Potenza Dilemma

[Stobou]

I have experience with Bridgestone S-03 and RE-01R on a Miata but now I have moved on to the S550. I want to improve steering feel beyond the stock Ventus S1 Noble2 235/55R17 so I am upsizing Plus Two to OEM Ecoboost 19" x 9" wheels.
There are two great choices for the stock 255/40R19 size, S-04 or S001, but I am considering the RE-71R in 245/40R19.

Specification : Sidewall : Circumference : Difference : UTQG
235/55-17 : 5.1in : 85.4in : 0.0%
255/40-19 : 4.0in : 84.9in : -0.5% : 280 AA A for S-03 and 280 A A for S001
245/40-19 : 3.9in : 83.9in : -1.7% : 200 A A for RE-71R

The difference in diameter is not significant and I am willing to accept the short tread life of the RE-71R in Southern California. I am also factoring that it is more recent release by 4 years: RE-71R was released in early 2015 whereas the S001 and S-04 were released in 2010/2011. Pricing is similar.

Please provide some other factors I should be considering in my tire selection?

Sponsored

 

[bravohankins]

I have had the 275/35R20 S-04's on my GT for about 1,000 miles now.
The RE-71R was over what I wanted to spend and doesn't come in an R20 size anyway.
So far the S-04 has been a vast improvement over the Nero AS tires that came stock.
Quiet, grippy and not as harsh of a ride as I thought they would be, especially since I had put the Ford Racing Handling kit on my GT before I went to them. I've been very impressed so far.

Here is an article I read when I was trying to decide to go with the S-04's, it has a good write up about the RE's you are thinking about too.
http://www.cnet.com/news/tire-tech-the-bridgestone-potenza-re-71r-ultra-high-performance-tire/