These tires are specially created for summer driving and road racing purposes. Their bulkier tread with massive shoulders and continuous central rib provides the strong grip necessary for stable driving at high speeds.
NT01 is a D.O.T compliant tire that offers excellent dry traction and fully commanded steering when you take turns during a race. Its strong rayon carcass allows it to proficiently manage the additional load that comes on tires from high speeding, resulting in increased stability and responsiveness.
RE-71R is an extreme performance tire designed to provide optimized performance both on a dry or wet road. Not only does it provide you with an optimized driving experience on the dry paved surface, but it also offers high resistance against hydroplaning. Thus, you can drive in rainy conditions without a concern.
When compared with Nitto NT01, Potenza RE-71R offers enhanced wet traction, superior resistivity to straight aqua, improved fuel averages, lower noise production, and a lesser price but its dry traction and racing abilities are comparatively lesser.
Table of Contents
Side By Side Comparison
Nitto NT01
Bridgestone Potenza RE 71R
| RE-71R | NT01 | |
| Tires’ type | Extreme performance tire | Road course tire |
| Usage | Summer | Summer |
| Winter use | No | No |
| Tested size | 225/45R17 | 225/45R17 |
| Tread depth | 8/32’’ | 6.3/32’’ |
| Section width | 8.9’’ | 8.86’’ |
| Tire weight | 23 Ibs | 23.57 Ibs |
| Maximum inflation pressure | 50 psi | 51 psi |
| Maximum load | 1477 Ibs | 1356 Ibs |
| Load speed ratings | 94 W | 91 W |
| Rim Width range | 7- 8.5’’ | 7- 8.5’’ |
Treadwear Comparison
RE-71R characterizes a relatively open tread design because its tread is relatively deeper, and the void ratio is higher. Due to the relatively high void ratio, this design is only virtually sleek. The central portion is formed by a continuous rib that carries no lateral voids or sipes, but its width is relatively lesser and longitudinal grooves along its sides are relatively broad. The inner walls of these grooves have hydro evacuation surface ridges for improved wet performance. Its shoulders are quite bulky, but lateral grooves among them make their size lesser than its competitor. These horizontal voids are 7-shaped and wider. Due to the same size of inboard and outboard shoulders, this tread design is symmetrical.
In contrast, the tread of NT01 is more slick as it is compact and bulkier. It is also a single rib running in the center of the tread, but it is interrupted by lateral grooves at some points. However, this rib is wider and circumferential grooves are narrow, due to which its contact patch becomes relatively higher. Its pattern is asymmetrical because the outboard shoulder is relatively larger than the inboard shoulder. Horizontal grooves are curved-shaped and narrower than the competitor, but they extend to the central rib along with its shoulders.
Tire Performance Comparison
| RE-71R | NT01 | |
| Hydroplaning resistance | Moderate | low |
| Rolling resistance | Moderate-high | High |
| Off roading ability | Low | Very low |
| Durability | Moderate | Low-Moderate |
Road Grip Comparison
NT01 takes the lead for dry grip because its rubber-to-road contact is relatively higher. Its central rib is wide; thus, it holds on more strongly to the paved surface. However, when there is water standing on the road, its grip becomes lesser as compared to the contestant. The reason is its shallow and narrow channels deeper off water less efficiently, making grip relatively tricky.
On the other side, RE-71R shows comparatively lesser grip on the dry paved surface. This is because its central rib is less wide and offers less surface area to hold on the concrete road. Nonetheless, its performance is better on a wet road because its deep and broad longitudinal grooves quickly channel out water from the road surface, allowing the tread to grip firmly.
| RE-71R | NT01 | |
| Dry Grip | Moderate | High |
| Wet Grip | Moderate- High | Low- Moderate |
Handling Comparison
NT01 offers higher cornering stability on a dry road due to its massive shoulders. Its bulky shoulder blocks provide consistent contact with the road, resulting in firm traction even when you take turns at high speed. But its handling ability ranks lower when the competition is over a wet track due to the lesser width and depth of its lateral grooves. Comparatively decreased ability to evacuate water also reduces the accuracy of steering.
