Compare Bridgestone Tires

Initial Review, 40,000 Miles on Tires
May 10, 2012

I have had these tires installed on my RAV4 for a couple of years and I would like the share my experiences with them. Given that I live in MA and we have poor road conditions and pretty extreme weather, I am sure I have put those tires in many tests.

For the first 2 years they worked like a dream: Wet, Dry, Snow, there's barely a difference for the way I drive (going slower on heavy snow, of course). I drove about 300 miles during a huge snow storm (all 300 in heavy snow) and my car was as steady as a snowmobile with these Tires and 4WD, and never lost traction in rain.
When running over a deep puddle with speed, with the original tires my steering wheel will go crazy and the car will go out of control, which was the major reason why I switched. With these tires, my car go straight and steady. If you live in an area that rains a lot, I would highly recommend these tires.

In Winter 2010, I was in NYC and we got caught with the biggest snow storm for NYC in a century. Most sedan were buried in snow when it was 3-4 feet high, while my car was one of the very few moving objects on the street. It almost felt like I was in a Video game on a Snow Rally track, but once again the tires and 4WD combined made driving possible, when other car owners were busy digging their car out, I drove by with a smile on my face.

After all the miles on the tires, Treadware is very significant and now it performs poorly on light snow, my car starts skidding with only an inch of snow even with 4WD. Still performs great in rain / wet / dry surface. I will not blame the tires as it seems to be right time for new ones anyways, and I am definitely choosing the same tires again unless I find a good deal on another decent tires. I don't want to overrate them, but they are good enough for me to write this long review to praise them, in compare to the OEM Bridgestone Dueler which is a total trash.

Initial Review, 1,200 Miles on Tires
May 01, 2012

These tires transformed my grocery-getter tC into a worthy track machine. I drove my car to the limits on the tires that came on it, which were Goodyear Eagle RSA. Those are All-Season tires and they showed it in their grip levels. I canyon my car regularly to get to places around town, and the immediate improvement with these tires was staggering. My car now had the same traction my All-Seasons had in the dry, in rain with the Bridgestones. The dry traction on the Bridgestones is incredible. After they were installed, I also purchased drilled and slotted rotors with an aggressive brake pad to compliment the brakes, and took my car to Streets of Willow in Rosamond, CA. I was able to run successfully with Subaru STI's without falling behind on cornering, albeit my straight line speed lacked a huge amount of power.

Comfort wise, they are a definite improvement in smoothness on the regular road and even better on the highway. The noise levels are lower as well compared to the All-Seasons. I enjoy less banging and slamming over bumps with these tires and they do so without sacrificing traction and grip.

Treadwear however is the only thing that I see being the low point on these tires, but then again, I do a lot of driving(600 miles a week), and I purchased these UHP Summer Tires expecting to wear them out a tad sooner. I'm planning on rotation of these tires every 1.25-2k miles. And so far they still have 95% tread on the front axle and 100% on the rear.

Overall, these tires are an excellent replacement tire for any vehicle that sees moderate weather conditions. In the rain they give performance equal to a good quality All-Season without sacrificing the dry traction drivers of Summer Tires demand. A definite solid decision and I will certainly purchase these tires again. I highly recommend them to anyone considering them and all my friends like them too!

Initial Review, 300 Miles on Tires
December 01, 2008

Replaced my Bridgestone Potenzas with these tires. These General Altimax Tires are like night and day compared to the Potenzas. I purchased the Outback late last winter for its AWD, reliability, safety and versatility. I was however extremely disappointed with the handling and ride from the start. All of my disappointment has faded after making the change to the Altimax HP tire. The Altimax tires not only make the ride much more civilized but also make the car handle much better around corners/turns. The Bridgestone Potenzas were very harsh and did not hold true around any tight corners. Dry and wet traction is great. Traction in approximately 4" of snow/sleet was very good as well as we just got our first snows up in Wisconsin. I will provide an update when these tires have seen more miles and more driving conditions.

Initial Review, 5,000 Miles on Tires
April 24, 2012

I just purchase these tires and I'm in AH as to how great they are! Compared to the previous tires, non Bridgstone, they are fabulous. The ride is so smooth for 22" tires and quiet. It literally change the ride and comfort of my vehicle. Now, I have to see how they will perform in Snow and Ice. I owned these tires on a previous vehicle, a Toyota FJ and they performed well in the winter time. I would recommend these tires to anybody.

