It’s over a decade since Bridgestone launched another potenza Adrenalin product, but now it has rolled out – and is directly in the sights of Michelin Pilot Sport 5.
In mind Bridgestone’s Asia Pacific team has developed the new Potenza Adrenalin RE005 with enthusiasts in mind, and childcareman.xyz was invited to try it first-hand at the company’S proving ground in Thailand.
Interestingly, Australia was one of the many markets that did not follow the RE004 when it was released elsewhere in 2020; local representatives said this didn’t “move the needle far enough” as opposed to the Re003 which is currently available.
And if that’s not so with the RE005, and there was a strong sense of pride and confidence from Bridgestone team at the regional launch, held at company facilities – two hours north of Bangkok.
So it’s fair to say that since the Super Sport set a benchmark in 2011, and Bridgestone’S people know exactly what this means for enthusiasts.
When visiting Bridgestone’s product development centre – where smart-looking people in white coats test compounds, grip, durability and longevity childcareman.xyz found a set of Pilot Sport 5s among stackings of Bridge Stone tyre. All for lab testing are from the specialist machines used to test them.
In context, the Potenza Adrenalin RE005 is a high-performance road tyre for the driving fan and the enthusiast-adjacent driver. There’s the Potenza Sport for occasional track day, and a road-legal semi–slick (PoenZA RE71) for dedicated track cars.
Bridgestone has over 50 sizes in Australia for everything from the Honda Integra Type R DC2 with 195/55R15s, to the HSV VE GTS which wears 275/30R20s on the rear axle.
Among others, most popular sports cars are covered by so-called hot hatches and performance models such as the Volkswagen Golf GTI, Toyota 86/Subaru BRZ, Subaru WRX (advanced), Ford Mustang or several generations of the Mazda MX-5.
Several attributes were in the long list of traits Bridgestone’s people are hunting for when they developed the RE005 – but two key points that apparently focused on were handling and confidence.
grip and the way the tyre reacts to driver input, handling (both in terms of gripping and how the hand is used), as well as high confidence in the ability of the Tyr from the driver.
The test
We were asked by Bridgestone to evaluate the RE005 high-speed performance, low speed maneuverability and a wet course — the last of which was an array of corners and speeds within short track.
Three Toyota GR86s were used for the high-speed test to compare the RE005 with theRE003 and, curiously, the Michelin Pilot Sport 5 – in that order long cambered bends at 100km/h, quick lane-changes (120 km/H), and an 80km orh slalom.
Despite the RE003s’ relative stability of grip, there is an obvious generational jump to theRE005 (two, in real life), with the new rubber offering a more comfortable ride on hard-hit surfaces, better response and consistency of hold.
In the RE005s, a degree of tyre slip was very linear when pushed, so that it is assured to driver that the ‘tYre will respond in definite fashion with an expected response at almost any reasonable speed or load’.
Should I say this is the most likely statement about buying a pair of Michelin Pilot Sport 5s for his BMW M5 at around end 2024, and that’s already familiar to those words as well as its uses.
However, despite this, it took some time to get used to the Pilot Sport 5s fitted to third GR86 – even after having already completed five laps of the track in identical cars. Am I the only one surprised as anyone was to hear me ?
The Michelins are no doubt a great turn-in, but after that initial bite there seems to be ‘their spot in terms of traction and response before they take up grip again. This led to more micro inputs to the steering – constant testing where the traction level is in that narrow but critical range.
At the same speeds, at the exact same speed and with the pressures of the Michelins over the identical surfaces, also noticeably louder were theMichelin’s than the new Bridgestones.
A low-speed slalom was required on the autocross-style course, which is laid out with cones, and we stitched together some tight corners, hairpins and a couple of sweeping bends before joining up to make sure that there were no hard edges.
Two Tesla Model 3s were given for this – one of the RE005 models – and another with Pilot Sport 5s.
This test was not sexy, but served to confirm that what I’d already been going through at higher speeds the Michelins had a stronger first bite; and the Bridgestones gave me’very consistent pressure’ at ever-increasing steering angles.
