Rotate Stock Potenza RE050A?

There is no reason that you can't switch sides.

These are NOT unidirectional tires. They have an "inside edge" and an "outside edge" which don't change orientation when you switch sides...

Just remember that you should only switch sides on either the front or rear at once, and that you should stay consisitent with that practice (doing it the same way each time).

For instance, I tend to rotate my non-unidirectional tires this way:

Front tires straight back, and switch sides when moving the rear tires to the front.

The ones that came on my car were unidirectional, there's an arrow showing the proper rotational direction, so I could only do them front to rear. 2009 model year. Maybe they changed the design? I dunno, but you definitely can't cross rotate tires if they have directional arrows on the sidewalls. Also, the tread design is different on the inside than the outside. The construction might be symmetrical, but the tread pattern isn't.

No matter for me though, after 7500 miles and 2 rotations they were good and baked anyway, from over driving them on a road course a couple of times. Probably another 1-2K miles of tread depth in them, but they were so badly cupped and scuffed I just bought new tires (Star Specs) instead of trying to milk the last few miles out of them.
 
The ones that came on my car were unidirectional, there's an arrow showing the proper rotational direction, so I could only do them front to rear. 2009 model year. Maybe they changed the design? I dunno, but you definitely can't cross rotate tires if they have directional arrows on the sidewalls. Also, the tread design is different on the inside than the outside. The construction might be symmetrical, but the tread pattern isn't.

No matter for me though, after 7500 miles and 2 rotations they were good and baked anyway, from over driving them on a road course a couple of times. Probably another 1-2K miles of tread depth in them, but they were so badly cupped and scuffed I just bought new tires (Star Specs) instead of trying to milk the last few miles out of them.

I'm pretty sure you're remembering incorrectly...

Yes, they are asymmetrical, but NOT directional. They have an INSIDE and an OUTSIDE, but can rotate either way. I believe the old RE050 is a directional tire, but the RE050A definitely is not. I'm out of state right now and don't have access to the worn set in my garage to take pictures, but I'm certain that they are not a directional tire.

**EDIT**

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/BigPi...tireMake=Bridgestone&tireModel=Potenza+RE050A

The tire is clearly marked with "OUTSIDE" but I don't see any arrows. (dunno)
 
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Right, now I remember what the issue was. I had a really good tire and alignment shop (they also run several race cars on weekends) check the alignment and rotate the tires at about 5000K.

Since the first rotation, around 2K, was F/R I asked for a cross rotation. The shop manager STRONGLY advised against it, pointing to the "outside" mark on the tires (the arrows I referred to are on my Dunlops (asymmetrical memory, thank you for the photo). I said ya, but that doesn't mean they're unidirectional. He pointed out the non-symmetrical tread pattern and said, in his opinion, they -should- be unidirectional but Bridgestone doesn't mark them that way. He also said that in their experience, the Pole Position variants, which have exactly the same tread design, perform better in the original orientation and shouldn't be cross rotated. And looking at the tread pattern I can understand why he might say that. He also said they cross rotated a few sets when they first came out and some people came back and complained about the change in handling.

These guys sell a lot of high performance tires and have some very picky customers (like me), so I took their advice as if it were factual. But technically, yes you can cross rotate them if you want to.
 
You get more even wear if you cross-rotate them.

They don't make two different versions of the RE050A (one for each side, that is) so the tire should perform in the same fashion regardless of which side of the car it is mounted on.

The Kumho XS and Bridgestone RE-11 are other tires that are both asymmetrical and omnidirectional.

Anyway, I just don't buy that it would change your handling, but each to his own. :)
 
It's weird how a tire can have an asymmetrical tread pattern but work both backwards and forwards. Surely, only one of them is optimal and the other side is a compromise. I suspect they work better on a clockwise test track, but I'm just guessing.

My Star Specs have to be dismounted for a cross rotation, as do a lot of tires. I'm tempted to do what I used to do on my last car; wear out the fronts, buy 2 new tires, put them on the back rims, then dismount the old tires and swap them L-R and have fully scrubbed in fronts. It's an old trick that I suspect might work well with these Dunlops.

Which, BTW, are fantastic, now that they're fully scrubbed in (finally). I'm shopping for a baffle tray for the oil pan right now because my car is really pulling serious g's, and I'm worried about starving the oil pump pickup. The SS's need some finesse to get the most out of them - you need to be comfortable driving fairly large slip angles and have a good suspension tune, but they sure feel fast! And they ride well too, at least for now.
 
18,500 on first set of stock tires rotated about every 6k. probably gonna run out by xmas with 22k on them...
 
Anybody that can get 22K out of the stock Bridgestones is a wimp.

Be a man, drive it for what it's made to do, and feel lucky if you get 15K out of them. Look at the Tire Rack survey and see how many people complain about only getting 10-12K or less out of them.

Alietn3T excepted, I've actually seen him defy the laws of physics.
 
^^^ lol
yeah im a wimp because i dont drive like a douche everywhere i go!!!!
i certainly dont putz around like a grandma, but i dont see the need to do burnouts, throw it sideways around every corner and "race" every minivan and cadallac i see.
if you are actually serious about your comment go buy a honda
 
Anybody that can get 22K out of the stock Bridgestones is a wimp.

