Review -- Bridgestone Turanza Serenity Plus
09-23-13, 06:45 PM
#1
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Review -- Bridgestone Turanza Serenity Plus
A little background. 2006 GS430 with g-spyder 18s. I bought the car CPO at 51k with Michelin Pilot Sport A/S plus with 6/32nds (installed at about 30k). My car now has 75k miles, so I assume the Michelins had around 45k-50k miles on them. They were very low on tread (1/32nd in the middle and 2-3/32nds on the shoulders), so it was time to replace them.
90% of my miles are in a straight line and on the highway at 75 mph. I wanted the quietest most comfortable tire I could buy. I also wanted something that could handle rain and some light snow. So, after researching and reading a ton of reviews, I decided on the Bridgestone Turanza Serenity Plus. I just had the tires installed today, so this review is very early. I will post up additional observations as I break them in.
So, these tires are quiet, eerily quiet, almost like the the Bridgestone commercial where they are dribbling the basketball and it's barely making any noise. In fact, the tires are so quiet that I'm hearing the tire noise from cars on either side of me. At one point on my commute home tonight, I was going about 85 and didn't even realize it. The Michelins would have been howling at that speed. And, maybe it's just because they are new, but the tires are absorbing the bumps much better than the Michelins ever did. The few rattles that I did have seem to have gone away overnight.
That's the good. Now the bad (maybe bad is the wrong word -- how about not so good). The car definitely doesn't corner as well as it did with the Michelins. The tires feel a little squishy/squirmy in the turns, if that makes sense. The sidewall of the tire is much softer than the stiffer Michelin sidewall. I guess it's all a trade-off. If you want extreme comfort and quiet, you need to give up something in the performance category. I'm hopeful that the squishiness will firm up a bit as the tires break in and lose some tread.
One thing I forgot to do before they were installed was to check the date codes. I'm **** about stuff like that -- I want new tires and 4 matching date codes. Well, the good news is that the tires are all stamped a matching 2213, so they were manufactured the 22nd week this year, sometime around the end of May or beginning of June. That's good by me.
Post up any questions you have and I'll try to answer them.
e
90% of my miles are in a straight line and on the highway at 75 mph. I wanted the quietest most comfortable tire I could buy. I also wanted something that could handle rain and some light snow. So, after researching and reading a ton of reviews, I decided on the Bridgestone Turanza Serenity Plus. I just had the tires installed today, so this review is very early. I will post up additional observations as I break them in.
So, these tires are quiet, eerily quiet, almost like the the Bridgestone commercial where they are dribbling the basketball and it's barely making any noise. In fact, the tires are so quiet that I'm hearing the tire noise from cars on either side of me. At one point on my commute home tonight, I was going about 85 and didn't even realize it. The Michelins would have been howling at that speed. And, maybe it's just because they are new, but the tires are absorbing the bumps much better than the Michelins ever did. The few rattles that I did have seem to have gone away overnight.
That's the good. Now the bad (maybe bad is the wrong word -- how about not so good). The car definitely doesn't corner as well as it did with the Michelins. The tires feel a little squishy/squirmy in the turns, if that makes sense. The sidewall of the tire is much softer than the stiffer Michelin sidewall. I guess it's all a trade-off. If you want extreme comfort and quiet, you need to give up something in the performance category. I'm hopeful that the squishiness will firm up a bit as the tires break in and lose some tread.
One thing I forgot to do before they were installed was to check the date codes. I'm **** about stuff like that -- I want new tires and 4 matching date codes. Well, the good news is that the tires are all stamped a matching 2213, so they were manufactured the 22nd week this year, sometime around the end of May or beginning of June. That's good by me.
Post up any questions you have and I'll try to answer them.
e
10-11-13, 01:34 PM
#2
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Thread Starter
Here's a quick update. So I've put about 1,000 miles on the tires. The initial squirminess has gone away. I was reading somewhere that it might have something to do with some compound/coating that is applied to the tires as a final manufacturing step. I don't know for sure, but I do know that the squirm is gone.
These tires are very nice tires. They are incredibly quiet and comfortable. They seem to soak up the bumps better than the Michelin Pilot A/S plus's they replaced, but that could simply be due to the fact that they have 10/32nds of tread and the Michelins had 1-2.
As for cornering, they definitely don't corner as well as the Michelins, but I knew that going in. They do a decent job in the corners, but when I push them, I do feel a bit of give in the sidewalls. I'm okay with the trade-off, though, because the ride is excellent. I've only driven in the rain once so far, but it was a light rain, so I didn't get a chance to really see the tires' performance in wet conditions. I am hopeful that they will be able to handle light snow, and will report back in a few months with my obsverations in that regard.
Post up any questions.
e
These tires are very nice tires. They are incredibly quiet and comfortable. They seem to soak up the bumps better than the Michelin Pilot A/S plus's they replaced, but that could simply be due to the fact that they have 10/32nds of tread and the Michelins had 1-2.
As for cornering, they definitely don't corner as well as the Michelins, but I knew that going in. They do a decent job in the corners, but when I push them, I do feel a bit of give in the sidewalls. I'm okay with the trade-off, though, because the ride is excellent. I've only driven in the rain once so far, but it was a light rain, so I didn't get a chance to really see the tires' performance in wet conditions. I am hopeful that they will be able to handle light snow, and will report back in a few months with my obsverations in that regard.
Post up any questions.
e
10-12-13, 02:27 AM
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Glad to hear they are living up to the Serenity name. 
I don't think it's easy getting the typical 18" tire to absorb road impacts very well. While it seems that people consider 19"-20"+ wheels as using 'low profile' tires, I remember not too long ago that the typical car used 15" -16" wheels, which left a lot more room for sidewalls.
I don't think it's easy getting the typical 18" tire to absorb road impacts very well. While it seems that people consider 19"-20"+ wheels as using 'low profile' tires, I remember not too long ago that the typical car used 15" -16" wheels, which left a lot more room for sidewalls.
10-14-13, 01:55 PM
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This Friday will be 4 weeks for me. The tires are very good, but they definitely leave something to be desired when it comes to cornering. In addition to quiet and comfort, one of my other objectives was handling in light snow, but unfortunately I won't be able to test them in snow until after the 30-day trial/refund period has passed. I have until this weekend to decide whether I'm keeping them. I do like the soft, compliant quiet ride, but I wonder if in the long run I'll regret not having the ability to toss the car around in the corners.
06-12-15, 01:59 PM
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Kawi -- I traded them back in before the end of the 30 day return period for the AS3's. Wow, those tires handled great, but they were incredibly loud and harsh. I ended up switching the AS3 out for the A/S Plus and haven't looked back. The A/S Plus are the perfect balance of performance, comfort and decent handling in the rain and snow. If I had to buy another set of tires today, I'd get another set of A/S Plus if I could find them. Otherwise, I'd probably go with the Continental DWS.
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