Potenza RE-71R - Anyone test them yet

In reply to Harvey:

It's weird because locally, the new Rival-S is slower than the RE-71R by a good margin. They seem to be equal to the RS3. We seem to notice that they work a lot better on light, not powerful cars (miata, mini, etc.). The Subaru guys HATE the Rival.

The RE-71R doesn't seem to care about the car, or the tire pressure. I tried a bunch of different pressures, and it didn't make any difference in my times. It did affect the way the car felt, but not the times. The car I was battling with is a 400HP+ Subaru STI, and my car is a stock B15 Spec-V and we were both really close on the index.

I did notice that the RE-71R doesn't feel as good when it's hot, but it wasn't reflected in the times. The track was at 100F in the afternoon, but I was matching my times of the morning. But the sharp turn-in seemed to be going away with the heat.

Also did notice they are quite civilized which is nice for me. They aren't as loud or hard as my old Z1 star spec.

I haven't driven them, but Mark Daddio was driving with RE71Rs on one end of his Corvette and the Rival S on the other end and that was his take on the tires I was parroting. He indicated he would be on the Rival S when he could get tires the right size for both ends. Neither tire seems to care much about pressures according to him.

Given how many people seem to like the RE71Rs and are somewhat iffy on the Rival S for my money I would go with them because Mark is the Alien and even if the Rival S works for him he is a level above the normal driver.

Just noticed this on the tirerack RE-71R page:

"these tires are not intended to be serviced, stored nor driven in near- and below-freezing temperatures"

So have I been damaging my summer tires by storing them in an unheated unit?

possibly … extreme summer tires, like R-comps don't like to be frozen

Even my BFG Comp-2's took a beating this past winter. Granted, it wasn't wise to drive on them, and I REALLY don't recommend driving them through the snow, but I noticed MUCH faster wear since winter ended.

In reply to jv8: I would try to store them in a heated unit. However, I did call Tire Rack, and they told me that I don't have to store my Rivals in a heated storage unit.

true … but please don't try to drive on them in sub-freezing temps ...

I went conservative and put my RS3 v2s in the basement and threw winter tires and wheels on the car.

I've been keeping our Rivals in the finished basement for the winter, very temp stable. They seem just as good in the spring as they were the previous fall.