BFGoodrich g-Force Rival Official Review
Jan 28, 2013, 11:56 AM
#1
BFGoodrich g-Force Rival Official Review
First let me say thank you to BFGoodrich for having us. I've not had this much fun and felt as comfortable driving a track in a long time. NOLA Motorsports Park in New Orleans is a state of the art facility and definitely worth a visit if you are in the area. The four total events took place there. I started the day in MX-5 Miata cup cars on a skid pad, moved to driving Subaru STi's on a mid-sized auto-x, next was FR500 race prepped Mustangs on the north track, and finished up with E46 M3 on a larger auto-x. I'll share with you some of my opinions on how the Rival performed in their specified event.
Tire Details
*Class - Extreme Performance Summer
*15 sizes
*205 - 335 Section Widths in asymmetrical tread design
*15"- 20" Rim Diameters
*UTQG 200
*7.2/32 starting tread depth
First event: Skid pad with Skip Barber MX-5 Miata
Here they kept it all BFGoodrich and ran the g-Force Sport Comp-2, g-Force Rival, and g-Force R1-S. Each car was mounted with an iPad to record the g's we were pulling. Pretty easy to figure the R1-S was going to win this one. However, what is important is how close the Rival was to an R1 in grip. On average we saw right around 1.0g for the g-Force Sport COMP 2, 1.12g for the g-Force Rival, and just shy of 1.2g for the g-Force R1-S.
Second event: Mid-sized auto-x with Subaru STi
For me this was the most important event, as it's as close to an EVO as I could drive. Cars were out of the box stock (and sounded great I may add). Tires involved were BFGoodrich g-Force Rival, Hankook RS3, and Toyo R1R's. Each tire made two laps per driver with an additional final lap on the Rival. The Toyo and Hankook had 48 runs on them at that point in the day and the BFG a total of 72 runs. We would have loved to compare with the new Dunlop Direzza ZII, but at the time of the event it wasn't available yet in BFG's test sizes. We will be doing our own track and road testing between the Rival and ZII in the upcoming months.
The two closest performers were the Rival and RS3. I felt turn in was crisper and recovery was a bit better on the Rival. The large outer shoulder blocks planted the car into corners with real confidence. I came into one of the last right hand turns pretty hot and got real close to putting cones six feet under. Despite my overzealous driving they recovered quite nicely. I have to give the RS3's credit here as well. They did better than I expected in wear and handling. They didn't transition as confidently through corners as the Rival, but were really close. At the end of the day they had a tad more feathering at less laps verses the Rival, but still presentable. Unfortunately the R1R didn't fare well handling and wear wise. They tended to plow through, or understeer, quite a lot in corners and the steering response just wasn't there. Lots of body roll and I said a prayer for our orange pointy headed friends. In its defense though, I could see it doing a bit better as a wet tire compared to the others.
The three tires after a full day of STi auto-x. Thanks EVOizmm
Third event: Road course in FR500 Race Prepped Mustang
As soon as I saw them I wanted drive time. The morning sun coming up over that wing, the amazing growl of a V8 off in the distance, and a front end as aggressive as a large mouth bass. I was ready! Give me a helmet, put the steering wheel on, strap me in, bring the beast to life, and GO!! Experiencing total fear and pure adrenaline excitement at the same time is quite interesting. If you get the chance to drive a car like this take it. You'll be on sensory overload the entire time and left track side drooling for more.
This event featured BFGoodrich g-Force Rival and Falken Azenis RT-615K. We drove just under two laps on each tire which was unfortunate as the first lap was spent mostly learning the track. It's super flat there and we didn’t' study the layout beforehand so I'm glad they had braking and apex cones to assist us noobs. Being strapped in like an astronaut, an instructor making sure you follow lines, and the roar of good ol' American iron almost makes you forget about the tires. One thing that did stand out was how much better the Rival car transitioned through the corners. I built a bit more confidence in braking later and providing more power out of and through the corners when on the Rival. It was easier to drift the Falken around the corners. Not quite the venue for that though.
Please Santa bring me one!
