Writing about the
Bridgestone Potenza RE11 given
84% (205-50-15-)
Driving on
mostly country roads for 175
spirited miles
PRIRACE.COM is all about testing and we did test this tire to its limits on the street. The pacific northwest is one of the best places to test anything street with its beautifully smooth roads that never seen to end along twisting rivers. The roads here rendor every scenario any track world wide has to offer even Laguna Seca's corkscrew, honestly. Our test vehicle was a nicely prepared (by PRI) Alfa Romeo 75 dedicated street V with light chassis tweeks. Nothing special just setup nicely with Koni reds, lowered at the rear just a bit (cut o.e. springs) and upgraded front brakes (cross drilled o.e. rotors, EBC green pads and S/S braided hoses) The 3.0L motor was gone through and messaged nicely by Chris Cancelli owner of PRI and elite engine builder/tuner. The engine makes an additional 45 hp bringing the 2700 lb. car to 225 at the flywheel @ 6000 rpm. This is just enough to keep your attention and your right foot a hankering to pivot forward, a lot! This rear wheel drive 4 door is a treat to drive for those of you who aren't familiar with this late eighties creation from Alfa Romeo. We drove this car to insane speeds out in the most remote areas and I must say the tires gripped exceptionally well when cold and extremely well when warmed but driven at track speeds consistantly for 15 to 20 minutes they got greasey creating a little more understeer than we wanted to experienceness with little to no run-off and thats why we gave it a progressive score of only 7. Now, we know we were well beyond the limits of what most sane people on a 'spirited Sunday drive" might pull off but the bad part was the air temp was only 74 degrees F. We gave the tire a 10 for dry grip because for the steet they are unbelievably sticky only when pressed for long periods did they grease up so unless you're shooting to be on one of those long police chases on the evening news these tires truly offer fenominal grip, quiet comfortable ride and work well in the wet too. Yes, we would buy again for the street but perhaps not so for track days, at least not with a car weighing over 2k.