RE92's doing fine for me

[Beanboy]

Sailing in a few puddles really is kinda bad when tires out there would cut right through!

[LotusSeven]

T

The RE92's are not that bad in dry, are pretty good inthe rain, and god aweful in the snow.....

 

All in all the RE92 is far from a great tire but it will not be the cause of the Apocalypse, like people say they will.

 

I used to feel the same and put 10K on the RE-92's. The scary thing about the RE-92s, and the main reason I replaced them is that they are unpredictable. On more than one occasion, they broke away and lost all cornering force under moderate braking in light rain. Most other "performance" tires have a much more linear and predictable "friction circle" wet or dry. I've never run ito this sort of "flakey" breakaway with Bridgestone S-02s, Michelin Pilots or Pirelli PZeros.

 

The LGT now has (4) Goodyear F1 GS-D3s and has a perfectly predictable braking/lateral acceleration trade-off. No more surprises. The RE-92s are a wicked tire (in the worst sense) they lull you into thinking that they are pretty good and then can come around and bite you in the ass when you least expect it.

[epicbard]

On more than one occasion, they broke away and lost all cornering force under moderate braking in light rain.

exactly what happened to me today. this was my first run in with the re92... rainy, was doing a turn, can't remember how fast i was going since i was so surprised by the car going sideways O_o did not even look at the dash. it was fine tho. the guy turning in the other direction had the "o f-- he gonna spin out!" look on him... AWD FTW. o well lesson learned. don't bee to sharp in corners with re92 on wet roads.

[AWD_Rules3830]

exactly what happened to me today. this was my first run in with the re92... rainy, was doing a turn, can't remember how fast i was going since i was so surprised by the car going sideways O_o did not even look at the dash. it was fine tho. the guy turning in the other direction had the "o f-- he gonna spin out!" look on him... AWD FTW. o well lesson learned. don't bee to sharp in corners with re92 on wet roads.

 

Unless you like to slide .

[AWD_Rules3830]

I gotta admit, im really thinking about getting new tires this winter.

[mwiener2]

RE92's kill Bunnies

[Nine9time]

At just 5mph in the wet snow, the back end came around (at 5 mph it was slo-mo) and rashed the left rear rim aginst a curb.

 

And yeah, they suck in the rain turning, but I enjoy drifting sideways.

[tantal]

The RE-92s are a very poor tire. This tire has been around for about 15 or more years now. It can't hold a candle to a modern tire. I agree that the main problem is that they are unpredictable especially in the wet. They do not have good grip under wet or dry conditions, although they are relatively quiet and smooth. On-center feel is poor - the car seems to wander slightly. That said, I am going to try to get two winters out of mine, at low pressures - 33 or 34 pounds.

 

I just put on my new RE050 A's, and it is an unbelievable difference. I have never noticed a big difference in _DRY_ grip upon mounting up new tires, because a worn tire has a higher contact patch than a new tire and the squirmy tread of a new tire feels strange. However, running on my 050's, I am very surprised at the _dramatic_ increase in dry grip. On center feel is now solid, and the car responds quickly to steering inputs. The ride is actually smoother and no less comfortable.

 

If you don't drive your car over about 5 or 6/10's, yeah, you probably won't notice what a crappy tire the RE92 is, but if you push it at all, and feel nervous - try buying a real tire (I'll spare you recommendations for summer only, as most ppl here don't seem to care) like the Pilot Sport A/S, the RE960, Contiextremecontact, Pirelli Nero, Avon M550, sheesh there are a good number of A/S tires out there with acceptable dry and wet, warm and cold grip. They don't touch dedicated summer and winter tires, but they are decent.

 

But the RE92 is all suck. It is quite old technology - several tires I've run in the past which were introduced after the RE-92 are already off the market.

 

If you don't want to spend money on new tires, so be it, but noone should replace worn 92's with new 92's, for any car!

[RockyMtnGT]

One of these days...most likely at the most inconvenient of times, and when you least expect it, you will realize they do suck!