Fourth event: Larger auto-x in E46 M3
Again box stock cars but on a faster more spread out course. Tires here were BFGoodrich g-Force Rival and Hankook RS3's. Instructors told us to push hard and that we did. My group was the last ones to run them so we took a couple laps to cool the cars and become familiar with the layout . No left foot braking here as fade was quick to come after a day of use. Results were very similar to the STi test as far as steering response and mistake recovery. Their ETE, or Extreme Tread Edge, is designed to wrap the tread compound further down the shoulder for increased grip in hard cornering. It did its job here especially getting the car straight after a mistake. Despite the hard cornering forces and heat the Rival's shoulder area was blister and rash free. The Hankook brought it well but was a tad tail happy at the higher cornering speeds (which I can see some drivers favoring). The Hankook had a little feathering on the outside edge but otherwise looked ok. The BFG showed surprisingly little wear, despite the number of laps and hard driving it received. Wipe the track grit from the tread and you can hardly tell it had been through lots of autocross laps.
Closing statements
Since the extinction of their g-Force TA KD, BFGoodrich hasn't been a player in the extreme performance summer class. So when it was announced they were entering that category again I was both excited and skeptical. The KD was an excellent tire and it seemed hard to believe they would have a new tire even better than its predecessor. However, they hit the nail on the head with this one.
The two things that stood out most was dry traction and its ability to handle a lot of hard driving. The pictures speak for themselves. This is where I see the value in spending a bit more than tires like the Hankook or similar. I've seen a lot of street tires with blistered shoulders, heavy feathering, etc after a day of auto-x posted over the years. If it takes a few more dollars per tire to drive home the Rival, which allowed you to drive hard on it with minimal wear, compared to one you had to drive more conservatively in fear of damage….well, that's worth it to me. The Hankook did well and there's a strong following for them. However, the directional design does lend itself to a higher possibility of irregular wear. In the auto-x's the Rival simply outperformed the RS3. When you combine the excellent dry traction, snappy recovery, and wear I can't see why this wouldn't be the obvious choice for weekend warriors.
BFGoodrich designed the Rival for optimal dry handling and traction while keeping consistent lap times and predictable handling. Drivers can now spend more time focusing on driving consistency rather than concentrating on and being concerned about the tire. Did they achieve this goal? Find out for yourself. I can guarantee you won't be disappointed.
Tire Details
*Class - Extreme Performance Summer
*15 sizes
*205 - 335 Section Widths in asymmetrical tread design
*15"- 20" Rim Diameters
*UTQG 200
*7.2/32 starting tread depth
First event: Skid pad with Skip Barber MX-5 Miata
Here they kept it all BFGoodrich and ran the g-Force Sport Comp-2, g-Force Rival, and g-Force R1-S. Each car was mounted with an iPad to record the g's we were pulling. Pretty easy to figure the R1-S was going to win this one. However, what is important is how close the Rival was to an R1 in grip. On average we saw right around 1.0g for the g-Force Sport COMP 2, 1.12g for the g-Force Rival, and just shy of 1.2g for the g-Force R1-S.
Second event: Mid-sized auto-x with Subaru STi
For me this was the most important event, as it's as close to an EVO as I could drive. Cars were out of the box stock (and sounded great I may add). Tires involved were BFGoodrich g-Force Rival, Hankook RS3, and Toyo R1R's. Each tire made two laps per driver with an additional final lap on the Rival. The Toyo and Hankook had 48 runs on them at that point in the day and the BFG a total of 72 runs. We would have loved to compare with the new Dunlop Direzza ZII, but at the time of the event it wasn't available yet in BFG's test sizes. We will be doing our own track and road testing between the Rival and ZII in the upcoming months.
The two closest performers were the Rival and RS3. I felt turn in was crisper and recovery was a bit better on the Rival. The large outer shoulder blocks planted the car into corners with real confidence. I came into one of the last right hand turns pretty hot and got real close to putting cones six feet under. Despite my overzealous driving they recovered quite nicely. I have to give the RS3's credit here as well. They did better than I expected in wear and handling. They didn't transition as confidently through corners as the Rival, but were really close. At the end of the day they had a tad more feathering at less laps verses the Rival, but still presentable. Unfortunately the R1R didn't fare well handling and wear wise. They tended to plow through, or understeer, quite a lot in corners and the steering response just wasn't there. Lots of body roll and I said a prayer for our orange pointy headed friends. In its defense though, I could see it doing a bit better as a wet tire compared to the others.
