Tread life experience? Bridgestone Potenza RE980AS

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I have quite liked these tires on the Lexus. They track great, are pretty quiet, grip oh so good. they could be a touch harsh on road irregularities, cracks and joints. It’s a pretty soft, grippy, nicely modulated compound. I just noticed mine, which have 10,000 miles on them, are nearly to the wear bars on the rear, RWD. I DO enjoy cornering with the rear dug in, but I wouldn’t consider myself an aggressive or fast driver. Zero complaints, time for a rotation. This is my first set of UHP all seasons. Is this pretty normal?

also, fun fact, the siping seems to follow all the way down to the wear bars. The siping seems to end, at the same time the tread flushes with the bars. It’s nice that the sipes have been consistent to this point.

note- they are wearing very evenly, no alignment issues expected.

-m
 
Is this them? Just so we know what we're looking at:
Thank you for asking-

Yes - the re980as. https://www.bridgestonetire.com/tire/potenza-re980as/205-45R17/

the set on my Lexus GS is the one where the rears are close to the wear bars at 10k. My son’s civic has a set that looks to last twice as long, presumably from the lighter weight. (?)

m
 
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Wow that seems pretty bad considering these have a much longer treadlife warranty than that. I just put these in a RWD staggered application and I certainly hope to get longer life than that. The OE Potenza RE050A summer tires lasted ~50,000 kms (down past the wear bars though) but I decided to go with UHP all seasons as they are more versatile, longer life, and still get 80% of the performance of a summer tire.

How was the noise as they wear? The RE050As were horrible for noise.
 
Frankly, these tires have been excellent. There’s little to no noise, no uneven treadwear, and they grip as well now as they did new. I do tend to press it hard through turns, and that may be why the rear is wearing so quickly - the GS is not underpowered. I would have no issue recommending them as long as treadlife wasn’t a priority. For a “drivers car” they have been great. I’d never had performance tires, so I’m just getting used to the trade-offs.
 
Maybe this isn’t quite apples to apples, but had a set of OEM Bridgestone's Ecopia H/L 422 all-season tires...These tires are fine if the conditions are dry, wet or snow is another story. I got rid of them prior to the second winter season.
 
Reads like your tires should've been rotated every 2,000 miles.

During my earliest Volvo V70 days (I've had 3 base models), fellows with turbos connected to their right feet on fora such as these complained about pre-20K mile tire wear-outs.
Your performance tires nearing wear-out at 10K sounds like it sure could be, "pretty normal".

My set of Dunlop D60-A2 (on a '77 Celica GT Liftback; California GT), sure held onto the road well. They also picked up more nails and screws than all my driving before and since.
No more performance tires for this peasant; and his peasant car.
 
I’ve not rotated them yet- have been tied up every Saturday but I intend to. If they swap now I think I can get at least 5k more out of the set. I think you are right. The car easily accelerates without feeling like you’re doing anything, so I probably don’t perceive what’s actually happening, unless I’m prodding it through a turn, which does happen, especially turning into moving traffic. And, I absolutely appreciate how the softer compound provides feedback when doing that. No dilly-dallying there.

Maybe I can get to it tomorrow. we have a group doing free oil changes / car clinic for windows, single moms, and wives of deployed servicemen tomorrow. We’ll do 40ish cars in a day with a crew of 20-25 folks. Usually I’m shot after, but not always.
 
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