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Last updated 7/18/2024 - Originally published 7/18/2024
Written by SimpleTire
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Year in and year out, all-season tires are the preferred choice for most drivers, and for good reason. Premium all-season tires are designed as a do-all (or almost-all) solution that delivers long wear, year-round grip, capable and responsive handling, and a quiet, refined, predictable ride. When you’re in the market for a premium all-season tire, it’s that much better if you can find a tire option that will offer the same kind of traction as an all-season tire along with the sharp cornering, steering response, and overall performance as a summer or ultra-high-performance (UHP) tire. That’s especially valid when you consider that the softer, stickier tread formulation of summer and UHP tires will stiffen and lose grip on colder days, which is why tire makers advise against using summer tires if temperatures are below 40-45 degrees F.
Are you familiar with SimpleTire’s SimpleScore system? SimpleScore is the rating method that our team developed to give you a quick at-a-glance idea of any tire’s performance and value. We look at a tire’s reviews, specs, and other data points, then take that information and process it into a 1-10 numerical score. For the Bridgestone Potenza RE980AS+ and Falken Azenis FK460 A/S, the SimpleScore ratings shake out like this:
As you can see, the Bridgestone and the Falken both have their distinct strengths and weaknesses. As handy as SimpleScore is, though, it’s the 30,000-foot view that doesn’t give you the whole picture and the real details you need to make an informed decision. Let’s go in for a closer look at this product line comparison:
The design team at Bridgestone upped the game of the proven Potenza RE980AS with the Potenza RE980AS+, and the changes are more significant than just the window dressing and rebranding of an existing, well-established tire. The Potenza RE980AS+ is the flagship all-season tire of Bridgestone’s line, designed for a great balance of year-round grip and versatility with the nimble, pulse-quickening handling of a summer or ultra-high-performance tire. Bridgestone starts from the ground up with an ultra-high-silica tread compound that’s designed to stay flexible and deliver winter traction at subfreezing temperatures. It’s then molded into an asymmetric all-season tread with separate segments for traction in wet or dry conditions, including circumferential grooves, shoulder slots, and angled grooves that evacuate water away from the tire’s contact patch to resist any tendency towards hydroplaning on wet roads.
The Potenza RE980AS+ has chamfered edges on the lateral grooves that help it make consistent rubber-to-road contact all the time. It also has a dense network of 3D full-depth sipes that interlock and work as a system to improve traction in wet or snowy conditions. These full-depth sipes are designed to continuously deliver grip, even as the tire’s tread depth wears down. The phenomenal handling ability of the Potenza RE980AS+ can be chalked up in part to its rigid internal construction, which includes a 3-ply reinforced sidewall and shoulder that mitigates tread deformation and squirm during hard maneuvers. A solid center rib enhances road manners by keeping the Potenza RE980AS+ firmly planted on the road at highway speed as well as aiding in quick, agile steering response. Internal construction includes a polyester casing with two plies across the tread area, twin steel belts, and a spiral-wound nylon cap ply. The tread pitch of the Potenza RE980AS+ is randomized and computer-tuned to negate certain frequencies and resonances and keep road noise to a minimum. The Bridgestone Potenza RE980AS+ is covered by a 50,000 mile manufacturer’s treadwear warranty. SimpleTire’s price on the Bridgestone Potenza RE980AS+ starts at $147.96 per tire.
For some time now, our team here at SimpleTire has been impressed with almost everything in the Falken line, and the Azenis FK460 A/S is no exception. The Falken Azenis FK460 A/S is a tire that gives you confidence and peace of mind and has reliable traction in all kinds of weather with its advanced 4D nano tread compound. While the performance and traction of most tires will fall off as tread depth wears down, the innovative Emerging Grooves system of the Azenis FK460 A/S is designed so the grooves actually open up and expand for extended performance as tread depth gets thinner. The Canyon Groove design and circumferential grooves with chamfered edges deliver stubborn traction and performance in wet or wintry conditions, working as a system to provide the grip you need. SimpleScore for traction: 8.6. Falken covers the Azenis FK460 A/S with a 50,000 mile manufacturer’s treadwear warranty (Thanks in part to the wear-resistant properties of that 4D Nano tread compound), rating a SimpleScore of 9.1 for longevity. Steering response, cornering, road manners, and braking performance are all direct and accurate with this tire, in line with a handling SimpleScore of 8.8. We should also mention that the Azenis FK460 A/S is refined and quiet on the highway, with acoustically tuned grooves to cancel certain frequencies and cut wind noise, keeping road noise to a minimum. SimpleTire’s price on the Falken Azenis FK460 A/S starts at $140 per tire.