Initial Review, 6,000 Miles on Tires
April 28, 2012

I have driven on Michelin Alpin, Bridgeston Blizzak, and older Continental WinterContact winter tires before on my previous cars and minivan. I must say that these Continental ExtremeWinterContact winter tires are definitely the most quiet, best handling, and most comfortable ones from my experience. My commute is about 40% city streets, 30% freeways, and 30% curvy mountainous highways. It is because of the mountainous roads that I must travel on regularly which prompted my winter tire research for a high performance winter tire. The Tire Rack website and review was very influential in my decision to try out these ExtremeWinterContact winter tires. I must say that the reviews are quite accurate as my last set of Bridgestone Blizzak WS60 compared very similarly to me as the Tire Rack review comparison. One difference I should point out was that I found the ExtremeWinterContact tires on my Honda Odyssey minivan worked best for the road I typically traveled when inflated to 42psi on the front and 40psi on the rear. These tire pressures yielded the best balance between cornering performance, ride comfort, and road noise.

I had finally removed these ExtremeWinterContact tires for my all-season tires (Kumho ECSTA Platinum LX... also excellent tires) even though our weather in Vancouver, BC has warmed up to over 15C. The ExtremeWinterContact tires worked so well in the dry that I had forgotten they were winter tires that should be swapped out for all-season tires. In summary, I highly recommend the Continental ExtremeWinterContact winter tires for anyone looking for the best performance winter tires for ice, snow, wet, and dry conditions.

Initial Review, 52,000 Miles on Tires
April 22, 2012

I am nearing the time to replace my OEM tires of this type and am shocked at the reviews I am seeing. Because I was so pleased with the performance of these tires, I was comparing them against others available. For the price I don't think they can be beat, however I may pay a bit more and upgrade to the Continental LX20. I will probably have 65000 miles on them when I change and up to this date without so much as a flat. Since the car was new I have averaged about 26 MPG which is at the high end of mileage but then again 90% of my driving is highway.

Initial Review, 1,000 Miles on Tires
April 14, 2012

Hated the O.E. Dunlap Runflats because they were uncomfortable and jarring as well as noisy. These 960A/S RFTs are so much smoother and very quiet when compared to the dunlaps. Steering effort is less but the car handles just as well. Overall the car is more settled and comfortable, it just feels more refined under all road conditions. If you are going for a more comfortable ride and want all-season performance while staying with a Runflat this is the best tire in the segment.

Initial Review, 35,720 Miles on Tires
April 02, 2012

I purchased a set of Ecsta AST's in size 245-35/17 from Tire Rack in May 2009 with 193,000 miles on my BMW 528i w/sport package and manual transmission. Now at 235,000 miles, the last pair of the set are ready to be replaced.
I had to replace the rear tires at 30,300 miles because I failed to rotate them regularly and probably ran them slightly over-inflated. But I was happy with overall performance to that point, so I replaced them with two more identical Kumhos. The remaining two tires have lasted to 41,136 miles at which point they need to be replaced. Noise was never an issue - even now the tires are quieter than earlier Continental Sport Contacts and several variants of Bridgestone Potenzas. The only tire that compared to these Kumhos in my opinion were Goodyear Eagle GS-D3's at twice the price - and they became noisier with age - more noticeably than the Kumhos. I can't complain about anything with respect to these tires at just under $100 apiece, they are a very good tire at a great price, making them an incredible value in my opinion.

Initial Review, 1,500 Miles on Tires
March 29, 2012

Coming from Kumho Ecsta SPT KU31 was a huge improvement. Noise level is definitely lower compare to the Kumho. I live in a city that rains everyday and these tires is amazing in the wet. I still haven't experience too many dry days but the grip is definitely there. These tires are relatively expensive compare to other so far I think it's worth it. The biggest improvement is the ride comfort. The Kumho are so unforgiving even on day 1. These are a lot more comfortable but I haven't put enough miles on it to give a good review.

Initial Review, 25,000 Miles on Tires
April 05, 2012

Before buying these tiers, I was using OEM Dunlops in all 4 seasons. They were decent most of the time, but in the snow they were awful. If there was an emergency stop that needed to be made, it took a bit of time and more importantly distance to complete. I almost drove off the road in a storm going 30-40mph. I did not feel secure at all when driving through the snow.

When I got the Blizaaks, my anxieties were gone almost immediately. These things really, really work! Whereas before I had to begin breaking much earlier in order to stop in time, with these it is almost like you are driving on dry pavement again, although not quite.

Cornering is also VERY much improved compared to the all seasons. I can corner hard and although the tires will slide for a moment, they soon stick to the road again and take you where you want to go. This sliding is very predictable, especially in powder snow wherein you can really drift and have some fun if you want, but safely. Packed snow traction is also good and predictable, and ice traction is pretty good too.

Ride comfort is pretty decent and the tires are pretty quiet. They absorb bumps pretty well, and for those brief periods of time between seasons when you are driving on pavement in mild temperatures they will function decently until you get your tires changed.

After driving these for 4 winters, I can say that there is plenty of tread life and grip left. I would definitely buy these again with out much thought.

If you feel out of control driving through the snow on your current all season tires, I HIGHLY recommend these tires. They have addressed all my concerns about being able to safely and casually drive through winter conditions. No more worries.