 

They have NO business being on a sport sedan with 250hp. It's just way too easy to overdrive them.

 

I am running 225/40/18 Kuhmo ASX's (all season extreme) They kick a$$ and cost 90 bucks each.

[PhilT]

http://freon.shackspace.com/misc/re92.jpg

[mwiener2]

you would post that

[PhilT]

you would post that

 

Couldn't resist, I've been saving it for months now, just waiting for another Re 92 thread to pop up

[tantal]

Not all of use have had any problems at all with the RE92s, phil, so no need for a scapegoat. It's just that some of us know a good handling car and a good handling tire from a camry with RE-92's, if you know what I mean.

[Garandman]

I have dedicated snows so I pass on that. But I've been driving them in dry and rain for four months now.

 

Folks here have piled on. They aren't that bad as an OEM summer tire. They're quiet, well balanced, and apparently have low rolling resistance.

 

In the rain I haven't found them to be a problem. They're still fairly new so hydroplaning has not been an issue at all - I came home in a monsoon last night and had no problem sustaining the speed limit.

 

I have learned what I think makes them so reviled when driving in rain.

 

Most Michelins, for example, have very linear breakaway. The slip angle increases gradually and they give you plenty of warning before you start sliding. Once you scrub off a little speed they regain their grip and you're off - and stil on the road surface.

 

The RE92A feels a lot greasier initially. The adhesion limits are fairly high. But when you reach the limit, they just fall off the road, with little warning and little residual grip. It's a lot harder to get pointed in the right direction again.

 

If you look at a tire test like the one in Car & Driver - and the RE92A is not one of the tires tested - Tire Test: The Quick and the Tread - Car and Driver - December*2005

you'll see that the best tires in wet have predictable handling traits and gradual breakaway:

 

"Perhaps the most interesting revelation was how similar the tire felt in water and on dry pavement. Regardless of the level, the PS2 provided crisp turn-in response and a gradual loss of grip as the driver exceeded the tire's cornering capabilities."

 

versus

 

"On a wet road, the g-Force is not so forgiving. Once you venture past the limits of adhesion and the tire begins to slide, you get a spooky feeling that resembles driving on ice, that is, you slide for a while before the tire regains grip. Geswein called the g-Force's wet-weather performance "not good" and "easy to overdrive in the wet."

 

All the Michelin street tires I've driven have been predictable, which is why I've usually coughed up the $$$ for them in the past. But others do this well:

 

"The Goodyear gripped so well that you might not have been certain the road was wet, and it lost traction in a gentle, predictable manner. It held onto the wet track with 0.82 g of stick, an impressive figure considering the worst tire in that test made only 0.67 g."

[Beanboy]

Rain on the highway yesterday... Not puddles, just that little more than a wet road look, a sheen in the areas where the tires roll thanks to settling over the years. Not enough to cause any splashing in the wheel wells, but enough to make the car feel damn skittish.

[tantal]

Guys, it seems simple to me. Some people don't care about driving high performance cars, and others do. Remember that in the popular opinion of a large portion of the US, the pinnacle of high performance cars remain the late 60's muscle cars, which were decent dragsters but take corners in less composed fashion than a minivan, any minivan.

 

To these people, the idea that the tires on their car have any impact on vehicle performance is alien.

 

If they are happy, why argue?

 

After 200 mi on my RE 050 A's, in wet and dry conditions, I feel like I have a transformed car. The sidewall stiffness makes a very noticable difference in cornering - I can place the car far more precisely and the front end holds high speeds in corners that I would had to have slowed significantly for with the stock rubber.

 

It is a very dramatic improvement. Again, I have had no problems with my RE 92's, and will run them in winter as long as I can stand them, but they definately suck.

 

Actually I have had one minor issue with my RE 92s - I had them road force balanced on the rims after about 9000 mi - 1 yr, and two of the tires have "hard spots" leaving some un-evenness to the balance at high speed - the spec is under 20 lbs, and one tire was 24, the other was 40. The rims were in perfect condition according to my installer.

