I have tried to divorce the Firestone problems in the US from my
favourite Bridgestone tires but I am starting to have my doubts.
You can see my lovely blocky tires here:
http://www.autospeed.com.au/A_0593/P_4/article.html
Mine are the RE540S (on the right of the picture of the Bridgestone
tires on this page).
I love them even though they are moderately expensive for a street/track
tire ($1,000 for a set). They really do "stick like gum" once they are
warmed. Soft-ish compound with lovely big blocks of rubber - yet the
minimal tread does make them useful in the wet.
My problem? Well, after the most amount of hard laps that I have ever
completed in one stint - or in one day for that matter - the other
weekend (but still only 45 or so in total) the damn front tires are
delaminating!!! The right one so badly that you can see some underlying
braid and the left one looks like it could go that way before much longer.
I generally don't use these as my street tires (but can get busy/lazy
enough to leave them on for a week or so after a race meeting) and I
have only owned them for SEVEN MONTHS. The set that I DO use as my
street tyres (and raced on them for one whole season) were bought second
hand after they raced a season on a bloody great Magnette! These ones
are still in OK condition after almost three year's use.
I am going to see if the tire place I bought them from gives me a hard
time ("used them on the racetrack... hard luck buddy") or not. If they
do then their name is mud amongst my race-mates and I will start
listening to the Kumho guy who at least comes out to the track!!
--
Eric
'68MGB MkII
Adelaide, South Australia
"Nothing overshadows truth so completely as authority"
ALBERTI
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