rjkc5y2k

Not that I expected much the e-mail I sent is below with the response. If anything is going on not many of regular workers probably are aware of it. I was wondering if anyone has any inside information???

Dear Customer Care,

I am interested in the BF Goodrich Rival tires for my Corvette to autocross and do DE events.
The rumor mill states you are developing a new compound for the 2015 Rival. You may not be able to verify this, but any information would be helpful. The tire sizes I am interested in are as follows.
front 275x40x17 or 275x35x18 on the stock 9.5 width rim.
rear 295x35x18 and/or 305x35x18 10.5 rim width
I don't want to buy another available tire and then find out you have a new tire. I used the BF Goodrich on my 2000 Corvette and loved the tire for autocrossing.

Thank you for help and assistance.

Bob Kingston

BG Goodrich response.

We would like to thank you for considering our brand.

We have not heard any new information about BFGoodrich launching a new BFGoodrich g-Force Rival design with a newer compound. Please check back with us in the near future

We do offer the BFGoodrich g-Force Rival in sizes, 275/40ZR17,275/35ZR18, and 295/35ZR18. We do not offer the BFGoodrich g-Force Rival model in size 305/35ZR18 at this time. Please review all sizes and specs on our web-page at http://www.bfgoodrichtires.com/tire-...ires#techspecs.

We appreciate your business.

It is our goal to ensure that your issue has been resolved or your question answered to your satisfaction. If we can assist you further, please respond to this email or call us at 1-877-788-8899 (toll free) between 8:00AM and 8:00PM Eastern Time Monday through Friday or between 8:30AM and 4:30PM Eastern Time on Saturday.

Sincerely,

Alvin
Consumer Care Department
Certified BFGoodrich Product Expert

Hope someone can shed more light on this. Thanks

Xian

Yeah, sounds like you got a customer service drone. The new Rival S is coming but the stuff I've been hearing is that it's not right around the corner. If I were a guessing man, I'd say March/April timeframe and even then probably not in all the sizes.

strano@stranoparts.com

Street tires, make it easy! Not.

There is a new compound coming, I suspect it will be quite a bit better. It has to be, the other one wasn't so great and BFG quickly seemed to change their aim since the Rival was never meant to be the fastest of the fast, but competitive and easy for most folks to drive. I recall "hero out of zero" was tossed around a lot in reference the slip angles and such of that tire.

LateBreak

The current ones have decent speed but the primary complaint I heard was that they would 'chunk' rather than wearing evenly down to nothing.

Xian

Yep, the Rival was/is a super easy tire to drive. They'll give you damn near the same performance if you're +/- a couple percent on the ideal steering and slip angle. They're fairly good communicators too and solidly heat resistant. Unless you're going to Solo Nats, the compound thing wasn't a huge deal either (though they were measurably slower than the RS3v2 that came out last year). IMO, the improved tire should be exactly that; improved. If they miss the mark here, they're kinda screwed (again).

PS
Hi Sam!

strano@stranoparts.com

No they didn't chunk. They had an issue with a tread splice. Kumho had a similar thing on early V710's. It looked bad but was not a problem except on the interwebs.

Rivals IMHO are best left to cars that really load the tires hard, like FWD stuff. BFG has a history of making very stiff tires, and that's not really what a Corvette wants or needs especially if it has camber.

I have no affiliation to any tire company. I was at the Rival launch as they know I have some influence. But I also didn't fly there on their dime, or stay at the Ritz on their dime like every other person who was there, so I'll tell you exactly what I think... and will do so with pretty much anything you ask me about.

Case in point. I like Hankooks in some situations, not in others. Same with ZII's. Mostly depends on the car and it's setup (wheel size, how stiff it is, etc).

Xian

Not to derail things too far but I take it you'd recommend against something like the Z2 SS for an AS C5Z? I'd prefer RS3's except they don't exist right now... I did find 4 used 285 v1's but I'm not sure how well that'd work with 285's on a 17x9.5 front.

B Stead

The idea I heard was that the Rival is already available in 315/30-18 for the C5 and so it would be very easy to make a 315/30-19 for the C6 and C7:

C5
285/30-18, front, proposed
315/30-18, rear, already available

C6 and C7
275/35-18, front, already available
315/30-19, rear, proposed


And the 315's could also be run front and rear
.

strano@stranoparts.com

No... just that I've found Dunlops like to be squeezed a bit to work their best (softens the stiff sidewall some). I have not run the Star specs but seems the compound is better.

I can't say I'd recommend anything for certain given the things out there and the changes afoot. But I've considered Z2 *spec and Toyo's and Hankook for STU all.

strano@stranoparts.com

Nope, diameter changes are much more involved than width changes. You can put a spacer in a mold and get some width change. There are no 19" Rival molds. Don't hold your breath on that.

B Stead

The C7 owners are desperate for a 315/30-19. The reason is that the 315 only calls for an 11" wide wheel and so it's the widest tire that is an easy fitment. Also, there's an R888 in 315/30-20 but that's tall and also not exactly a street tire.

Both the AD08 R and the RS3 are available in 305/30-19 but that's not a 315/30-19
.

rjkc5y2k

After reading all the posts it seems like we are no better than the end of last year. My fear is that before all the dust settlers between the tire manufacturers is may be mid season. I am re-entering the autocrossing scene and would like to have a tire to choose for A/S some time in March/April. Doesn't sound like this is going to happen.

Xian

SCCA eligibility requirements are that sufficient sizes have to be available by 4/30. IIRC, it's 4 wheel sizes with 6 tire sizes. As a result, I'd expect a big push of tires hitting the market in March/April. IIRC, when the Rival was released I got mine a couple of days before the Dixie Tour on 3/15.

rjkc5y2k

This sounds like good news.

troyguitar

Has anyone actually heard of a 275/40/17 Rival existing? The only 200 utqg tire in that size that I have seen is the Toyo R1R which according to many is too soft for a 3200 lb car.

talon95

Like I've said other places, when I asked about the wide 19's a couple years ago I was told by a BFG rep that there were not going to be any wide 19" Rivals because they didn't want the tire competing with the Michilen offerings (since Michelin owns BFG).

firebirdfan

The NT05 exists in that size as well. Discount Tire Direct's ebay store has fantastic prices on them.

There's also PS2s, but they're really expensive.

hklvette

NT05s aren't in the same zip code as Rivals, RS3s, etc.

Han Solo

Actually the EARLY TREAD SPLICE PROBLEM with the V710 was they would come apart and the tread would delaminate from the casing on certain sizes. That is why Kumho recalled/replaced those tires. I had one do it to me.

Subsequent versions would still open slightly at the tread splice but usually did not come apart like the early version. Kumho recommended switching sides to change the direction of rotation when you rotated them. They claimed it would help push the splice opening back together which seemed to work. The current V710 is a very long lasting track/autocross tire and still a good value IMHO.

Xian

The way I read Sam's "not a problem except on the internet" comment was in reference to the Rival's TS. It was on a different (FWD) application but I think I was the first person with a documented tread splice issue with the Rival. I worked with both TR and BFG/Michelin direct on it and supplied pics, details of use, car set-up, tire break in, etc to them... they ultimately came back with advice similar to that provided by Kumho: rotate them around if possible, keep an eye on it, but most of the time it'll be no issue.