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Bridgestone Turanza Serenity Plus review

LEB Ben

Arrogant A-hole At-Large
34,919
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I got the Bridgestone Turanza Serenity Plus tires for the Lincoln from Tirerack at the beginning of July...put them on the car on July 4th. I've put 6,000 miles on the tires in that time, and couldn't be happier. I was a little nervous the first few hundred miles, the car dropped about 2.5 mpg's, squishy handling in turns and the car just seemed to react differently on the whole. Well, after a few calls, I'm told these are typical characteristics of the tire until it's broken in...I was told 500 miles. It wasn't until I hit 500 miles that these things seemed to start to return to normal, and it wasn't until 1000-1500 miles where I became happy with the performance. Now they're better than any street tire I've run, including the Michelins they replaced. I've had these things through damn near any situation you can throw at a tire except snow and ice to this point. They stick like crazy when driving through the West Virginny hills, and I've had no issues traveling at highway speeds in rainstorms where you can't past your hood (in the dark). Sidewall and tread stability no longer show the typical issues that are complained about with LRR tires. My last trip back from Ohio, my average mpg was 30.1...previous best (with Michelins) was 28.6.

So to summarize...I was getting nervous about buying a brand new tire that had only been on the market for a couple weeks, and only got worse when they performed so terribly the first 1500 miles. But now, I think they could be up for a best in class. I don't think you can get any more out of an all-season grand touring tire.
 

LEB Ben

Arrogant A-hole At-Large
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Took another trip to Ohio this weekend, put another 1000 miles on the tires, for a total of 7k since July 4th. Prior to leaving, I decided I haven't checked the tire psi since I put the tires on...just assumed they filled them to spec...WRONG. All 4 tires were sitting at 35psi cold, sidewall says it's rated up to 51psi cold. I went ahead and topped them all off 48psi. The return trip home, the car got 31.1 mpgs...a full 1mpg better than the previous week. Worth noting...I took the same trip with the OEM Michelins about a week before I got the new tires, the return trip yielded 29.3mpg's. I will say the ride was more harsh and there was more road noise with the higher pressure in the new tires. I'll probably back them off to 42-44psi.
 

taxreliever

Licensed to Represent!
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287
Maine
Took another trip to Ohio this weekend, put another 1000 miles on the tires, for a total of 7k since July 4th. Prior to leaving, I decided I haven't checked the tire psi since I put the tires on...just assumed they filled them to spec...WRONG. All 4 tires were sitting at 35psi cold, sidewall says it's rated up to 51psi cold. I went ahead and topped them all off 48psi. The return trip home, the car got 31.1 mpgs...a full 1mpg better than the previous week. Worth noting...I took the same trip with the OEM Michelins about a week before I got the new tires, the return trip yielded 29.3mpg's. I will say the ride was more harsh and there was more road noise with the higher pressure in the new tires. I'll probably back them off to 42-44psi.

I'm no tire expert...but 51 seems high. Pretty cool though.
 

DNFXDLI

The Token Canadian
Staff member
Hey Ben, don't you fill them to the spec listed in the manual or door sticker?
 

O'Rattlecan

Redneck Prognosticator
26,687
797
Belton, MO
Erica's tires were rated up to 44psi, and if you air them up that much, it feels like you're driving around on basketballs. We backed them off to a more traditional 38psi and it was much better, still felt like basketballs till they got broke in.

Ryan
 

Austin

FTF's #1 Knob Polisher
10,350
297
Cumming, GA
Do you get a TPMS light on with that pressure? IIRC, the stock pressure for those sensors is something like 36 PSI.
 

LEB Ben

Arrogant A-hole At-Large
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outside your house
I'm no tire expert...but 51 seems high. Pretty cool though.

It's just what the tire is rated for...the higher the load range, the higher the psi typically.

Hey Ben, don't you fill them to the spec listed in the manual or door sticker?

