Bridgestone Potenza RE050A Pole Position looks discontinued: no new owner reviews or road tests in five years and no current EU tyre label.

Head-to-head Updated

Bridgestone Potenza RE050A Pole Position vs Michelin Pilot Sport 4 — Compared

Relative Score (0–100): the weighted average of the categories below, each 60% road tests and 40% owner reviews (comfort 40/60). Based on 0 + 21 road tests and 2 + 12,691 owner reviews. How we score

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Michelin Pilot Sport 4
Tire BMichelin

Pilot Sport 4

Summer

± 4

Tests 85 · 21 tests Owners 76 · 12,691 reviews

Best test result: #1 of 45 in 2019 Summer 53 Tyre Braking Shootout (dry braking)

“Those are Pilot sport 4 (all season). If it had s after the 4 it would be the summer high performance version. I put the pilot sport 4 on wife's GTI autobahn 2016. Great handling tire, stiff side walls, not the smoothest ride but best overall.”

Category by category

Relative Score per category, 0–100. Open “Why this score” for the tests and owner ratings behind it.

  1. –

    Dry

    No comparison
    87
    Why this score
    SourcePotenza RE050A Pole PositionPilot Sport 4
    Professional tests (TWG score) · – / 20 tests–89
    Reviews found online–85

    Pilot Sport 4: 60% × 89.1 + 40% × 84.5 = 87

  2. –

    Wet

    No comparison
    90
    Why this score
    SourcePotenza RE050A Pole PositionPilot Sport 4
    Professional tests (TWG score) · – / 20 tests–93
    Reviews found online–85

    Pilot Sport 4: 60% × 93.1 + 40% × 84.7 = 90

  3. –

    Comfort

    No comparison
    77
    Why this score
    SourcePotenza RE050A Pole PositionPilot Sport 4
    Professional tests (TWG score) · – / 6 tests–83
    Reviews found online–72

    Pilot Sport 4: 40% × 83.4 + 60% × 72.4 = 77

  4. –

    Noise

    No comparison
    71
    Why this score
    SourcePotenza RE050A Pole PositionPilot Sport 4
    Professional tests (TWG score) · – / 13 tests–73
    Reviews found online–≈ 67 (est.)

    Pilot Sport 4: 60% × 73.4 + 40% × 66.6 (est.) = 71

    No owner ratings of noise for Pilot Sport 4. The owner half is the owners’ average (67): owners’ noise ratings barely follow the road tests, so the tests say nothing about how owners would rate it.

  5. –

    Treadwear

    No comparison
    71
    Why this score
    SourcePotenza RE050A Pole PositionPilot Sport 4
    Professional tests (TWG score) · – / 3 tests–78
    Reviews found online–60

    Pilot Sport 4: 60% × 78.1 + 40% × 59.5 = 71

  6. –

    Handling (owners)

    No comparison
    81
    Why this score
    SourcePotenza RE050A Pole PositionPilot Sport 4
    Reviews found online–81
  7. –

    Efficiency

    No comparison
    76
    Why this score
    SourcePotenza RE050A Pole PositionPilot Sport 4
    Professional tests (TWG score) · – / 14 tests–76
Scores at a glance
Bridgestone Potenza RE050A Pole Position vs Michelin Pilot Sport 4: scores by category (0–100)
CategoryBridgestone Potenza RE050A Pole PositionMichelin Pilot Sport 4
Relative Score – 83
Dry – 87
Wet – 90
Comfort – 77
Noise – 71
Treadwear – 71
Handling (owners) – 81
Efficiency – 76

Higher is better. The Relative Score follows your weights below; category scores do not change.

Weight the categories that matter to you

Wet grip starts at “Important”. Treadwear starts at “Neutral” here: road tests measured it for at most one of the two tires, so it rests on owner reviews. Move the sliders and the scores update instantly.

Important
NotLessNeutralImportantMost
Important
NotLessNeutralImportantMost
Less important
NotLessNeutralImportantMost
Less important
NotLessNeutralImportantMost
Neutral
NotLessNeutralImportantMost
Less important
NotLessNeutralImportantMost
Not important
NotLessNeutralImportantMost
Recomputed
Headline score

Potenza RE050A Pole Position

± 4

Pilot Sport 4

Only categories both tires have data for count toward the headline score.

Pros, cons & observations

Themes extracted from owner reviews found online — not the opinion of TireWheelGuide.

Tire A Potenza RE050A Pole Position

Not enough owner reviews yet to extract themes.

