NEW BRIDGESTONE TYRE IS A WINNER IN THE WET
FIRST TEST Bridgestone Turanza 005 Price: £54 (185/65R15) Rating: ★★★★★ Contact: www.bridgestone.co.uk THERE’S no doubting that the Turanza 005 is an important tyre for Bridgestone, because, alongside the brand’s run-flat Driveguard, the new 005 will cover the entire touring market. It also represents a fundamental change in how the manufacturer develops a tyre.
So has it been successful? Following its January launch we’ve now had the chance to try the 005 at Bridgestone’s proving ground near Rome, Italy.
First impressions are good and it seems Bridgestone’s new policy of studying what drivers want from a tyre has paid off. Top of that list is wet grip and the range, which spans 14 to 21-inch rims, has the top A tyre label rating.
A few laps of the Italian wet handling circuit revealed a very safe tyre that had no rear movement and only lost grip progressively at the front. While we had no other tyre for comparison, the levels of grip also appeared high.
In the dry the 005 served up just what you need from a touring tyre; steering was direct but not so sharp that constant correction was required.
It was also comfortable over the proving ground’s noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) manholes, surface changes and ridges. The 005 was well damped and tyre noise remained low pitched even over sharp edges. It’s a promising start for the 005 which we aim to test further this summer.
It appears to be a refreshing change from Bridgestone, which has produced very conservative tyres in the past. With its impressive wet grip and B tyre label rating for fuel economy (some sizes even have the tyre maker’s Holy Grail of a double A grading), the Turanza 005 should be a leading contender.