Initial Review, 2,000 Miles on Tires
April 02, 2012

Originally I was skeptical of fuel efficiency claims... however I am pleasantly surprised of the 1 MPG (or so) of improved gas mileage of combined Highway and City driving. Compared to the OEM Goodyear Fortera's, these Ecopia tires are outstanding. Very low road noise, significantly improved traction and handling (both dry and wet), and very good steering responsiveness. These tires have a very soft compound, I am interested to see how long they will last but the 65,000 mile warranty suggests they are designed to last. Overall outstanding tire so far, very pleased.

Initial Review, 4,000 Miles on Tires
March 20, 2012

While I typically purchase high performance Summer tires, I decided to try these as I wanted something that would extend the time I had before having to switch over to my dedicated snow tires.

I have to say that the the the traction attained with these tires(especially in the rain) has been extraordinary. The dry traction and handling is very comparable to that of the ultra high performance summer tires I'm accustomed to buying, So much so that I'd be hard pressed to distinguish between the two without knowing what was on the car. As the milage ratings are considerably higher to that of the dedicated summer tire, I think I've found a real winner with these.

Initial Review, 250 Miles on Tires
March 04, 2012

Not many miles on the tires yet but a great first impression! The handling is great with these compared to my wore out Bridgestones that I replaced. Steering responsiveness is awesome. Old tires had a feeling of floating but these have great traction and handling. The noise level is wayyyyy better than any other tire I've had on my Tahoe. Tire noise is my biggest concern when buying tires and these practically have none. The crazy tread pattern makes these tires look awesome! On first impressions alone I would buy this tire again. Will report back once some more miles are logged.

Initial Review, 500 Miles on Tires
March 06, 2012

Bought these tires as a replacement set for our 16-year-old's first car, a 2004 Saturn Vue Redline. The Redline comes with Bridgestone 245/50/18's that were replaced by the previous owner at a cost of over $1000 (several years ago). They still had a few miles left on them, but when your daughter is a new driver, you want a good set of tires as insurance. The BFG Spec T/A is slightly taller (.9") as it is a 55 series, but the GPS confirmed there is only a 2mph difference in actual speed (72) with an indicated 70mph on the speedometer. Other than that slight negative, the tires are an exceptional value. I bought from Tire Rack and a set of four were delivered to my home for $374 total. After having them M&B, I was still below $450. Less than have what the OEM Bridgestones would have cost.
From a performance standpoint, the tires have been a good choice. The extra sidewall gives the tires more "give" that smoothed out the ride a bit. The 245/50/18's were a little harsher over road imperfections. Road noise is diminished a noticeable amount. I would say they are 20% less noisy than the Bridgestone Serenity set was. Steering feels very neutral, not snappy or sloppy. Grip into turns feels good with good feedback in the steering wheel. Dry traction is very good and the tires track well, even though the 250hp 3.5 Honda engine and 5-speed tranny creates a bit of torque steer in the Vue FWD (2004 V6 models have the same 3.5 Honda engine used several Honda/Acura models). Wet traction is good, and the weight distribution of the Redline seems to help with braking in wet conditions that matches well with the Spec T/A. I didn't notice any hydroplaning at normal speeds (and I shouldn't with about any new tire). No snow driving has occurred so I can't comment on that.
With the few miles on these tires, I can't comment on longevity, but I feel they are an absolute bargain at the current price, compared to other brands. I don't think they are cutting edge but good, safe tires.

Initial Review, 3500 Miles on Tires
February 13, 2012

Bought a set of the new Kumho Ecsta 4X all season tires in late November 2011, and I absolutely love them. They have an excellent ride, and handle well, though admittedly, not as well as the run flat Bridgestone's on my other BMW which were summer performance tires. Today, we finally had our first snow, about 2 inches, and they did great, good traction, and not much slippage. For value, high performance all season tires, I don't think you can beat them. I would definitely buy them again.

Thanks also to Tire Rack for the great deal, and to Firestone who got me in quick to install my tires and charged me as advertized. Both did a great job and would buy tires again this way. Excellent information which really allows you to compare different brands and prices. Much better than trying to shop locally.

Initial Review, 250 Miles on Tires
February 09, 2012

I chose this tire based on the other reviews indicating how much they improved the ride compared to previous generation run flats and I am NOT disappointed. My car came with OEM Continentals and had 36k miles and a reasonable amount of tread left on them when they were replaced. The main reason for replacing them was to improve the ride, and it's been well worth the expense. I feel like I've got a new car. Rumble strips and expansion joints that used to be jarring are now just a distant blip, and although I'm not a speed demon to begin with, I do have a little fun with corners occasionally, and I've noticed no decrease in grip, even though the tires are still quite new. I'll try to remember to update this review after a few thousand miles with additional comments. For now, I rank them as highly recommended!