 

So, whatever. If you like the 92's, great, but if you say they are as good as any other tire, then you simply don't know what a good tire is. For most people I would agree that it isn't worth throwing them away without running them for a while, but they are by no means a good tire.

[06White2.5I]

Has anyone ran the stock Advan's in the winter yet? How did the handle? I plan on running them in winter when I swap out my summer setup, and im just looking for some feedback

[AWD_Rules3830]

...

All the Michelin street tires I've driven have been predictable, which is why I've usually coughed up the $$$ for them in the past. But others do this well:

...

 

I had a Michelin's on my SUV before, that tire told me exactly what i could and couldn't do it any condition. In the snow or slick, I found it very easy to purposely oversteer my explorer and get back into control very easly. I will probably get Michelin A-S tires when i replace the RE92's when i get money and time to do it. Overall i have been impressed with Michelin.

[schwinn]

The funny thing about that is that if you read tirerack(admittedly as useful as zagat ratings for resturants-not so much) you will see that people with all different types of cars are unhappy with the re-92s.

The people on tirerack are certainly more experienced in better tires, no doubt... most people go to their local shop and throw on whatever is cheapest. So, yes, they would know better, and know that the RE92s aren't as good as others. However, the point is that the driver should know the limits of the tire, regardless of how good/bad it is... and drive accordingly. If you drive within the limits of the conditions/car/tires/weather/etc, then you won't have a problem.

If you look at it statistically, the prevalence of problems and complaints is way to high to be some sort of driver error. Add to that the fact that they were discontinued by Bridgestone and you have your answer, Ehhhh?

I just checked on Bridgestone.com and Tirerack.com... the RE92 is still listed and available. A quick Google search shows .: Bridgestone Potenza Brand Tires Are Original Equipment For New 2007 Toyota Yaris - Toyota News :. Auto Spectator which says it's the OE tire on the 2007 Yaris... which means it's probably not discontinued.

 

In summary:

1) Yes, there are better tires out there.

2) Accidents are usually the fault of the driver's misjudgement - whether it be due to tires or anything else. (Except when hardware FAILURE occurrs).

[andrew_j]

They are nothing exceptional however I find them ok for their purpose at 16k miles.

 

For anyone who states they may cause an accident needs to look for the real cause in a mirror.

[AWD_Rules3830]

Well, I think many factory's put the RE92's on the car because they are very good dry tyre. You wont find anything else better in the all-season performance catogory. But wet and snow traction, it's a different story ...

[tantal]

Well, I think many factory's put the RE92's on the car because they are very good dry tyre. You wont find anything else better in the all-season performance catogory. But wet and snow traction, it's a different story ...

 

I think that they sell so many of these that they are cheap for the manufacturers, and that's why they continue to be spec'd in.

 

Regarding dry traction, I definately diagree. They have average, at best, traction under all conditions - wet, dry, hot, cold, slush - on ice and in snow, they are not very good, but as you said, not dangerous.

 

Just want to make it clear that this is not a good summer tire either, based on how different my car is now with new summer rubber. Very noticable improvement in wet and dry, over many aspects of handling and traction.

[krzyss]

So I drove on my RE92 with 38000 miles in pouring rain.

There was standing water on the highway. 55-60mph was not that bad. 80 was definately too fast.

 

Krzys

[AWD_Rules3830]

well, how do people feel about Michein all seasons??

[tantal]

well, how do people feel about Michein all seasons??

 

Michelin? I am thinking of getting the pilot exalto HPAS for my miata - dont drive it in bad winter weather and dont want to bother with two sets of wheels for my fun car.

 

Wouldn't run anything but summers and winters on my primary cars though.

 

the exalto A/S is, I believe, an excellent choice for an all season, but even this wont match the performance of (good) dedicated 3 season tires and winter tires.

 

Ice is the biggest problem, followed by deeper snow, which compacts easily and fills up your sipes.