Be a man, drive it for what it's made to do, and feel lucky if you get 15K out of them. Look at the Tire Rack survey and see how many people complain about only getting 10-12K or less out of them.

Alietn3T excepted, I've actually seen him defy the laws of physics.

At nearly 25k now... haha still a lot of life left!
 
SB, you must be a pretty lonely guy in Santa Barbara. I've spent quite a bit of time there and frankly, given your attitude - and the quotes and video links in your sig - I'm impressed with your tolerance of a community which thinks very differently. It must be difficult. Then again, some people enjoy being contrarians, and I respect that because I'm often one myself.

Anyway, sorry I called you a wimp but the OEM tires are famous for wearing out super fast. Especially the Pole Position variant, which handle better (softer compound).

The only thing I've raced so far is a transponder on a proper race course. That's how I killed my tires. I don't street race.

You should try it some time, there's some great tracks in SoCal, but they will eat the OEM tires in a hurry with the stock suspension unless you're very slow or very good. Still, 15K is pretty average, from what I can tell. Toss in a track day or autocross and you're looking at that much or less. Screw up and do a lurid slide from triple digit speeds like I did, and you'll be shopping for new tires in no time!

But at least you'll know what it's like to take your car and your abilities to the limit. It's a very good learning tool, and quite a bit of fun. If you still have tread left at 22K you've never really pushed the car, which was what I meant by my sarcastic comment last night.
 
lol i figured you were just doggin me. i havent pushed this car except for a couple little squirts here and there.
santa barbara is definitely pretty well planted on the left coast. beautiful pace, and i got my group of friends which most people in socal would call rednecks because they dont care about what brand of jeans they wear, but as soon as i graduate in spring i am planning on moving away for a little while.
ive done autoX in santa barbara a few times but not in the speed. i really wanna go to willow springs sometime and i probably will send the tires off with a good track day or something.
when i had my truck we used to take it down to el mirage and run it on the lake bed before they had a speed limit. i wish i could take the speed down there and run it out sometime.
 
You guys think i will get better tread wear out of new Dunlop Direzza Z1 Star Specs when compared to the stockers? I'm really eyeballing these things.
 
Better wear? Probably not. Better power and handling grip? Most definitely, once they scuff in, which took me quite a while for some reason. Also, they have a very different feel than the Bridgies which takes some getting used to.
 
They reach full grip at higher slip angles, so the steering doesn't feel quite as responsive. For lack of a better analogy, they made my car feel a bit nose heavy, even though the tires (225/45-18) are only 1 pound heavier than the Bridgestones.

So you lose a bit of that telepathic, instant turn-in response. Not much, but it's there, even though I went with a zero toe front alignment, which is supposed to help turn-on. I don't know what they'd feel like on the stock suspension, because I already added Koni FSD's and a 32mm Tri-Point rear bar, but they seem to understeer a little bit more at low speeds, which is where most of that sensation comes from.

Fortunately, unlike the stock tires, they don't squeal or scrub off speed when they do slip, so at low speeds you can simply drive the understeer, you'll just need a bit more steering input. At higher speeds, that mostly goes away though, and with my setup, the rear end is more involved so the car becomes neutral. But even the rears need a higher slip angle before they really hook up, so it takes some getting used to.

Basically, they have much higher limits than the stocker's do, but it takes a bit more skill to get there, and keep it on line. This improves over time as they wear though, which helps. They're very predictable and easy to drive at high slip angles, and they grip like mad and don't slow the car down when they slide, you just gotta be ready for it.

Especially when new...do NOT rip through the first offramp on the way back from the tire dealer/installer! They need time and heat cycles to develop full grip, and bigger eggs in your basket to get the most out of them. I was pretty annoyed with them for 500 miles, they were sliding all over the place, but I beat on them pretty hard for about 50 miles in the local hills, and they finally started to work. Now, my biggest worry is trying to stay in my seat!

The other issue is choppy roads. Even with my FSD's, which are superb on choppy roads, the Star Specs create a lot more steering kick, which adds to the nose heavy feeling. They're still very driveable and have plenty of grip, but the car will be a little more "skittery" over poorly maintained roads when you're really pushing hard.

The paradox though is that ride comfort over choppy roads is actually better! Can't comment on wet grip yet, but people say they're very good. But the dry grip is phenomenal, you just have to man handle the car a bit more to get it. Like I said the steering doesn't feel quite as precise in daily driving or when you approach the limit, but the other virtues more than make up for it. And they're reasonably priced and look awesome with stock springs. But they demand more of the stock dampers than the OEM tires do, and the stock dampers aren't very good at all. I'd change those before messing with any other aspect of the suspension, including tires.

Anyway, not trying to scare you away from them, just letting you know what my observations and opinions are. I've got 1000 miles on them now and I love them. It just took a while to fall in love with them because they don't work very well when new, and they numb up the steering a little bit. But the nicer ride quality and phenomenal grip are well worth it. You just have to be patient and wait for the grip to come to you. And it really helps to have track experience so you're comfortable with their higher slip angles if you want to drive them quickly on public roads.
 

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