KillerG

So thanks to Acurazine I recently had the awesome opportunity to fly out to California and attend the launch of the new BFGoodrich g-Force Sport Comp-2 tire. Fun.

About 2 weeks ago while the sun was still lazily coming up, we headed out from our hotel to the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, CA. We knew we were going to put these new tires through the ringer to get a sense of their performance level, but we didn’t exactly know how. Once we got to the speedway though things became a little clearer.









We started out with a quick rundown of the day’s events and a small presentation about the new Comp-2 tire. Basically the day was to be centered around 4 driving events, a road course test, a 0-60-0 run, a wet autocross and a dry autocross. We would perform these events first with Comp2 equipped cars, and then immediately after try to replicate our success with a competitor’s tires. Sounded pretty good to me.

A little about the tire: the g-Force Sport Comp-2 is essentially the next gen iteration of the current g-Force Sport, a tire that some of you may already be familiar with. According to BFGoodrich the new tire improves upon the predecessor by using a new silica infused compound, tougher internals, and stiffer sidewall inserts to deliver an 8% improvement in dry handling and a 30% improvement in wet handling without sacrificing treadwear or comfort. Not only does it outperform its predecessor, according to the BFG team the new Comp2 also handily outperforms its competitors in subjective testing.

After having heard all the metrics and details about the new tire the only thing left to do was to get out on the road and find out for ourselves just how good these things were.





The first event on hand for my group was the road course. Here we pitted the Comp2’s back to back against Cooper Zeons, both running on stock Camaro SS’s. First we were given a chance to familiarize ourselves with the track layout in the Comp2 equipped car and then afterwards we were told to let loose and push the tires to their limits. The tires gripped well and the course proved to be a lot of fun, I asked a lot of the Comp2 tires and they gave every little bit back and more. Had there not been a professional driver in the passenger seat telling me to push harder I probably wouldn’t have believed that the tires were capable of what I asked of them.





Immediately after we switched into the Cooper Camaros and were asked to perform the same heroic feats, our egos and confidences inflated and our palms still sweaty from the adrenaline rush. The road course began with a small autocross-ish section and right away It was clear that the Coopers were inferior to the BFG; compared to the Comp2 the Coopers were less predictable under load, mushier, required more steering input, and failed to inspire confidence on turns. After a few laps in the Cooper I was really hoping I could give the Comp2’s another run around the track, but alas, we had to give everyone a chance to drive, and it was off to the next event.





Next, in the 0-60-0 event we pitted the Comp2’s against Yokohama S.Drives using Challenger SRT8s. We were told to accelerate to 60 mph and then slam on the brakes to the best of our abilities with each tire. A telemetry box would then tell us exactly how long it took us to stop with each attempt. While everyone in my group experienced varying stopping differences with each tire, one thing was definitely consistent: the Comp2’s outperformed the S.Drives in every single run. People in the group experienced differences ranging from 5 to 12 feet, while I myself personally managed a 7 foot difference (112 vs 105 ft.), which for a 2 ton+ beast like the SRT8 Challenger, is pretty damn impressive.








And now, the wet Autocross. This ended up being my favorite event of the day for two reasons, one, this is where I saw the greatest difference in tire performance, and two the GTI was such an admirable little performer that it left me very very impressed by the time I stepped out of it. For the wet autocross it was basically the same as the last events, test the Comp2’s, test the competitors, make your verdict, except this time an enormous and incontinent water truck would be hitting the track before our runs, we would be testing TWO competitive tires (Kuhmo Ecsta SPT and Hankook Ventus V12), AND we would get a chance at a second run in the Comp2’s after all was said and done. Awesome.

To start off, the Comp2’s performed admirably, and after an initial practice run I was really tossing the GTI around those cones. I could hardly tell the track was wet because the tires responded as if the conditions were dry, very predictable, great feedback, and solid bite.

Next I slid over into the Ventus V12 car and rolled off for the slalom. Immediately I noticed the car required much more input to achieve the desired results, the sidewalls felt marshmellowy, and overall I felt much less awesome. This was solidified by the fact that during the sharp 180 degree turn section of the course I managed to slide the back of the GTI out from behind me, unintentionally. Cones died. I turned to my passenger seat professional and remarked that I should dial it down a bit and they immediately asked that I drive each tire with the same level of gusto so that I would be able to have a fair assessment at the end, so I soldiered on in the Hankooks, fearing for my life. The Kuhmo tires slotted right in between the V12s and the Comp2s as far as I was concerned. Not quite awe inspiring, not quite fear inducing, but acceptable to say the least.







