When you’re afflicted with the passion that is the ownership of old cars, two specific types of people become vital members of your inner sanctum. Mechanics and owners of tyre shops. Unbeknownst to them, it’s very much a one-way street, where us mere mortals rely on their expertise, knowledge, specialist tools and workshop space to keep our old piles safely on the road. If you’re smart, the two aren’t too far apart from each other, either.

I have a ‘good mate’ who owns a tyre shop. His shop is a large and successful one and one of the brand names you would know well. I’ll respect his anonymity here, but a conversation he and I have had many times over the years rings in my ears. The two questions he hears more often than anything else are, “What’s the cheapest tyre you’ve got for my car?” and, “Is there a cheaper tyre than what’s on it now?”

Now, as someone who usually puts the most expensive tyre he can find on the least deserving car, I find the above thought process staggering.

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I really do. The four contact patches of rubber are the only thing between you and your passengers inside the cabin and the surface underneath you. And yet, the main consideration for so many is how cheaply they can get away with it, rather than the safest way of doing so.

Only recently, at that same tyre shop, I watched a Porsche Macan owner try to argue that his nearly bald, eight-year-old tyres definitely didn’t need to be replaced. “Just do the one that’s damaged from the pothole,” he said. He eventually gave in once the customer service guru showed him the date stamping and decoded it, and he thankfully opted for a quality brand name tyre.

All of the above, is why I’m looking forward to exploring the new Bridgestone Potenza Adrenalin RE005 we’re taking a look at this month in Wheels. I’ve had Bridgestone Potenza tyres on my cars over the years, but I’ve never pushed them the way we’ll be pushing them at the Norwell test facility in Queensland. It’s one thing to claim your tyres are capable of certain performance criteria. It’s another to illustrate that they are.

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First up, the type of car you own is less important than the fact that you love driving it. In most cases, you’d be fitting this type of tyre to a performance sedan, a hot hatch, or a sports car, but there’s no reason you shouldn’t look to enhance the handling, driving engagement, braking capability, and all-round confidence of any car you’re driving.

Keep in mind, too, that tyre manufacturing isn’t what it used to be. Bridgestone told Wheels that environmental concerns – not just in the manufacturing process, but also in regard to tyre wear and life – are a reality of modern manufacturing, demanded not just by the customer who might want a more environmentally friendly tyre, but also by the company looking to do its bit for the environment.

“The customer might want the ultimate touring product, but one that features a certain amount of recycled product and lower embedded carbon emissions,” Jo Hayes, Bridgestone’s head of corporate affairs, said. “As such we use as many recycled or renewable materials as we can.”

What stopped me in my tracks is the depth of development. We’re accustomed to the numbers that vehicle manufacturers quote for research and development, but the cost of entry at the high end of tyre design is just as eye-watering. Bridgestone invests more than $1 billion annually into research and development. Bridgestone is also, of course, the approved OEM supplier for many of the biggest automotive manufacturers in the world.

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More than 50 sizes of the new RE005 will be available between 15- and 20-inch rims sizes, with the successor to the RE003 available for a broad array of vehicles.

Bridgestone’s own testing against the RE003 showed that the new RE005 delivered superior wet lateral g-force capability in corners, as well as faster wet and dry lap times. RE005 is seven per cent better in dry braking, and 12 per cent better in wet braking tests, with four per cent improvement to tyre life compared to the RE003. The brand’s own research also indicated that key to owners was strong wet weather performance, not just high speed grip.

Bridgestone says the combination of wet and dry performance makes the RE005 ideal for those of us who love driving. The available contact patch has been maximised, the centre of the tyre designed to deliver precise steering response, and the outer tread area reinforced for more stability under load during cornering.

For the test day, we’re behind the wheel of Toyota 86 and BMW 2 Series road cars, set up as they would be on the road. Some of the testing – like the slalom and wet skid pan – will be back-to-back with another respected tyre brand, and the final, full track run will show us how the RE005 handles higher speeds.

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Crucial to the development of the RE005 is improved rolling resistance, which results in improved fuel use for an ICE car, and less energy consumption for an EV.

“The end result is the right balance of performance and everyday durability,” Heath Barclay, Managing Director of Bridgestone Australia/NZ, told Wheels.

Our first back-to-back slalom run provides an immediate illustration of how the RE005 changes the way you not only approach a corner, but the way the 86 behaves, especially mid-corner, when the tyre is at its most loaded at the outer edge. Where the competitor tyre starts to feel skatey and that the subsequent loss of grip is going to push the 86 wide, the RE005 keeps turning in, the edge grip ensuring you can push through the corner faster than you thought possible. The stopwatch might tell the story, but even the age-old seat of the pants sensors pick up the difference.

Even though the 86 is inherently beautifully balanced, the extra grip provided by the RE005 means you can push it harder, brake later, turn in sharper and carry more speed through the corner, all without the tyre even making a squeal in protest. It’s impressive stuff, more so given the reality that these are not ridiculously expensive tyres. The entry-point to the range is $228 per tyre for a 15-inch, and even the most expensive 19-inch tyre is $600.

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The wet skid pan – driven in a 2 Series BMW – is a further extension of the RE005’s capabilities. You’ll wash speed off way before the tyres start to lose grip, such is the surety it provides as your confidence builds.

Most surprising to me, was how sharp the front end remained on the wet surface, meaning you could point the BMW where you wanted to go and it stayed on that line. Taking curves much faster than you would in any regular on-road driving situation when the road is wet, the RE005s kept gripping into the wet surface. Confidence is key according to Bridgestone, and the RE005 delivers that in spades, even on a drenched, concrete surface.

On the long track, back behind the wheel of the Toyota 86, the RE005 once again shows the smarts of a street tyre that has been developed with racetrack nous. The grip level at speed is excellent, whether under acceleration or braking, and there are no heart-in-the-mouth moments, even when you deliberately try to unsettle the car to find out how it will react.

The new Bridgestone Potenza Adrenalin RE005 is an impressive tyre. Wet or dry, at traffic speeds or beyond, it delivers confidence and grip, and allows the car to do what it’s best at. If you’re a semi-regular club level track day attendee, this is a tyre you should look at. However, even if you just love driving, you should be thinking about treating your car to the tyres it deserves. Further, with cost often used as a barrier to entry, Bridgestone’s sharp pricing mounts a compelling case.