Take a look at the SimpleScores in the traction category: the Bridgestone Potenza RE980AS+ weighs in with a near-perfect SimpleScore of 9.9, vs. a respectable 8.6 for the Falken Azenis FK460 A/S. Why such a big disparity in SimpleScores for this category? The chamfered-edge groove system and 3D sipes of the Falken do a great job in wet or wintry conditions. With the Bridgestone, though, the circumferential grooves and shoulder slots do a more efficient job of evacuating water from the tire’s contact patch to resist hydroplaning, and its silica-rich tread formulation is designed for improved traction in wet weather as well as enhanced wear properties. Our decision:
ADVANTAGE: Bridgestone Potenza RE980AS+
Here’s another one that’s not even close, with the Bridgestone coming in with a SimpleScore of 9.9 for handling vs 8.8 for the Falken. Bridgestone has decades of experience in the motorsports arena and has always been able to successfully leverage that expertise and know-how into their performance-oriented automotive tires. Bridgestone’s super-stable construction gives it the rigidity it needs to resist the inertia of hard cornering, with its reinforced shoulder and sidewall, polyester casing, twin steel belts, and nylon cap ply layer. The tread features of the Bridgestone that give it such confident traction also mean top-notch handling, including that solid center rib for enhanced steering response. This one’s an easy decision:
ADVANTAGE: Bridgestone Potenza RE980AS+
This one is somewhat of a conundrum. Usually, when it comes to longevity, the tire’s limited manufacturer’s tread life warranty tells the whole story about the SimpleScore that the tire gets. In this case, though, the Bridgestone and the Falken both have 50,000 mile warranty coverage, yet the Falken racks up a SimpleScore of 9.1 vs. 8.6 for the Bridgestone. Why would there be that much of a discrepancy between SimpleScore numbers if the warranties are identical? Well, we do use customer review information as part of our SimpleScore ratings and calculations, and in this case, customer reviews note that tread wear is more consistent and dependable with the Falken, which moves the needle in its favor. Our decision:
ADVANTAGE: Falken Azenis FK460 A/S
When we’re talking about a premium Bridgestone tire vs. a premium Falken tire, you probably can’t really go wrong with either one. Both are equally strong performers for a wide variety of sedans, coupes, minivans, and crossovers; both offer great traction and handling in wet or dry conditions, with the exception being deeper snow (neither tire has a 3 Peak Mountain Snowflake certification for winter traction, and most non-3PMSF all-season tires don’t do well in heavier winter weather). The Bridgestone is designed for a quiet and luxurious ride along with a generous treadwear warranty and enhanced handling. For that matter, so is the Falken although it doesn’t quite stack up favorably against the Bridgestone in the SimpleScore ratings. Long story short, though, these are both good prospects for any driver who needs all-season performance but also likes to push the performance envelope now and again.
Let’s take a look at what the Bridgestone Potenza RE980AS+ and Falken Azenis FK460 A/S have to offer. Both tires are designed for the same performance targets when it comes to noise level, ride quality, handling, year-round grip, steering response, and treadwear. Both have sets of design features that compare well to each other, but the Bridgestone consistently outranks the Falken in all the SimpleScore categories except longevity. In most cases, we’d take the starting price of each tire into account for this final call, but there’s not that much of a price spread between the two tires here. With all that in mind, we think that the Bridgestone is the superior tire and if we decided to make a sedan, coupe, minivan, or crossover, we’d go with the Bridgestone Potenza RE980AS+. However, if speed is your criterion for the final decision, the Falken tire, with a Y-speed rating, is the faster tire.
Still not sure which tire to buy? Fortunately, SimpleTire is here to help, and our helpful agents will be more than happy to assist you in selecting the right tire for your ride and budget.
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