down to New Orleans to see a new tire ... the G-Force Rival

[Luke@tirerack]

8:00am Monday morning we left the great white, cold and snowy landscape of northern Indiana and headed down to sunny and warm New Orleans to check out the new BF Goodrich G-Force Rival.

We arrived with little, ok, no fanfare but, at least we were not in sub-freezing temperatures. After checking into the hotel we went for a walk down Canal street to grab a good "Louisiana" lunch. I was thinkin' crawfish ettoufe', a shrimp Po Boy and some red beans and rice

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We followed that up with some live music at The Famous Door on Bourbon Street and a nice group dinner at Arnaud's.

Woke up early the next day and headed out to NOLA Motorsports Park.

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When we got there we were greeted by some new friends (MX-5 Cup cars, E46 M3's, FR500s Mustang race cars and a few Sti's)

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and Goldberg being ... well, Goldberg

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[Luke@tirerack]

next on the agenda we got to meet the star attraction and reason for the trip

The new Extreme Performance tire from BF Goodrich the G-Force Rival

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after some techy tire geek stuff we headed out to our "new friends"

first up the MX5 Cup cars on a skid pad to see how this new guy compares to previously known BFG offerings

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G-Force Comp 2's, G-Force Rival and G-Force R1-S

the results on the g-meter were pretty much what we expect but, the performance gap from the Comp2 to the Rival was significantly larger than the gap of the Rival to the R1-S

next exercise, Subaru STi's on a short AutoX course

Toyo R1R vs. Hankook Ventus R-S3 vs. G-Force Rival

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check out this tire wear

Hankook Ventus after 48 runs

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Toyo R1R after 48 runs

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G-Force Rival after 72 runs

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thew BFG was clearly better in transition and under braking proving faster more consistent lap times

 

[Luke@tirerack]

after lunch (shrimp Po-Boy again and some white chocolate bread pudding) we headed to the third exercise. A high speed road course with the FR500S Mustang race cars. The G-Force Rival vs. the Falken RK615.

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Both tires exhibited exceptional grip especially in steady state cornering but, the sidewall rigidity and progressive break-away characteristics of the Rival made it easier to drive at the limit with confidence.

the fourth and final excerize was a faster and longer AutoX with BMW E46 M3's. The Rival vs. ther Hankook Ventus R-S3

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the crisp steering response of the rival made it easier to drive and faster than the R-S3.

We then wrapped everything up and flew back home to singel digit temps and lake effect snow

Here's the official press release that came out today

BFGOODRICH® INTRODUCES G-FORCE™ RIVAL™

New Extreme Performance Tire Offers Versatility


GREENVILLE, S.C. (January 23, 2012) – BFGoodrich® today unveiled a new extreme performance tire called the g-Force™ Rival™. The tire will help BFGoodrich target a growing market of drivers seeking extreme performance tires which are versatile enough to be used in auto-cross and track-day events then driven home. The tires have a 200 UTQG Rating (Uniform Tire Quality Grade) which allows them to be used in racing where drivers must compete on 140+ UTQG tires.

“The g-Force Rival helps BFGoodrich fill a growing need in the extreme performance market,” said Andrew Koury, BFGoodrich brand manager. “From autocross to road course events, on street or the track, we want drivers to own it.”


The Rival complements a successful BFGoodrich launch of the g-Force™ Sport Comp-2™ ultra-high performance street tire which was introduced in February 2012. Unlike the mostly street driven g-Force Sport COMP-2, the g-Force Rival was designed for track level abuse while providing drivability on the street. The g-Force Rival is predictable, allowing drivers to turn faster lap times1, and turn heads on the street. Highlight features include:

•Razor-sharp reflexes - The Performance Racing Core™ (PRC) with a reinforced internal structure reduces sidewall flex for instant steering response.

•Designed to stick - Asymmetric tread with large, solid tread blocks on the outside shoulder to optimize cornering grip.

•Raise the limit - Extreme Tread Edge™ (ETE) design brings tread compound farther down the shoulder for increased grip in hard cornering and predictable feedback.

•Consistent grip lap after lap — Silica-infused competition compound delivers better grip from start to finish.1

•Street legal with a UTQG treadwear rating of 200 so you can drive to the track and back.

The Rival will initially launch with 15 sizes with rim dimensions from 15-20 inches and 205-335 section width. The product will be available through TireRack.com with pre-orders beginning on February 1.
​

 

[Luke@tirerack]

here is a list of the available sizes

205/50R15
225/45R15
225/50R16
215/45R17
225/45R17
245/40R17
255/40R17
245/40R18
275/35R18
295/35R18
315/30R18
335/30R18
265/35R20
285/35R20
315/35R20

 

[Timnineside]

Looks great! Sounds like a blast! I guess my questions are: 1-No 19" for us SRT Stockies? 2-What will these be comparible too on pricing?

-Tim

 

[Luke@tirerack]

pricing is not bad and I fully expect 19"s in the future ... as they say, ya gotta start somewhere

 

[Bobpantax]

BF makes a 275/40/R20 for the BF Goodrich Sport Comp 2. Do you think that they will have this size soon in the Rival? I use this size for the rear tires on my Challenger. Please advise.

 

[Luke@tirerack]

probably not until late this year / early next year

 

[JohnnyH]

I wish I knew about the event. I would have loved to go out there and see everything.

 

[Allan]

I hope they expand the size offerings. I would like those for my C6 as well as the Viper.

 

[jman2]

how do these compare to cupsports? supersports?or even for ps2? in dry performance/noise/feeling?

 

[LaViper]

Man, wish I knew about this event. I would loved to watch. Oh well, maybe next time. BTW, very nice looking tire. And impressive.

 

[Luke@tirerack]

how do these compare to cupsports? supersports?or even for ps2? in dry performance/noise/feeling?

In the dry they are most likely faster than the Super Sports and very close to the Sport Cup

 

[AZTVR]

Its good to see another option for this kind of high performance tire with the major plus of being made in the USA !

I run the similarly positioned Dunlop Direzza on my S2000 for track use; so, I certainly would be interested in this option for it. (and maybe the Viper) Looking forward to reading some more in depth reviews and comparisons. (like the one not so long ago in Grassroots Motorsports mag.)

 

[TrackAire]

here is a list of the available sizes

205/50R15
225/45R15
225/50R16
215/45R17
225/45R17
245/40R17
255/40R17
245/40R18
275/35R18
295/35R18
315/30R18
335/30R18
265/35R20
285/35R20
315/35R20

Luke,

That was a fantastic write up, NOLA is a cool track.

I've been running Nitto NT05's on my track mustang and was going to try the Nitto NT01's. Any opinion how these new BFG's would stack up against the two different Nittos? I've been running the 255/40R17's and was going to go up the the 275's on the next go around.

Cheers,
George

 

[Fatboy 18]

So would you say this tire is an improvement over the old G Force tire? Any idea on what a set of 18s for a stock gen 2 Viper would run to?

I liked the tread pattern on the old tire, but could never find a UK supplier who stocked them

 

[Luke@tirerack]

The G-Force Rival is light years better than the old G-Force KDW2 in every aspect

275/35R18 BF GFORCE RIVAL $ 287.00
335/30R18 BF GFORCE RIVAL $ 351.00

 

[Fatboy 18]

Thanks Luke

 

[AZTVR]

I see that they are already listed with prices on the Tire Rack site, in anticipation of their delivery.

 

[NO HEMI]

Hey if they need a "viper mule" for some testing here in greenville let me know mine's available!!!!!