Anyone used Bridgestone S-03 tires?
 

Im looking at a set of Bridgestone S-03 rear tires, and I wanted to see if anyone out there had any impressions of them? Either from use or word of mouth? They are not an N rated tire. In addition, according to the Bridgestone website, they are not a ZR(speed) rated tire either. They are a Y(speed) rated tire. Anyone have any comments good or bad on the S-03? TIA

I've got them and they're fantastic. No regrets.

SO3's Good but Pilots better
 

They were the OEM for the 2001 S-4 I used to own. I differ from Buffalo Boxster above in as much that I had a multitude of bubbles and other issues. I bought more tires than I ever needed before. 8 in total due to the defects i mentioned previously. The other issue I had with them was tramming( the car wants to follow the expansion joint on the lane). I will say this when other than the aforementioned, they grip like a beast & stop quite fast. They are excellent tires with those flaws. Me personally get the Michelin Pilots which are recommended for the Boxster.

Hi,

The Brigestones you mention are Porsche approved see: http://p-car.com/technical/tires.htm

So far as being Y rated, this is not a problem whatever. A Y rated tire is designed to be driven for "extended periods of Time" at speeds up to 186MPH.

The Speed Rating of a Tire is really an indicator of the Tire's ability to manage the Heat which it generates. If the Tire cannot shed this Heat, it compounds, or builds-up, to the point where the Tire can Delaminate or a Blowout can occur.

Speed Ratings can be somewhat arbitrary, because they are not required by Law, although most Manufacturers do test the Tires and display the results, in the form of a Letter Grade on the Sidewall. Here's a little better explanation of Tire Speed Ratings: (Source: NHTSA)

Speed Rating
The speed rating denotes the speed at which a tire is designed to be driven for extended periods of time. The ratings range from 99 miles per hour (mph) to 186 mph. These ratings are listed below.

Note: You may not find this information on all tires because it is not required by law.

Q 99 mph H 130 mph
R 106 mph V 149 mph
S 112 mph W 168 mph*
T 118 mph Y 186 mph*
U 124 mph

*For tires with a maximum speed capability over 149 mph, tire manufacturers sometimes use the letters ZR. For those with a maximum speed capability over 186 mph, tire manufacturers always use the letters ZR.

Hope this helps...

Happy Motoring!...Jim'99

Thanks for all the replies. I had initially thought these were the N rated, Porsche approved Bridgestone, but they are not.

The approved ones are S-02, these are an S-03, different tire. I checked it out on Bridgestone's website.

Just to clarify, everyone's comments are on the S-03's?

Hi,

Sorry for the mix-up. But just so you know, an N rated Tire is not a Tire built to any Porsche Specifications. It is a Tire the Manufacturer submitted for Testing to Porsche and the Tire passed the Test, that's all.

Just because a Tire isn't N rated does not mean it isn't as good, or even better than a Tire with the N rating. All it means is that it didn't pass the Test, or wasn't even submitted, which is the more likely of the two.

I would say that the S-03 is a better tire than the N Rated S-02.
Equally, I suspect that it was never submitted for testing by Porsche which is why it hasn't received the N Rating.

Comparing the two, each has the following Ratings:

S-02

Traction - A

Temperature - A

Treadwear - 140 (meaning it uses a very soft compound, and wears out very quickly)

S-03

Traction - AA (the highest available Rating)

Temperature - A (same as the S-02)

Treadwear - 220 (harder compounds, longer wearing - but it still achieved a higher Traction Rating than the S-02)

Now, if we look at a Tire which is N Rated - The Pirelli P-Zero Rosso (which I have on my '99), we find it's ratings are:

Pirelli P-Zero Rosso

Traction - AA

Temperature - A

Treadwear - 220

These are exactly the same Ratings as the S-03. Now, there are only so many ways to Test a Tire, and each, in some way, relates to the three ratings listed above. So I suspect that the S-03 will perform very well on the Boxster despite it's lack of the dreaded N Rating. BTW, the NHTSA is the source of the Ratings data, which Manufacturers are required by Law to submit.

I have used Potenzas on several performance cars throughout the years. I realize that each was, for the most part, different tires simply marketed through the Trade Name Potenza, which is Bridgestone's name for their Performance Tires.

However, there were several consistencies between all the various Potenzas I've used. They have decent grip, but not the best. They all performed well in the Wet. They all were pretty long-lasting. They retained most of their qualities throughout most of their Service Life. They gave a little Harsher Ride. And, they tended to be noisier than many of their Competitors. One more point, for each application I used them, I never replaced them with more Potenzas. I found they were OK and a fair value, but a little short of the Best Tire available. I have to say, I really like the Pirelli's on my Boxster, they're a little Noisy, but the Grip and the Ride are very good. Hope this helps...

Happy Motoring!...Jim'99

Thanks Jim for the education on N rating. This forum is great for the readily available help out there from everyone. My 03 has the P Zero Rosso's now, and I was going to try a different tire, just to see how it was. The S-03s didnt work out. They were way too worn for my liking. Im thinking about giving the Conti's a try.

Anyone have commentary on the Conti's?

Ive only had the Pirelli's up to this point.

I had conti's previously and I thought they sucked. If you're a luxury driver, they're your tire. If you're a sport driver, definately keep looking.

What about them sucked? Traction? Treadwear?

Traction. Noise wasn't all that bad but traction was definately not becoming of the handling potential of the car.

Keep in mind that on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being grandma and 10 being Michael Schumacher, I drive about a 9 :) Your mileage and preferences will vary.

I think the best tire out there today for our cars is the Michelin PS2, not the "N" spec PS, the real PS2's. I replaced the P-Zero Rosso's with PS2's on my Volvo V70R and it transformed the car.

I just put them on my '03 Boxster S in the 18" size and they work extremely well. The tires have a relatively soft sidewall and as such provide a better ride at the expense of some slip angle.

I autocrossed the car for the first time (only had it 6 weeks) last Sunday and the grip was outstanding. One of the hot shoes (national ranked driver) rode with my wife on 2 runs and took the time to come over and comment that those were the stickiest non-R spec tires he's ridden on in a long time.

(Note: I'm currently fighting with a bad front tire that seems to be causing a high speed vibration (above 70 mph). The tires have less than 500 miles on them but have been heat cycled many times. Discount Tire is getting me 2 new fronts under warranty and they should go on early next week. This is the first "bad" Michelin I've experienced in years so I'm not ready to slam them just yet vs. the 5 bad P-Zeros I went through on my Volvo before we swapped them out for the PS2's)