Can't remember what the manual says, but I know the original OEM tires stated 44psi cold on the sidewall. And the tires I picked up are not an OEM replacement...and they state 51psi. Maybe you're right...maybe the door says 35psi so that's what the shop went with.

Erica's tires were rated up to 44psi, and if you air them up that much, it feels like you're driving around on basketballs. We backed them off to a more traditional 38psi and it was much better, still felt like basketballs till they got broke in.

Ryan

Yeah...I plan on finding the money area. 35psi felt good, and I wouldn't have known any difference had I not checked the psi. 48 psi is a little hard. So I'll progressively back down until I find a pressure I like.

Do you get a TPMS light on with that pressure? IIRC, the stock pressure for those sensors is something like 36 PSI.

The place I went required new sensors on equipped rides...I guess they put the appropriate sensor in because I didn't get a warning light. Or they took the sensors out and charged me $6/ea anyway...haha.
 

DNFXDLI

The Token Canadian
Staff member
I never go by the tire max pressure...I go by the owners manual or doorplate ratings. The max pressure on the tire is for what the maximum weight it can take.
The ones on the 350 are rated at 33 or 3400# per tire at 80 or 90 psi, but that would equate to that meaning that I was weighing nearly 14k#.
 

LEB Ben

Arrogant A-hole At-Large
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^^^Oh ok I gotcha...yeah I usually don't go by sidewall either, I usually go 90-95% of sidewall and reduce pressure from there, until I find what I like....usually a mix of mpg's vs. road noise vs. ride harshness. My preferred psi area is usually somewhere in the 80-85% of max psi. However, ff that winds up being 15psi, I don't care...if its 50psi, I don't care. This particular instance, I knew I had 1000 miles worth of driving to do and wanted to see what I could eek out of the tank.
 

DNFXDLI

The Token Canadian
Staff member
I went and checked our Lincoln....tire max is 51psi, door says 36psi, the 350 has 80psi on tire, 65 on door.
 

SuperCab

Moderator
Staff member
10,068
547
Montana
I run all my tires at max... they last longer and you get better MPGs.

But I drive 3/4 ton trucks - road noise and harsh ride aren't really noticed.
 

LEB Ben

Arrogant A-hole At-Large
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^^^I wouldn't disagree with that if we were talking an OEM tire for an OEM tire or if I drove in the same conditions as the demographic the company was marketing to.
 

SuperCab

Moderator
Staff member
10,068
547
Montana
but they have the money and engineers to do all the research for what's best for the vehicle


My Dad used to work for Atlas Supply Company - a joint venture testing lab of Amoco, BP, Exxon, and Chevron. One of their products happened to be tires. They had the money and the engineers to do all the research for what's best for the tire, and time after time they confirmed that the mfgrs maximum safe pressure gave the longest life and best economy. Handling was not significantly affected.
 

LEB Ben

Arrogant A-hole At-Large
34,919
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^^^Like Duncan mentioned earlier, is that max psi overall...or max psi based on load percentage??? Meaning with the Lincoln, best would be 51psi...or if I'm only ever at 75% of load capacity, I should be around 38psi???
 

taxreliever

Licensed to Represent!
14,695
287
Maine
Nope, that was 51 psi all the time. It does affect the ride, so the compromise is to run a little lower, which is what you are doing.

So is the point to use what's on the tire best overall for performance and not for comfort and what not?
 

taxreliever

Licensed to Represent!
14,695
287
Maine
Just checked the Bronco and the 32's Bfg's a/t t/a say 50 cold.
 

taxreliever

Licensed to Represent!
14,695
287
Maine
Just checked and they're at 40.5. Rode beautifully on the highway.
 

O'Rattlecan

Redneck Prognosticator
26,687
797
Belton, MO
Ben, careful doing that.

I am telling you, we aired up Erica's tires on the Mustang to the max 44psi and the things felt like basketballs, handling was dangerous.

Ryan
 

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