Tire B Pilot Sport 4

Pros

  • Exceptional wet and dry traction with outstanding resistance to aquaplaning
  • Noticeable improvement in ride comfort and a reduction in cabin noise compared to standard run-flat tires
  • Progressive and predictable breakaway limits during spirited driving

Cons

  • Faster-than-average treadwear, particularly under aggressive driving or on rear-wheel-drive performance cars
  • Softer sidewalls can lead to a slight lack of initial steering precision and a vague feel at the limit for hardcore enthusiasts
  • Performance drops off significantly in cold, freezing, or snowy winter conditions
All owner themes in the Pilot Sport 4 review

What real owners are saying

From Reddit, forums and review threads. Not part of our score

Tire A

Bridgestone Potenza RE050A Pole Position

We haven't collected enough community discussion about this tire yet.

Tire B

Michelin Pilot Sport 4

Positive

The community widely regards the Michelin Pilot Sport 4 line as a premium upgrade offering exceptional dry and wet grip, precise handling, and superior ride comfort compared to OEM or run-flat tires. While celebrated for performance, users frequently discuss its high price tag, faster treadwear, and noticeable drop in EV efficiency. Some drivers also note increased road noise and reduced traction when temperatures drop near freezing.

uk-polos.net ·2021-09-20

“So I went through my front two Bridgestones in 8000 mile - my own fault really. Anyway I've had Michelin PS4's fitted on the front since that's what 90% of people say to get. Well... They are sh*t in my opinion. I'm running 38psi in the front, so I'm open to trying different pressures if anyone else runs anything else. Twice under heavy breaking the car has completely lost traction - this NEVER happened with the same amount of speed and breaking on the Bridgestones. Three times when throwing the car into a hard corner the tyres have felt like they were skidding or possibly folding which resulted into a late grip which then whipped the car. Maybe I just need to get used to them but I've not noticed too much of an improvement in a straight line and breaking and cornering on them has been shocking. The cornering just seems awful, I've lost so much confidence driving the car now. I had the Eibach Sportline springs fitted just before I changed the tyres and the handling went through the roof, now all that seems to of gone... Any thoughts? Pressures? Do the tyres just not fit how I drive?”

bimmerfest.com ·2024-10-19

“Wow! You burn rubber. I totally appreciate what you’ve said and on my old e60 I ran both contis D06 and Michelins ps4 for 3 sets each. Both different feel and wear. Contis lasted longer but didn’t feel as nice as PS4. Now I’m in another BMW and cannot rotate the same way with a staggered wheel size. I’m in NC, when I drove PS4, in cold weather, they wore out quickly. They are a summer tire for sure, but I will use a slightly higher pressure to lengthen service life. That camber is rough on the inner tire shoulder / tread and the all season contains held up better there.”

r/TeslaModelS ·1 upvote ·2025-03-27

“I was running pilot sport 4s on my MS. (19” wheels) I was lucky to get 13,000-14,000. I just switched to Kumho Majesty 9’s for about 1/3 the price. Currently have 4,000 miles on them and just to rotated. Fingers crossed I can get 13,000 miles out of them.”

Top themes
#Wet and dry grip#Run-flat replacement upgrade#Treadwear and longevity#Cold weather performance#Road noise and comfort#EV range and efficiency#Comparison to Continental tires

Based on 246 community posts

Specs side by side

Attribute A · Bridgestone Potenza RE050A Pole Position B · Michelin Pilot Sport 4
CategorySummer Max Performance tiresSummer
Vehicle typePassenger Car / CrossoverPassenger Car / Crossover
Sizes available—62
Rim diameters—16″ – 20″

Which one should you actually buy?

Bridgestone Potenza RE050A Pole Position

Michelin Pilot Sport 4

Only Michelin Pilot Sport 4 has enough test and review data for a Relative Score, so there is no head-to-head winner yet.

Tire A · Bridgestone Potenza RE050A Pole Position
Tire B · Michelin Pilot Sport 4

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How do we compare tires?

Every category score blends two independent signals. 60% comes from professional tire tests (braking distances, lap times, noise measurements), each result compared with every other tire in the same test and newer tests counting more. 40% comes from owner reviews found online, adjusted for how generously each site rates. Both use one scale: the average tested tire gets 70, the best 100. When a tire has only one of the two, the missing half is estimated from the other and the score stays closer to average; with no road test and fewer than five owner reviews it gets no score yet.

Handling is the exception: road tests measure it inside the dry and wet scores, so its own row comes from owner ratings only and starts as less important.

Community buzz from Reddit and forums is shown for context only — it never changes the score. Full methodology