My group’s next event, the dry autocross, had us running STIs (Ecsta VS Comp2) and SRT8s (S.Drives VS Comp2) around a dry autocross track. The STI to start off with, is a ferocious car, and even more so when equipped with the BFGoodrich tires, at this point in the day I sort of knew what to expect, but still both cars were pushed, and again the Comp2’s held on to the title. One thing to note is that the BFG tires provide great feedback, so when you are reaching that point where your confidence exceeds your adhesion it’s easy to bring yourself back into the game, whereas the competitive tires are not as forgiving of your heroics.





So. The Challenger SRT8. Autocross. This is the next part of the day where I was amazed at what a difference a set of tires makes. With the BFG tires the SRT8 performed well, excellent even. With the competitive tire, well, the Challenger performed how I initially imagined all challengers performed. More input required, more roll, more drama. To the credit of the competitors, the Challenger SRT8 when NOT equipped with Comp2’s is an incredibly fun machine to drive, though for all the wrong reasons.





We ended the day with a fun race between teams which pitted four 10 man groups on a wet autocross relay style time attack. We were to lap the wet autocross in reverse layout as fast as possible, jump out, run and tag in the next man, rinse and repeat, with penalties for hitting cones and failing to stop in the designated stop-box. There was excitement, anger, joy, hope, disappoint, triumph, and healthy amounts of trash talking. My team ended up dead last with heavy penalties for cone destruction







As a nice little treat after all the events were done the professional drivers lined up the day's stable and gave everyone hot laps around the road course in the cars of their choice while they took the wheel. It was nice to see them push the limits of the cars, and this is also where they let the Boss 302 out of the paddocks.

This is me making my best O face in the passenger seat of the boss:





In summation, the event was awesome, the tire was awesome, and the BFGoodrich team handled the day like true professionals. I myself was originally pondering over some V12s for my next set of tires but now I think I will wait till April for these to hit the streets. The wet handling is astonishing, and the dry for that matter is no slouch either. If the pricing of these tires comes in line with its predecessor (which im sure they will), BFGoodrich has a real winner on their hands here.

Acuraluvr

iTrader: (2)

Great write up, pictures, experience. Hope to do that some day!

speedemon90

nice write up, its as if you work for bfg lol.

btw how did you get invited to this??

KillerG

I know it seems like im on my knees for BFGoodrich but had I not tried the tires myself back to back with all the competitors I wouldnt be praising the tires as much as I am, nor would I take any of their statistics seriously without driving em myself

We were also allowed to inspect the competitors tires at our discretion to make sure they had significant tread/werent underinflated/etc

I got the opportunity by being a regular ole' member of Acurazine. Specifically I believe through being active in the wheel and tire sections. When I first got the message I thought it was spam

Im not with the industry in any way, Im a full time student based out of the east coast

mrstak

iTrader: (1)

Well written. Thanks for the review of the event. Any more pics? Seems like a lot of fun...especially the last relay part...how many cones did you destroy?

Team LR

Great write up and experience im sure, would like to have that op one day, looked like tons of fun

MarbleGT

I run G-Froce Sports on my MX5...killer tire. Even at the limit, they are every bit as good as my noisy Star Specs were...but the last twice as long.

Great write up!

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

nice killer!!

ttribe

Nice writeup. Wonder how these compare to my Bridgestones....hmmmm.

CCColtsicehockey

Sounds like a good tire and a fun time.

Sarlacc

Very cool...and of course even more awesome that they had challengers out there

So are the GF2 performance tires or all weather performance tires?

Sarlacc

I'm also curious what rims are on both of those Challengers...those are not stock.

JS + XES

iTrader: (1)

Love the pics and the write up. Looks like you had ton of fun out there!

KillerG

It was a lot of fun and a nice break from my typically monotonous week

@ Sarlacc

They are intended to be a high performance summer tire, and they were running non stock wheels on on a few things it seemed, the GTIs had ASA GT1s, the WRX i know was on Wedsport Sa-90s, and rocket booster wheels were on the challengers. I enjoyed the retro touch they added to the car.

It was my first time at the helm of a challenger, and I must say the car has alot of charm.

@stak

I have some poor quality iphone pics of the hotel and some random pics i took during the day, but i figured people would be more interested in the proper shots

Sarlacc

Yeah, I hadn't seen that particular style before...and I kinda dig it.

I might look into these when I finally go through my stockers. I am a big fan of the BFG all terrain KO tires when I put them on my old pathfinder. And most people end up going with Nitto on their challengers. When the time comes we'll see.