Only a few Tesla understeer were there, but this was more to do with an absurd attempt at’stuffing corner entry by yours truly and at speed that would have been asking for lots of an F1 car. If you think all in the name of science, you see a .
On the final test, a pair of BMW 330e sedans were fitted with a set of RE003s and RE005s.
Not a little water on the track, mind you; this wasn’t just squirting down to an area with sub-par drainage but he was thick sheet of water streaming across the road to replicate drenched torrential downpour in some part.
Whereas the RE003s would flop pretty much, where you’d expect to see the electronic stability control kick in – at the same time as my own steering and throttle corrections (which meant that the car and I were working against each other for an immediate fix on the problem – theRE005s had more grip and maintained it for so long) and also regaining traction almost immediately.
All of this meant far less intervention by both the car and the driver — nearly to a point where there was an tyre retrieving grip on that soaked road before any major correction had been made.
And this wasn’t behaviour that would be anything like ‘responsible driving’ on a wet public road. Dial it down to a sensible level, and the headroom of available grip from the Bridgestones is important. What’s the funniest thing about that? Plus I had missioned myself.
It was the Bridgestone minder sitting next to me in the 330e after long days of playing passenger princess, and looked like he was ready for a Red Bull or two. so I was forced to see if I could wake him up by the ‘joy of driving’.
He didn’t speak a lot of English, but I could tell him that was impressed with my skills by the way he gripped the dashboard with his finger nails.
I didn’t get everything that was said about me but it wasn’t all the credit I got. The dry braking has been eight per cent better than the RE004 (a 10 percent improvement) for Bridgestone’s claims in the wet theRE005, while wear life is also four per Cent more efficient.
However, the RE005 has a seven per cent better dry grip than theRE003 (and 12 percent more wet grip) and an additional 13 per Cent greater wetting grip.
And as Teslas deliberately used, this isn’t just a slogan for sporty cars. A sensible choice for electric cars, too The RE005 is a 25 per cent better rolling resistance coefficient (RRC) than the RE0013, Bridgestone said.
Theory of this is that if the same amount of energy from engine to complete full revolution of the old, it would be another quarter of roll on potenza’s new Potenzan. Despite the fact that there is a widespread belief to the contrary, rolling resistance does not necessarily correspond to grip.
childcareman.xyz’s take on the Bridgestone Potenza RE005
All types of electronic aids are available in new cars to keep you safe, but tyres do the first line of defence and it was interesting just how far have these compounds advanced over the last 10 years.
But tyres can also play a big part in how much fun you’re having on a winding road.
The people at Bridgestone said they were ‘targeting handling and confidence for the new generation of Potenza Adrenalins’, while we had been with the RE005s in short time it’s clear that they took the time to meet that short-lived period.
The RE005 was a clearly proud and exciting announcement for engineers and executives from the Japanese tyre company, but it’s just that they were willing to offer back-to-back comparisons against the Pilot Sport 5 says “more than numbers on e page”.
It takes some courage and conviction to do that, and while Continental did a similar thing at the launch of its MaxContact MC7 in 2024 – pitting it against the RE003 – Bridgestone didn’t bother to tape over the competitor’s logo on this event.
All of that, the RE005 is a good news for enthusiasts because it means there’s another real competitor to the Michelin. It’s good for everyone to have more competition (and availability) as a .
We don’t have a day on alpine roads, but aren’re not quite ready to say the Pilot Sport has been dethroned – we had very little experience with the new Potenza and there is no daylight between the two. But for a daily driver who is performing well, the RE005 may even be better.
It’s a lot of work to do with your confidence in your car’. That’ll probably be the biggest selling point for the Bridgestone Potenza Adrenalin RE005, which is also known as ‘enthusiastically’ and it’d been an important thing that has made you think about being able to drive “the most confident” on this road. The RE005 is very attractive for those with a fun car in their driveway, because of the consistency of grip, response, feedback and wet performance combined with an easy-to-recognisable tyre for commuting.
The Bridgestone Potenza Adrenalin RE005 is available in more than 50 sizes, from 15 to 20 inches, with prices starting from $226. For more information, visit the Bridgestone Australia website by clicking here.
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