Bridgestone blazes a new trail with the Turanza GR90

MANILA, Philippines - Baking slowly in the heat of the searing tropical sun, about an hour and a half’s drive outside of the traffic snarled streets of Bangkok, lies one of the world’s most advanced tire testing facilities. Hardly the place you would expect one of the most prestigious brands to hold office – but if you’re a company that develops arguably the most abused products on earth, then setting up shop in a location that could scare off the folks of National Geographic makes perfect sense.

We’re at the Bridgestone and Firestone regional communication and training center in Thailand for the launch of the Turanza GR90. It must be like fifty degrees in the shade, but the men in white coats with the clipboards and the pocket protectors seem right at home. “Creating the Turanza was a journey in itself,” mutters a very proud Masaharu Kimura, manager for passenger car tire development. “Even though we faced several seemingly insurmountable challenges, our global team pulled through at every stage.”

There were a few important speeches from equally important people, but essentially it didn’t take long to figure out that there’s a lot of pride invested in this tire. And rightfully so, because despite the fact that Bridgestone have consummated an exotic partnership with Ferrari, lets face it, this is the tire that will put food on the table. It’s the Camry, Impreza, Lancer, Mazda 3, Civic, Focus, You and I tire. From a business perspective, its what makes things go around. In more ways than one.

Now, I’ll admit that I’ve been to some tire launches before where you need an engineering degree, thick rimmed glasses, and no Facebook account to notice any difference from the last model it replaced, but I remained open minded. I put it down to the fact that tire technology has come so far in the last few years that it is getting pretty difficult to find an edge – or more importantly, even more difficult to get the end user to actually feel that edge.

The PR department showed us some fancy graphs, charts, and plenty of pictures of good looking people smiling a lot, but honestly, stuff like center rib sipes, extra stability block bars and multi radius tread profiles means nothing until you can put in on the road. If a tire is as good as they say, you should feel it, and not have to read about it. So we went out to play.

First up was the high speed oval test. Unfortunately, we were restricted to being passengers in the E-Class Benz test car while the Japanese test driver drove us around the purpose built oval. May sound trivial, but sadly, there was a time when Bridgestone would let us experience everything for ourselves -- but I guess the growing number of our Asian neighbors who have made friends with the armco barriers or perimeter walls over the years has scared off the manufacturers from taking the training wheels off their events. Pity, because at speeds well over 200 km/h it gets very difficult to describe the subtleties that spell the difference between exceptional engineering and mass marketing.

Next up was the wet track. Once again, we would be driven by the Bridgestone driver. Now I say this with the greatest understanding, but trying to appreciate the technology of a new tire while being chauffeured by a company representative is like going to a restaurant and having the maitre’d chew your main course for you. We could appreciate it, but only from a distance.

The 60 k/ph noise test was similar. But in fairness, I can’t complain too much because being a passenger in this situation allowed us to concentrate more on the effects of pattern road noise and riding comfort. Besides, at such breakneck speeds, I didn’t mind leaving the driving to the test crew. Interesting thing was that Bridgestone chose not to compare their Turanza GR90 with a competitor, but with a used version of a used Turanza that had clocked up 40,000 kilometers.

A bold move, and twenty seconds into the test I noticed nothing. 30 seconds, still nothing. We all strained, but still nothing. You would need audio equipment more expensive than the Camry we were riding to notice any difference, which just in case anyone is wondering, is actually a good thing.

The GR90 prides itself on being a comfort tire more than anything else, and what is most impressive about this new GR90 is that it maintains its qualities even after long-term use. It features side branches that help dissipate whistling noises caused by straight grooves and minimizes disturbing high frequencies. Safety and performance have always been a given, but in the real world, comfort and silence is still an area that the consumer ticks on top of the wish list – perhaps because, unlike the intangible day-to-day effects of safety, they live with the droning, intrusive road noise of tires everyday.

By the day’s end, Bridgestone eventually gave us the wheel of a Camry and allowed us out on a make-shift slalom course to simulate its dry-handling qualities. This time, we were allowed to drive ourselves and finally experience some of the press release under exaggerated, yet real-world circumstances. It was a short course, but enough to feel that cornering was more stable, even during the long left hander that normally provokes horrible understeer in front wheel drive cars like our test vehicle, while steering remained positive and accurate.

I’ve owned a set of GR80 tires for the last two years and I think that the Turanza GR90 has introduced a new standard for passenger car tire comfort and safety. It’s better in almost every single way, especially in comfort and road noise. Some differences are subtle, but when you consider that the difference between life and death in terms of a braking situation can be a blink of an eye, every little bit adds up.

The Turanza GR90 was launched in the Philippines last month by Philippine Allied Enterprises, and is manufactured with sizes ranging from 14-19 inches. Check with your local tire dealer for available sizes.