My 2005 Copen came fitted with OEM tyres which were said to be Bridgestone Potenza of some sort. They were terrible, the car danced all over the road. Later I was told that OEM tyres are always inferior to aftermarket tyres with the same badge. But, at this point I was so pissed off at Bridgestone that I have never bought their brand again. My choices have been limited as I have kept to the OEM wheel size 165/50 R15. For awhile I ran slightly overwidth Nankang NS tyres, which were much better, but they haven't been available in anything close to my size in NZ for years. So since around 2011 have been running el cheapo Achilles "Economist" tyres. Made in Indonesia, they cost NZ$ 60 or £ 33 each and are actually decent tyres. The main drawback is that the wet grip is not very good, and very embarrassing when the car struggles at traffic lights or trying to claw up a wet concrete ramp in a parking structure. Now the Copen has had a suspension upgrade, I am looking at tyres again, ready to import from Japan. Basically, I found I could get semi-slick track pattern tyres in either Yokohama Advan A050 (in M or G/S compounds) or Bridgestone Potenza RE-71R. The downside is that these very sticky tyres are said to wear fast. The other option is the street tread pattern Bridgestone Potenza Adrenaline RE003 tyres. These unfortunately carry the (((shudder))) Potenza badge, and with parallel street tread look rather similar to the dreadful OEM tyres. But (of course) they have good reviews in car magazines. So is anyone running any of the above tyres and what has your experience been?
I have used Bridgestone Potenza RE040 ever since I got my car and I have never had a problem. There are also Toyo Proxes semi-slicks, but I do not know if you could get them in NZ. Apart from those and questionable chinese brands there seem to be no alternatives if it has to be 165/50 r15 I guess the easiest way to go is to buy 14" rims with 165/65 R14 tyres. You have much more to choose from that way, brands like Contentental, Goodyear, Dunlop, Pirelli etc.
Ok, got the Bridgestone Potenza RE-71R tyres from Japan, shipping by Jesse Streeter. Wow, these are incredible tyres!!! Top marks all around, worth the cost and wait.
