I was saddened when i heard BS discontinued the S03's. Been
running S03's since about 5 yrs ago on my other hobby cars. they looked
great, performed great, and was noisy as hell when worn.

Although on my other car, i have to say the 050A Pole Positions are
just as good as the previous S03's. (dont mistake these for the regular
050A's. These are 050A PolePositions). The tires are very grippy and
responsive even with only 50miles on them. i thought i was running S03's.
if someone had told me these were S03's, I would've believed them.

The steering response is crisp. the tire response in general and the
road feedback feels very good. There are belts that run down near the
inner thread to reinforce the tire for cars running lots of negative camber.
this might be giving me more feedback than the previous S03's.

It's hard to tell if it was just the tire since i changed the wheel width and
offset this time, but the tire seems to keep a better posture under
hard cornering vs my previous S03's.

will see how it goes say 3k miles 5k miles down the road. anyone that
loved S03's, you will probably love these too, i think.

oh yah, another side effect benefit....these are inside/outside directional
so you can rotate (if you want) from the driver side to the passenger side
front/back up and down over and under... ok i got a little carried away.

will see about the noise down the road as well. these are suppose to
be the S03's with 'quiet ride.' im happy with these tires.

 

Thanks for the early review.

I have had S-03s for about 3 years and need to replace them at some point.

I'm not that worn down but the tires are aging and likely the rubber is harder than when new.

I remember the new grip was fantastic and far better than the Yokohama AVS ES100s I had worn down in one year.

Noise was very good, ride quality was smooth and grip was really good dry OR wet.

Since then the new RE050A Pole Positions are the primo tire from Bridgestone and tests show that it's worth a look. I would have liked to see them in sizes perfect for the MINI at least 215/40-17 or 215/45-17.

Best sizes for the MINI right now-
205/55-16 $126 140 treadwear W speed rated 24 lbs. 24.9" tire diam
205/50-17 $153 each Y speed rated 24 lbs. 25.1" tire diam
225/45-17 $131 special price Y speed rated 25 lbs. 25" tire diam
225/40-18 $180 each Y speed rated 25 lbs. 25.1" tire diam
Tests
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/...lay.jsp?ttid=1

 

^^ huh... those sizes aren't going to work too well... they should
at least offer the 205/50/16's and 215/40/17's.

although they have perfect sizes for my G. 245/35/19 and 275/35/19's.

i should mention the other tires i considered were the GS-D3's (obviously)
and SportMaxx. if it wasn't going to be the 050A PP's, I would have just
gone to GS-D3's.

 

Ken, if your thinking of changing tires in those sizes, you'd be better off moving up to Michelin PS2s. More money but a much more stickier and better tire. Check out the tirerack survey ratings.

 

i would rather have you try it yourself and let me know.

i already have them on my 18's. lol... and they are good tires.
but i prefer Bridgestones.

 

If you already got them, why did you say your had 19"?

 

cause i have 3 sets of wheels chows...

 

WOW ... you must be rich You dont want to get a flat in those monster tires, them puppies cost some $$$

 

not sure about rich but i don't believe in down time.

 

Is anyone running 205/55/16? Although they'd fill the arches better, I don't know...

 

greg67: i have seen you drive......you might want to consider r-comps for the street!