Deep Heat wrote:I doubt RE050A are specially made for our cars.
VZ commodores and about 100 other cars came with them standard.
Also be aware that there can be substantial variation between tyres of the same "model" across manufacturing plants and even years of manufacture at the same plant.
Many people used to look for the Japanese made RE050As rather than the Australian made ones, but as I remember it, at one stage during the model life (bearing in mind they're a really old design now), that swapped, and the Japanese made ones fell out of favour.
Bridgestone currently list the Potenza S001 as the most appropriate tyre for a post-FL GT Spec.B, but do list the T001, RE050A and RE002 as suitable options as well. I currently have Pirelli P-Zero Nero tyres on my car (with an RE050A as the spare still), and they don't seem as bad a tyre as I remember Pirelli offered for a while (I used to love Pirellis, but really went off them). I know a few Liberty owners who also know their tyres who have put Michelin Pilot Sport 2/3s and Continental ContiSportContacts on their cars and been very happy with them (you'll note that none of these are cheap tyres - I don't believe in cheap tyres myself).
I personally think the mix of 18" wheel and the Bilstein suspension on the Spec.Bs was a bad idea for Australian roads, and am going back to a 17" wheel with a little bit more sidewall height (235/45R17 against 215/40R18). Probably going for the RE002s, though I do wonder how long they'll last and if they'll get noisy as they age (they look much more aggressive than the RE001 they supposedly replaced in the Potenza lineup) - they're almost a semi-slick...