On a dry road, Bridgestone’s tire ranks lower for its steer management because wide lateral voids decrease the surface area of the tread in contact with the road. Hence, the biting ability of its shoulder blocks is comparatively minor, eventually leading to lesser cornering stability. Yet these wide and deep grooves become a plus point when the vehicle turns about on a wet road as these voids quickly while off water layer between tread and the road. Resultantly, the tire sustains firm traction as it rolls and rotates on wet pavement.
| RE-71R | NT01 | |
| Dry Handling | Moderate | High |
| Wet Handling | High | Moderate-high |
Comparison of Hydroplaning Resistance
These tires are meant for racing on the dry road during summer conditions and not in the heavy rain, thus, their ability to resist hydroplaning is comparatively lesser than everyday street tires. Yet these tires have reliable abilities to resist hydroplaning on mildly wet tracks. Potenza takes the lead due to increased tread depth. Its circumferential grooves are also relatively broad and also have hydro evacuation ridges along their inner walls. Hence, the water layer on a wet pavement (which can lead to sliding and loss of traction) is wiped off by these open channels.
NT01 also offers a reliable performance against hydroplaning because its lateral and longitudinal grooves are connected. So, water quickly finds a way through these tread channels. But its score becomes relatively lower as it has lesser tread depth and its longitudinal channels are relatively narrow as well. Due to these features, it provides lesser water evacuation and minor safety from aquaplaning than its competitor.
Comparison of Rolling Resistance
NT01 needs more energy to roll because more of its surface area directly touches the road, giving rise to a huge rolling resistance. This feature also makes its fuel consumption higher than its contestant.
On the other side, RE-71R faces lesser rolling friction in a paced path because less of its surface area is in contact with the road due to a higher void ratio. As a result, it needs little energy to account for rolling hysteresis, and its fuel efficiency is higher in comparison.
Comparison of Noise and comfort
NT01 offers higher ride comfort on the dry road, but driving becomes relatively less comfortable on a wet pathway. This is because its dry traction is high due to increased contact patch and wet traction is minimized by a lower void ratio. It also makes more noise because its interconnected grooves offer better circulation of wind waves despite being narrow. Resultantly, you hear a loud rolling sound when driving on these tires.
In contrast, the driving experience with Potenza RE-71R is less comfortable on a dry road but more comfortable on wet pavement. The reason is its lower contact patch but better slip resistivity. Although its lateral voids are larger yet they are blocked and separate from each other. Resultantly, noise particles do not find a way to circulate freely in tread channels, making this tire quieter than the competitor.
| RE-71R | NT01 | |
| Noise | Low-Moderate | Moderate- high |
| Driving comfort on a dry road | Moderate | High |
| Driving comfort on a wet road | High | Low-Moderate |
Durability and treadwear
RE-71R is more durable than its competitor as its tread compound is more resilient and its tread pattern gives rise to lesser friction. Its tread is molded from Bridgestone’s newly developed summer performance compound. The internal carcass is made of two wide steel belts for enhanced stability at high speeds. Plus, spiral nylon reinforcement accounts for the strengthening of its internal structure. That is why its UTQG rating is higher. Plus, the open tread faces lesser rolling friction and wears down relatively slowly. It comes with a uniform wear warranty for up to 2/32″ but does not carry any mileage warranty for tread wear.
On the other side, NT01 is fairly durable due to its heat enduring tread compound and high modulus carcass yet its wear resistivity is lesser than its competitor. Its specialized race compound can bear many heat cycles but its strength against friction and pressure damages is comparatively lesser. This is also represented by its lower UTQG value which is merely half of the competitor’s rating. Moreover, it encounters higher rolling resistance which also leads to faster consumption of tread.
| RE-71R | NT01 | |
| Internal Structure | Two wide steel belts Spirally wound nylon | High Modulus rayon carcass steel belts steel reinforced sidewalls |
| UTQG | 200 A A | 100 AA A |
| Treadwear warranty | None | None |
Quick Summary
Both of these summer tires are D.O.T legal options for street racing.
Potenza RE-71R:
- Provides enhanced traction on wet paths.
- Offers higher resistance against hydroplaning than its competitor.
- Consumes a lesser amount of fuel due to comparatively minor rolling friction.
- Carries lower price tags.
NT01:
- Offers better grip on a dry road.
- Presents precise steering response and controlled handling on dry tracks.
- Showcases better heat resistance than its competitor.
