Dry handling beast: Bridgestone Potenza RE003 (2015)

Being one of the oldest tire around and with the launch of the RE004 in March 2020, the RE003 has been household name in the high performance segment. As of writing, the tires are still sold in the market hence I decided to review it since it was also included in the high performance tire press test.

1. Wet braking

Being the high performance segment, wet braking is the absolute priority. In the wet braking test conducted, the RE003 was placed a disappointing 5th. The difference between the best competitor was about 12.8m in braking distance. This does not sound much but at 80km/h every meter becomes critical.

2. Wet handling

Wet handling is actually one of the performance that was advertise on the product sheet of RE003. From the joint test, RE003 came in 4th behind the 2 Michelin and the Continental. This was consistent as the wet braking of RE003 was also in the mid-tier range.

3. Aquaplaning

“The main groove uses wave-like design technology that has been proven in the development of motorsport tyres for wet conditions. This innovation has been adopted for better drainage and anti hydroplaning performance.”

Bridgestone

From the results, RE003 was 6th in the standings by clocking in 70.5 km/h at a 15% slip. The pulse groove did not work really well 🙂

4. Dry braking

Having a disastrous wet performance, will the RE003 redeem itself in dry? In the press test , RE003 came in last among the premium competitors. So the answer is No. 🙁

5. Dry handling

From the marketing material, dry handling was widely accustom with RE003. After having such a bad performance in dry braking, will RE003 finally shine?…. YES, RE003 came top in dry handling performance with one of the highest average top speed recorded on the lap.

5. Rolling resistance

RE003 fair really badly losing to almost all top competitors except for the Michelin Pilot Sport 4. It is safe to say that this tire does not help you save fuel 🙂

6. Wear

With a UTQG of 220, the RE003 has one of the lowest number. Do not expect this tire to last long.

7. Cost

What Bridgestone lacks in performance is usually made up in their cost. As of writing, a 225/45 R17 cost RM 446 compare to RM429 of Michelin Primacy 4. At this price, there is certainly better choices out there.

Name	Tire Size	Price(RM)
Bridgestone Potenza RE003	195/50R15	250
Bridgestone Potenza RE003	205/50R16	418.13
Bridgestone Potenza RE003	215/55R17	120
Bridgestone Potenza RE003	215/50R17	506.67
Bridgestone Potenza RE003	215/45R17	-
Bridgestone Potenza RE003	225/45R17	484.27
Bridgestone Potenza RE003	235/45R17	618.67
Bridgestone Potenza RE003	225/40R18	719
Bridgestone Potenza RE003	245/40R18	867.2
Bridgestone Potenza RE003	245/35R20	1141.33

Summary

Overall an average tire with only dry handling to be proud of. Only worth if dry handling is your target requirment.