The three tires after a full day of STi auto-x. Thanks EVOizmm
Third event: Road course in FR500 Race Prepped Mustang
As soon as I saw them I wanted drive time. The morning sun coming up over that wing, the amazing growl of a V8 off in the distance, and a front end as aggressive as a large mouth bass. I was ready! Give me a helmet, put the steering wheel on, strap me in, bring the beast to life, and GO!! Experiencing total fear and pure adrenaline excitement at the same time is quite interesting. If you get the chance to drive a car like this take it. You'll be on sensory overload the entire time and left track side drooling for more.
This event featured BFGoodrich g-Force Rival and Falken Azenis RT-615K. We drove just under two laps on each tire which was unfortunate as the first lap was spent mostly learning the track. It's super flat there and we didn’t' study the layout beforehand so I'm glad they had braking and apex cones to assist us noobs. Being strapped in like an astronaut, an instructor making sure you follow lines, and the roar of good ol' American iron almost makes you forget about the tires. One thing that did stand out was how much better the Rival car transitioned through the corners. I built a bit more confidence in braking later and providing more power out of and through the corners when on the Rival. It was easier to drift the Falken around the corners. Not quite the venue for that though.
Please Santa bring me one!
Fourth event: Larger auto-x in E46 M3
Again box stock cars but on a faster more spread out course. Tires here were BFGoodrich g-Force Rival and Hankook RS3's. Instructors told us to push hard and that we did. My group was the last ones to run them so we took a couple laps to cool the cars and become familiar with the layout . No left foot braking here as fade was quick to come after a day of use. Results were very similar to the STi test as far as steering response and mistake recovery. Their ETE, or Extreme Tread Edge, is designed to wrap the tread compound further down the shoulder for increased grip in hard cornering. It did its job here especially getting the car straight after a mistake. Despite the hard cornering forces and heat the Rival's shoulder area was blister and rash free. The Hankook brought it well but was a tad tail happy at the higher cornering speeds (which I can see some drivers favoring). The Hankook had a little feathering on the outside edge but otherwise looked ok. The BFG showed surprisingly little wear, despite the number of laps and hard driving it received. Wipe the track grit from the tread and you can hardly tell it had been through lots of autocross laps.
Closing statements
Since the extinction of their g-Force TA KD, BFGoodrich hasn't been a player in the extreme performance summer class. So when it was announced they were entering that category again I was both excited and skeptical. The KD was an excellent tire and it seemed hard to believe they would have a new tire even better than its predecessor. However, they hit the nail on the head with this one.
The two things that stood out most was dry traction and its ability to handle a lot of hard driving. The pictures speak for themselves. This is where I see the value in spending a bit more than tires like the Hankook or similar. I've seen a lot of street tires with blistered shoulders, heavy feathering, etc after a day of auto-x posted over the years. If it takes a few more dollars per tire to drive home the Rival, which allowed you to drive hard on it with minimal wear, compared to one you had to drive more conservatively in fear of damage….well, that's worth it to me. The Hankook did well and there's a strong following for them. However, the directional design does lend itself to a higher possibility of irregular wear. In the auto-x's the Rival simply outperformed the RS3. When you combine the excellent dry traction, snappy recovery, and wear I can't see why this wouldn't be the obvious choice for weekend warriors.
BFGoodrich designed the Rival for optimal dry handling and traction while keeping consistent lap times and predictable handling. Drivers can now spend more time focusing on driving consistency rather than concentrating on and being concerned about the tire. Did they achieve this goal? Find out for yourself. I can guarantee you won't be disappointed.
Last edited by Neal@tirerack; Feb 15, 2013 at 07:03 AM.
Jan 28, 2013, 04:13 PM
#3
Great opinion article. The RS3 has room for improvement on communication to the driver.
Hard to justify the "In the auto-x's the Rival simply outperformed the RS3" without times though.
I fear not though, as I imagine GRM will do a test with data between the Rival, RS3, and ZII. Maybe even a Z720...
Either way, it's good to
Hard to justify the "In the auto-x's the Rival simply outperformed the RS3" without times though.
I fear not though, as I imagine GRM will do a test with data between the Rival, RS3, and ZII. Maybe even a Z720...
Either way, it's good to
Last edited by 03whitegsr; Jan 28, 2013 at 04:19 PM.
Apr 6, 2013, 06:57 AM
#7
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Disappointed that the Rivals' introductory sizes don't include ones for my car, as much as I want them, until they make a 225/40/18, 255/35/18 stagger, I will be getting the ZII's.
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