dre (04/20/83)
I had Bridgestones on my Datsun 310GX and my father had them on his '78 280Z a few years ago. I personally HATE these tires. Since the Z was leased, my father didn't have the car long enough for them to wear out. But when the tires on my 310 wore out, I replaced them with Michelin XZXs which were FAR better. I got the subjective impression in both the Z and the 310 that the Bridgestones were made of some "hard" rubber. They did not stick to the road like the Michelins. I would recommend the XZXs as a good, cheap radial. Incidentally, when I bought the set of Michelins, the guy at the tire store (which carried both Michelins and Bridgestones) told me that he had seen many cases of Bridgestones wearing unevenly as if the alignment were bad. This is exactly what happened to my tires. On another issue, I second the notion of ignoring Consumer Reports and reading Road & Track and Car & Driver tests. The Omni/Horizon test that CR did which caused all the fuss was bizarre. What they did was jerk the steering wheel 90 degrees at some speed like 50MPH and expect the car to recover on its own! I would much rather hear the slalom speeds and skidpad numbers given by people who know what they are talking about. Also, R&T publishes extended use reports and results of owner surveys regularly. Dave Emberson megatest!dre