BRIDGESTONE S21
TIRE TEST
P88
B
ridgestone and MotoGP
are officially divorced. The
Japanese rubber giant is moving
on to newer, sticky pastures, and
the first product of this newfound
company direction is the S21
hypersport tire.
The S21 replaces the four-year-
old S20EVO, a tire designed to be
the go-to hoop for road riders with a
sporting bone or two in their bodies
but who don't spend every waking
minute at the track. The S21 sits a
step below the first of the real serious
Bridgestone track tires in the RS10
and aims to give similar levels of
dry-weather grip and acceleration
performance but longer mileage, with
the latter claimed to be increased by a
HAS BRIDGESTONE
BUILT ANOTHER
BRILLIANT TIRE
IN THE NEW S21?
WE HEAD TO
THE ARTIFICIAL
PARADISE OF THE
YAS MARINA
COMPLEX IN ABU
DHABI TO FIND OUT.
BY RENNIE SCAYSBROOK
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY BRIDGESTONE
EVOLUTION
OF THE SPECIES
whopping 36 percent.
The S21 is also the first new
Bridgestone to be developed
using the company's patented
Ultimate Eye, which is basically an
indoor rolling tire dyno. This new
machine can simulate real life
riding conditions, visualizing the
contact behavior of a tire under
different speeds and conditions.
By analyzing the contact patch
pressure distribution, the
Ultimate Eye helps the engineers
develop the right combination
of compounds, tread design,
construction and the tire's overall
profile.
So let's look a little deeper into
what makes up the new S21 tire.
