The Details
- 50 percent more durability on the front
- 10 percent more durability on the rear
- Softer compound is excellent in the wet
Price:
120/70 $179.10
180/55 $239.69
190/50 $269.04
190/55 $275.83
Have you noticed that, generally speaking, the fastest lap times in MotoGP are set in the final stages of the race? While it is true that the reduced fuel load certainly plays its part, there is also some clever technology at work within the tires that allows this to happen.
Through its involvement in both Formula 1 and MotoGP, Bridgestone has learned to control the way silicon molecules in the tire respond to temperature, thus giving more consistent performance. Why is this important? If you can control the temperature and degradation of a tire through the silicon content you can use a softer compound of rubber, giving extra grip while retaining the wear rate.
This is what has been happening in MotoGP; despite 20-odd laps of abuse at the hands of the world’s best, the Bridgestone tires keep their grip levels and allow the riders to exploit the reduced weight (from lower fuel levels) to set records in the final few laps.
Bridgestone calls this method Nano Pro-technology, and it’s now incorporated in the BT-016 Pro tire. On the face of it there isn’t much to get excited about with the Pro, Bridgestone even admit it is an interim before it launches a new generation of hypersport tires in a few years. The construction and tread pattern are identical to the old BT-016 and essentially all that is different is the rubber, but dig a bit deeper and it gets interesting.
Due to the new technology, Bridgestone claims the Pro has 50 percent more durability on the front tire and 10 percent more on the rear with figures of 6-7,000 miles on the front and 4-5,000 on the rear. And all this with no loss of grip. According to Bridgestone, the Pro performs as well as the 016 in the dry, but thanks to the softer rubber compound is considerably better in the wet.
On track, the Pro warmed up quickly and allowed a rapid trackday pace with no dramas from either end, with the front feeling especially secure at high lean angle. The circuit we rode on had several high speed corners that required stability as well as grip alongside two hard braking zones. In each area the Pro felt extremely forgiving and assured, however it was when it started to lightly rain that the Pro impressed the most.
The level of grip on the damp track was extremely surprising. It took a few laps to recalibrate my brain into trusting just how much grip there was, and I found myself pushing far harder than I ever would on the road, which is the ideal situation. It’s far better to have too much grip and not use it than vice versa.
While there are slightly sportier handling tires in this segment, there is a reason that several manufacturers use the BT-016 as a standard fitment tire and that is its neutral handling characteristics. If you like the feel of the current BT-016 the Pro is essentially identical but ups the ante with improved longevity and far superior wet performance for the same price, which is a pretty good deal.