Bridgestone RE71RS is APPROVED by SCCA

[nickrd10bk]

There was some concern whether or not the new Bridgestone RE71RS would be a legal tire this season.
Not anymore!

https://www.scca.com/announcements/395-bridgestone-potenza-re-71rs-confirmed-for-2022

This should clear the air....
BUTTTTTTT,,,,,
I'd be careful about the hype around the tire. My old stones were pretty good, but, I think the Falken tire is still a superior tire, and will think so until I see data that says otherwise.
They very well could last longer like the old Bridgestone tires used too, making them desirable for economy, of course. Perhaps theyll also perform well in the wet, but the Yokohama AO52 is going to be my go too, unless it's standing water, in which the PS4 is the tire of choice.

That's my opinion, of course.
Your thoughts?

[rodhx]

I guess my experience with several sets of the old re71r and the current Falkens is a bit different than yours regarding longevity. I don’t think there is a difference and, if anything, I prefer the rt660 in that regard. The re71r would heat cycle out with plenty of useful tread left. I ran last year’s Falkens to the cords with no apparent performance drop off. I’ll definitely be watching results from the new Stones but will not pay more than Falken money for a local-event-only car.

This year I am experimenting with the other budget choice, the Kumho v730. Good enough at the first event and supposed to get better, but they are terrible on the road on my car.

[nickrd10bk]

I guess my experience with several sets of the old re71r and the current Falkens is a bit different than yours regarding longevity. I don’t think there is a difference and, if anything, I prefer the rt660 in that regard. The re71r would heat cycle out with plenty of useful tread left. I ran last year’s Falkens to the cords with no apparent performance drop off. I’ll definitely be watching results from the new Stones but will not pay more than Falken money for a local-event-only car.

This year I am experimenting with the other budget choice, the Kumho v730. Good enough at the first event and supposed to get better, but they are terrible on the road on my car.

Yeah, in regard to road tires, I've not had a super 200 tire yet that didn't just roar and annoy me going down the road.
I got 120 competitive runs out of my Re71r tires on the camaro when I was learning to drive, so I abused them quite a bit. They (like you said) had measurable tread left when they heat cycled out, and they really fell off hard when they did.
My first set of Falkens lasted 40 runs on the front of the camaro, but they were too small and the heat built up around the edge of the tread too greatly, and literally peeled the tread off. I have yet to run a set completely out to have much anecdote on life.
I will say, my standards on tire life have changed a bit too. And I'll likely pull them prematurely to try and keep higher pace in them for national events. We have the set on her Veloster with no camber on it, so we can see how they stack up to my bridgestones on the camaro that also had no camber.