Bridgestone Battlax RS12 Review - Track Tested

Testing a tire manufacturer’s sportiest street-legal offerings on the public roads is really a waste of time these days if determining flat out performance is the goal. Tire technology has advanced to the point where manufacturers are able to incorporate race-tire technology and performance into road-homologated products. That means in order to push the limits of these tires, the safest and most thorough way to do it is to suit up and head to the track, and that’s exactly what we did with Bridgestone for the release of the Battlax RS12.

Of course, not just any circuit would do, so Bridgestone brought us to the 2.83-mile Chang International Circuit in Buriram, Thailand. If that rings a bell for you, my moto-minded friends, it’s likely because the circuit has hosted MotoGP racing since 2018. The track layout delivers massive speed with demanding braking zones and hard acceleration, all on exceptionally smooth and grippy asphalt – in other words, an excellent place to test tires. Confident in its latest Racing Sport rubber, Bridgestone assembled the world’s press to put the tires to the tarmac, and Yours Truly was the fortunate son to handle the task. Before we get into the ride impressions, let’s break down just how Bridgestone made the RS12 “achieve better performance in every aspect.”

In the RS12, Bridgestone claims the tire is better in every way compared to its predecessor, the RS11. To achieve this, the Japanese company looked to its racing department and its “circuit to street” philosophy. Working our way from the edge of the tire in, Bridgestone has ditched the shoulder grooves and implemented a new grippier compound onto the same area which has led to not only enhanced grip in dry weather, but also increased cornering stability. The Racing Street tire uses Bridgestone’s 3-layer compound (3LC) which sees a wide portion of the tire’s shoulder getting the new grippier compound both front and rear, while the center of the tire’s compound is focused on stability and longevity.

The High-Elongation Mono Spiral (HE-MS) belt used on the front also contributes to stability by improving the elasticity of the tire, Bridgestone reports. This involves shortening the twist pitch of the five wires used to make up each “belt” compared to a conventional mono spiral belt. Bridgestone says this results in better pressure distribution, resulting in a tire that can withstand higher braking forces as you enter a corner via an increased contact patch.

Topping its “Hypersport” line-up, the RS12 is a street-legal track day tire. That means you can ride to and from your track day, and leave the tire warmers at home. When the garage doors opened in pit lane we were treated to a slew of 200 hp liter bikes, with a handful of particularly spicy Yamaha Austria Racing Team R1s in full race trim. I ended up spending my day with the RS12 on the Honda CBR1000RR SP to keep things consistent as the sessions ticked away.

With the tire warmers left in the corner for the following day’s test of the V03 racing slicks, the bikes sat on their side stands waiting to be mounted by eager journalists looking to sample Bridgestone’s latest rubber at the Thai circuit. None other than former racer and MotoGP contender Jeremy McWilliams led the rowdy crew out of pitlane for a sighting lap before letting the assembled jet-lagged journo GP commence.

On the way out of pitlane you're met with a long blend line that comes in after turn 1, before the slight kink that is turn 2. On the “straight” between turns 1 and 3, you’re hard on the gas immediately to get up to pace, row up through the gearbox, and quickly back down for turn 3’s hairpin. Once you’ve got your direction change sorted, the throttle is screwed to the stop as you click back up to fourth gear on another long straight, slowing a bit for turn 4 (if you’re me) and setting up for turns 5 and 6 where the edge grip is tested all the way through. Hugging the left side of the track with a late apex sets up turn 7 nicely as you power up a short straight to turn 8. Hard braking into this corner and carrying the line out a bit wide puts you in a nice place for the sweeping turn 9 which has your knee on the deck all the way through, before standing the bike up and negotiating turns 10 and 11 with as much throttle and as little lean angle as possible. Another straight, and we’re at one of the hardest, most interesting braking zones of the track at turn 12. After getting slowed down to make the decreasing radius corner, it's back to the throttle stop on your way toward the checkered flag.

High speeds, hard braking, and a healthy dose of lean angle make the Chang International Circuit a fantastic place to test a tire’s mettle. Likewise, the surface is as smooth as a baby’s behind, and as grippy as can be. That said, grip wasn’t as much at the forefront of mind as was longevity. With a slew of liter-bikes at our disposal, tire wear was going to be put to the test.

While I erred on the side of caution early in the day, it became obvious later on that I didn’t need a full lap for the RS12 to be fully up to operating temperature. Even if the bike had been sitting through a session or two, the tire felt good to go after a lap of the Chang circuit. So, not only can you leave the warmers at home or even ride to a trackday, you also get to spend more time knee down without waiting for your tires to warm up.

Whether hard on the brakes straight up and down or trailing off toward an apex, the front never balked. Stable and predictable – even with Honda’s Fireblade SP rocketing me from apex to apex. That feeling is continued as you transition from braking to throttle as you make your way through the corner. The edge grip is fantastic and every part of the transition from side to side is smooth thanks to the tire profile.

Even with all of the heavy wrists present in the paddock, we were turning laps on the same sets of tires for most of the day. While I could only feel a slight drop in performance toward the end of the day, the track day junkies and racers of the assembled media also commended the tire on its lasting performance as the day went. Of course, this shouldn’t be terribly surprising given Bridgestone’s success in the Endurance World Championship.

The RS12 appears to be an excellent successor to the outgoing 11 and a solid option among DOT trackday tires. There’s a good chance that not only will the RS12 give its competitors a run for their money, but it might just help you save some, too, thanks to Bridgestone’s rolling laboratory that is endurance racing, adding to these hoop’s longevity.