Sponsored by The Tire Rack

[ben@tirerack]

As I noted on Friday, I was out of town for the launch of a new Extreme Performance Summer tire. I flew down to New Orleans to attend the launch event at NOLA Motorsports Park hosted by BF Goodrich. BF Goodrich pretty much invented the Extreme Performance Summer category with the g-Force TA KD, but by their own admission had not followed up on their early success as the category grew more popular and more competitive. Their new tire for this segment is the g-Force Rival.

We started with a presentation on the new tire, and then had the opportunity to take part in 4 driving demonstrations: skidpad, short autocross, long autocross, and road course. These were not official tests, more along the lines of demonstrations, but they were set up with competitor tires on an even playing field in identical cars.

The most impressive characteristics of the Rival that I found:
Precise turn-in - thanks to very stiff sidewalls initial turn-in and transitional response were direct and immediate. Stiff sidewalls are something that I especially like in a performance tire so this was a big plus to me

Excellent longevity - we were able to inspect the tread before and after each event. The Rival seemed to wear very well, and was especially impressive for how evenly it wore. We were encouraged to push them to and past their limits to test their ability to recover, so they had ample opportunity to showcase their ability to take the punishment we could dish out. Tread life in straight ahead driving street driving likely won't be all that special because they are plenty sticky, but they seem to be engineered to wear well in autocross or track environments.

Usable grip - Think about grip vs slip angle as similar to engine torque vs RPM. You want a broad, flat plateau that doesn't drop off too suddenly if you miss the sweet spot. The Rival had a forgiving nature that indicates a pretty wide band of usable grip.

We now have a video posted from my time down at the track:
http://www.indev.tirerack.net:211/vi...?affiliate=AW8

Sizes are somewhat limited right now, but hoping to see some 19" and more 18" in the future. Best M3 sizes available right now are 245/40R8 (stock front) and 275/35R18 (rear or square track setup). They expect to roll out the first 15 sizes in the Spring and Summer of this year.

There are no 19" at launch, but they do have a couple of 20" sizes so with luck we might see them fill in the blanks as time goes by.

Size list here, which will automatically add any new sizes that are announced:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....&affiliate=AW8

[Richbot]

There is room to spare for the 295/35-18 in the rear, and the 315/30-18. I realize you guys need to be conservative in your recommendations.

[ben@tirerack]

Agreed, 295/35R18 should be ok on the rear, though I have seen some guys get a little bit of rub with 295. 315 can be tricky to fit without at least some rubbing.

[slicer]

Finally a good tire available in 275/35 AND 295/35/18!

Any idea if Michelin will ever make the PSS available in that size?

[Richbot]

That's because IMO most aftermarket wheels seem to err on the side of "flush" with their offsets so that people will be happy with the look without spacers. The 315/30's at 25.6" are short enough that with the right offset there's plenty of room for them, with the limiting factor being the front of the wheel well where a chassis brace intrudes into the well by about an inch. Most of the people running around on 305's and 315's are on 19's or 20's which means the tire is at least 26.3" tall

[Transfer]

Looks promising.

[Raucky2000]

Will you guys please do a direct comparison to the new Dunlop ZII?

[ben@tirerack]

Originally Posted by Raucky2000

Will you guys please do a direct comparison to the new Dunlop ZII?

We do plan on doing our own testing on these, and while the lineup for the comparison has not been finalized, the Dunlop certainly is a good candidate.

[ben@tirerack]

Originally Posted by slicer

Finally a good tire available in 275/35 AND 295/35/18!

Any idea if Michelin will ever make the PSS available in that size?

Michelin has not announced anything yet on the 295/35R18. Compared to the PSS, the Rival should take track abuse better, and likely have better dry grip. The PSS should have a definite advantage in the wet.

[THE TECH]

Interesting that they would release a 20" before a 19" for a full blown performance tire.

[ben@tirerack]

Originally Posted by THE TECH

Interesting that they would release a 20" before a 19" for a full blown performance tire.

BFGoodrich has a big following among U.S. muscle car enthusiasts, so those sizes are in there for some of the modern muscle car applications like Camaro SS, Roush or Shelby Mustang etc. They had several guys from the domestic muscle scene at the launch and mentioned that they'd picked sizes to support the domestic performance and pro touring markets.

[signes]

29lbs for the 275/35. A few pounds lighter than the Dunlops but a couple heavier than the Toyos (R888 and RA1). Will be interested to see more reviews.

[Richbot]

Dub sizing also make sense (sortof) for the GTR crowd.

[naterater]

The #BFGRival was an AMAZING tire! Can't wait to run some more laps on it!

[Vic311]

Originally Posted by ben@tirerack

Michelin has not announced anything yet on the 295/35R18. Compared to the PSS, the Rival should take track abuse better, and likely have better dry grip. The PSS should have a definite advantage in the wet.

So sounds like the Rival is on par with the AD08

[ben@tirerack]

Originally Posted by Vic311

So sounds like the Rival is on par with the AD08

Definitely in that same category of Extreme Performance where the emphasis is on dry traction. I'm hoping that we get a chance to test those two directly against eachother.

[paradocs98]

Originally Posted by THE TECH

Interesting that they would release a 20" before a 19" for a full blown performance tire.

Originally Posted by ben@tirerack

BFGoodrich has a big following among U.S. muscle car enthusiasts, so those sizes are in there for some of the modern muscle car applications like Camaro SS, Roush or Shelby Mustang etc. They had several guys from the domestic muscle scene at the launch and mentioned that they'd picked sizes to support the domestic performance and pro touring markets.

That makes sense, then. I'm not a big fan of 20" wheels on our cars when performance is a consideration, but, on the other hand, I've seen lots of new Camaros at the track on 18" setups and they look ridiculous (in a bad way)! They look like they're rolling around on casters or stroller wheels. The slab-sided design of that car and the huge wheel arches make it look silly with anything smaller than 19", especially at stock height.