anyth..."

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Bridgestone RE01Rs

                      Originally posted by Fair!
                      McCall's first set was first used at a MW Test-n-Tune event where we all put 50+ runs on them, and they street drove them a bit as well. Could be why they worked so well early on, than we saw?
                      Well, my first "event" on the tires was at full tread depth at the MW Test-n-Tune on a cold February day. I'm guessing I put about 20-30 runs on them that day and everyone thought they felt great even when new. After that they were only used exclusively for autox and those tires never saw any street driving what so ever, zero, nada. One thing I did do before that tnt day was go out to that closed down Walmart cement parking lot next to my house and did some skid pad work to break them in. I think that helped a lot.

                      I'd say they were pretty darn good out of the box and were pretty consistent over the life of the tire from 10/32 all the way down to about 2/32 when I took them off. I truly think the issues you and Hanchey had with them are to the fact that A. you didn't scuff them in B. it was hot as hell and you didn't water them between runs and C. you have only run them on semi-smooth surfaces.

                      Overall I think the B-stones are not the tire to have in summer but are the tire to have in the spring/fall/winter. Just my random thoughts...
                      Last edited by McCall; 08-13-2007, 05:25 PM.
                      McCall

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                      • #12
                        Re: Bridgestone RE01Rs

                        Kinda hard to compare your almost bone stock car that had never been run before to two cars that have been on several different sets of tires. I thought your car felt kinda sloppy at the practice but who knew what it was supposed to feel like seeing as no one had owned one yet. 20-30 runs would have easily gotten them down to the performing well stage then you put on suspension. But then your next set was shaved so we really don't have any data to compare back-to-back sets.
                        Brian Hanchey
                        AST Suspension - USA

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                        • #13
                          Re: Bridgestone RE01Rs

                          Originally posted by hancheyb
                          Kinda hard to compare your almost bone stock car that had never been run before to two cars that have been on several different sets of tires. I thought your car felt kinda sloppy at the practice but who knew what it was supposed to feel like seeing as no one had owned one yet. 20-30 runs would have easily gotten them down to the performing well stage then you put on suspension. But then your next set was shaved so we really don't have any data to compare back-to-back sets.
                          Didn't you run the DL-1 that day? If so, you should have some numbers on the tires when new.
                          McCall

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                          • #14
                            Re: Bridgestone RE01Rs

                            Originally posted by McCall
                            Didn't you run the DL-1 that day? If so, you should have some numbers on the tires when new.
                            There's almost no way we'd know what run on that day was your car. I think it is safe to say that 20-30 runs is enough to get off any mold release esp. on the cheese grater surface at MW.
                            Brian Hanchey
                            AST Suspension - USA

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                            • #15
                              Re: Bridgestone RE01Rs

                              so how did the shaved tires work compared to the full tread?? Any data? I'm thinking about buying some of the bridgestones for street tires.

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