Bridgestone BT-003 (Amateur) Review

[colobeamer]

Replaced K3's with BT-003 Racing Street - pictures in my album reflect 1851 miles & 1.5 track days. The .5 day was a very tight 1 mile track called IMI just North of Denver & I could not get out of 1st gear - except briefly into 2nd for a short "straight." Second track day yesterday at High Plains Raceway, an incredible 2.55 mile circuit with 15 turns, gorgeous elevation changes & a long, long straight - up to 131 & than I felt my gender starting to change - with another 30-40 yards to go - about 60 miles East of Denver. Tire pressures on the street since new were 32 / 36. Track pressures @ 32 / 32 for the .5 day & I ran 30 / 30 yesterday. However, I don't really know what the hell I'm doing. Two riders on the same tires & Jap 600's were running at 28 / 26. I have a 3rd track day scheduled for 7-27 with Ricky Orlando. & suspect that will be the end of these. And when they are toast - I will replace them with the exact same tires! I felt more comfortable on these than the K3's - go figure. OH, & the EBC HH have performed flawlessly on the street & track - NO fade what-so-ever. You decide.

[chopt]

I'm not sure which # is your front / rear pressure. On those tires I've found 30F and 28R COLD(taken first thing in the morning before loading up) to be the ideal pressure's in air temp's between 50degree's and near 100degree's. You're looking for a 3psi to 5psi rise off the track.

If your pressure is low in the front it'll be sluggish to turn in and and hard to change lines, wanting to push, stand-up not wanting to stay leaned over. If they're too low in the rear it'll wallow and possibly wag when accelerating.

Your best bet is to walk around the pit's asking questions on suggested pressures for street tires. Almost everyone I've run across at the track was more than happy to offer help.

[diverbelow]

The bt0003 are very good tires but strangely very unknown or not well marketed. I run on them 2.1bar and 1.9 bar on the rear and they Are perfect

[2000750]

I'll be out at HPR on the 25th if you end up making it out.

I'm sure the Orlando School will be LOTS of fun!

[colobeamer]

Greetings Chopt, Diverbelow & 2000750 - Thanks for the valuable advice - this forum has helped me immeasurably. I will set pressures to 30F / 28R for my next track day on 7-27. When I learned two other 003 riders were at 28F / 26R that appeared quite low. Suspect they are seeking a larger contact patch with the surface & care little about "any" respectable miles on the street - at those pressures the tires may last 2-3 track days with little or no street miles. So, several track days in the high 90's plus almost 2000 street miles IMHO is an excellent value. Add., when I reduced from the 36F / 41R "recommended" street pressures to 32F / 36R - the 003's feel & grip out of the seat & well leaned well improved substantially. I've read many posts re: premium tires in this forum, some with awful mileage, others where riders cannot seem to get all the way out on both sides??? I offer the pics in my album to anyone considering sunstantial performance, excellent confidence & stability, & significant value. HEY Bridgestone, how about a little love here?

[chopt]

Those pressure's are for track use only. On the street's I'd bring them up to 34psi to 36psi front and rear.

I stretch my 003's(which is track use only on my 636) to get 4 track days, which my next trackday will be their 4th. It's going to be hard to expect longevity out of a dual purposed used tire. You either sacrafice longevity for traction or traction for longevity. Tire's are a high expense in this sport, be careful if you plan to take short cut's in this department.

[Koby]

I used to run these as a street tire and some track use on my suzuki... they were a good tire especially for the price but they definitely can't compare to some better tires out there. bridgestones wear very fast.

[Lee#144]

Have u tried the 003 pros?