Meet the family: A look at the tires in Bridgestone's Potenza line

ATLANTA—Bridgestone Americas Inc., on Sept. 1, introduced the newest member of the ultra-high performance Potenza tire family—the Potenza Sport AS.

The all-season tire marks a milestone for the Nashville-based tire maker, as it employs some of the company's most advanced polymer technologies for greater sustainability, longer wear life and enhanced performance, particularly with wet grip.

For Bridgestone, though, the new tire fills a critical space in the ultra-important UHP segment.

Here's a look at the Potenza portfolio today and where each tire fits.

Will Robbins has a favorite tire in the Potenza line. And it's this one.

The one designed to race—and win.

"Performance is my favorite segment. This is unabashedly my favorite tire," said Robbins, who serves as Bridgestone Americas' director of consumer product strategy. "It is all about competition. If you want to go to a track day, time trial, Autocross, endurance racing and you want to win, the 71-RS is the tire that can help you do that."

Launched last year, the Potenza RE-71 RS is designed to go fast. Effectively. And it relies on its precision corner handling and enhanced grip in both wet and dry conditions to do just that.

Moreover, Potenza RE-71 RS is designed with one type of driver in mind.

"This is who we are targeting here: People who just don't want to go fast, but they want to win. They want to compete and they want to win. … If you have grassroots competition aspirations, we really have a size for you."

Ideal for: Sports and grass roots race cars

Rim sizes: 15-20 inches

Key performance attributes: Pole position lap times; precision corner handing with enhance dry and wet grip; improved wear performance.

Vehicle fitments include:

• Mazda Miata
• Ford Mustang
• Porsche Cayman
• Subaru BRZ
• Honda S2000
• Subaru WRX St1
• BMW 3 Series

Good things come from collaboration. And in the case of the Potenza Race, it was a collaboration with Lamborghini that brought the tire to the market.

"Lambo really wanted a track-specific product, and that was really how the race was born," Robbins said. "Take that DNA and build it into this really, super-consistent track product and, at the end of it, we had this great tire."

This tire is designed to bridge the gap between the everyday drive and track laps, because Potenza Race tire was designed to seamlessly move from street to track without having to switch up their tires.

Moreover, with Potenza Race, Bridgestone aims to do that without compromising performance.

"What we are trying to do here is target the newer, more premium vehicle (owners) who actually daily drive their vehicles and occasionally drive them on the track," Robbins said. "… Really, the focus here is on good consistency, good durability and obviously the grip that you have to have to succeed."

For now, the number of available sizes is a bit smaller than some of the other tires in the Potenza line, but that is likely to change over time.

"It is a small but mighty size line-up that gives us a lot of great coverage," Robbins said. "And our expectation is, as we see how it does in market, we will look to expand that in the future."

Ideal for: Sports cars and super cars

Rim sizes: 17-20 inches

Key performance attributes: Outstanding track times; improved dry braking; track longevity

Vehicle fitments include:

• Lamborghini Huracan
• Porsche 911 Type 991
• Maserati MC20
• Ferrari 458 Speciale
• Ferrari 488 GTB

There are people who just love to drive. And the Potenza Sport is their tire.

It's a summer tire designed for responsiveness and handling in both wet and dry conditions.

"The thing I like about this is the way that the Sport makes any car feel sporty," Robbins said. "It is all about steering precision. The turn-in is sharp, crisp, you can place the car where you want it. But the rear of the car never feels nervous, it never feels uncontrolled. … It is about that sporty, responsive street driving experience."

Available in more than 80 sizes, Potenza Sport is an ideal fitment for sports cars, sports sedans and CUVs.

"(This) is really kind of the bread and butter of the Potenza line-up," Robbins said. "If you just like driving and you want to take your Nissan Z or a 3 series on a back road and just enjoy it, that is what the Potenza Sport is all about.

Ideal for: Sports cars

Rim sizes: 16-22 inches

Key performance attributes: Responsive high speed grip; enhanced cornering and dry braking; consistent wet acceleration and handling.

Vehicle fitments include:

• Porsche 911
• BMW M3
• Toyota Supra
• Chevrolet Corvette

When Bridgestone introduced its Potenza Sport AS earlier this month, it did so knowing it was taking a good thing and making it better.

"The great news about the Sport AS is that we are really starting from a position of strength," Robbins said. "The Potenza RE980AS+ has been in the market for a little over two years now. It has maintained a No. 1 position in this category on Tire Rack, which is a source that we lean on a lot, (and it has) really good consumer feedback on that balance of performance, so the wet, the winter, the dry performance and the responsive handling."

Potenza Sport AS is designed to help sports cars, sports sedans and CUVs achieve the drive experience they were designed for—regardless of weather.

And by incorporating its advanced PeakLife polymer technology, the Potenza Sport AS achieves that with greater wet performance and longer tread life.

"Our goal with the Sport AS was to take and really tune the sportiness of it up," Robbins said. "The precision handling … is really the main thing to look for. How much grip there is, but also how precisely you can place the car."

Drivers looking for all-season UHP tires are likely to find exactly the size they need with the Potenza Sport AS. Bridgestone launched the tire with 48 sizes and expects to have nearly 80 available by end of next year.

"This is going to be a large size lineup, targeting a wide range of vehicles from the sports sedan to sports cars all the way up to supercar fitments," Robbins said. "It's for people who don't want compromise. They'll be able to drive their vehicles year-round and be confident that they will have grip."

Ideal fitment for: Sports cars, sports sedans, CUVs

Rim sizes: 16-22 inches

Key performance attributes: Precision wet performance; responsive grip; winter performance

Vehicle fitments include:

• Alfa Romeo Giulia
• Audi A4/S4/A5/S5/Q5
• BMW 3 series
• Mustang GT
• Infinity Q50
• Acura TLX
• Lexus IS/ES
• Mercedes-Benz C-Class/CLA/E-Class