And the car has charm, perhaps you can see why I'm hanging off of Dodge's nuts

teranfon

Nice review. Well written and concise.

civicdrivr

iTrader: (9)

Looked like a lot of fun. I used to have gForce Sports and to be honest, I wasnt impressed. It couldve been that they were the stock tire size (215-50/17), so there was a much larger sidewall to compress.

But your review of the SPTs and the V12s - Ive run both tires. The SPTs were absolute garbage. The V12s were miles ahead of them in wet and dry grip, tread wear, and road noise. Never again will I buy SPTs. Ive also owned S.Drives, and they were much better then the SPTs as well, although not on the same level as the V12s. The V12s were a great value, but the prices have recently shot up, so I am looking at the market to see what Ill try next. I may give the Comp2s a go.

Quick question though - you said the first test was in the Camaro on the road course. You took the Comp2 equipped car out to familiarize yourself with the course, then went at it hard. Were you allowed to warm up the Coopers in a similar fashion before hitting the course or did they just have you attack it immediately?

chill_dog

Great write up, and it looks like an even better time!!

TSXKid2010

So, you actually gonna buy these wheels? LOL

HondoGermany

Hey killer, you are lucky man. Great write up. One of my dreams. Testdrive cars or tyres.LOL

Acura_Dude

Great write up, Killer. Man I bet you had too much fun.

KillerG

To all: Yeah it was a ton of fun! The event was damn nice. In the spirit of disclosure, BFG did pay for flight and hotel, though i think the tires pretty much spoke for themselves. There were alot of professionals there that day (and myself) and pretty much everyone left very impressed.

@stak: I went for a safe run, unimpressive time with 0 penalties, which I figured would be better for the team considering how much a missed apex would cost you

@tsxkid: Yes. I took out extra student loans for it!

@civic: I decided to read up a bit on the original g-Force before the event and I think the squishy sidewall was an issue for many people, we did drive on low profiles for the most part, but i guess the improved sidewall shines through on these because i found the turn-in response to be much crisper than the competitors.

Sadly, we didnt test the Comp2 against the V12 in the dry, but since the majority of the improvement in the tire was in the wet handling compound I imagine that they perform similarly in the dry. I know that for the price, value, and performance, Ventus V12s are very well regarded in this segment, and I also was considering a set for my next purchase (225/45/18). After my own subjective tests i found the Comp2 to be far superior in the wet, and this really turned me off to the V12s since I live in the northeast. Ive decided to wait till the Comp2s fall into the hands of more experienced reviewers till I pull the trigger, but I am definitely leaning towards them.

Though as you mentioned, some of the guys there picked the V12 over the SPT, and some (including myself) were adamant that the SPT held strong over the V12.

For the road course, all cars were "pre-warmed-up" (as far as the tires go) since the professionals were lapping all 4 cars before we even took our seats, and then for my actual driving we took one recon lap in the BFG comp2 car at very tame speeds to learn the course layout and then ran the following 2-3 laps to the best our abilities. Immediately afterwards I hopped into the Cooper car, which was ready and waiting, open door and all, and drove the track like I was driving in the comp2's. There was no recon lap since I was already comfortable with the track layout by that point, though if I wanted one im sure they wouldve obliged

@ sarlacc

It was a brief and tumultuous love affair. I think I was high on the torque, and I believe it was also post MMC since the mileage was incredibly low

KillerG

astro

Great write up, Killer!

Glad that you enjoyed your time, and were able to go

cheers,
robb

ed_423

jelly.

Sarlacc

There were post MMC...header orange was a special order high impact color late last year...aside from the newer chin spoilers, and of course..the 392 badges denoting the 6.4L.

470 (underrated) ft lbs of torque can do that to a person.

Steven Bell

iTrader: (2)

Very nice write-up. Looks and sounds like a good time.

fsttyms1

Looks like it was a lot of fun.

civicdrivr

iTrader: (9)

Tire Rack has them listed as becoming available in the first week of April. Theyre a decent price too. I was planning on buying another set of Hankook Ventus V12s, but the price on those jumped to $173/ea

But the tires that keep catching my eye are the Continental ExtremeContact DWs. Theyre also lighter then the BF-Gs (22lbs vs 25lbs for a 235/40-18).

MarbleGT

I plan on picking up some Comp 2s for my RPF1s.

235.40.17

ttribe

Okay, giving these tires some serious consideration for my car. I put a set of Bridgestone Potenza S-04 Pole Positions on my car right after I brought it home. 20k miles later, and they need to be replaced. I love the Pole Position, but the BFGs are being offered as an alternative with similar performance but better treadwear. Anyone have any new insights on these tires at this point?

civicdrivr

iTrader: (9)

I was going to run them, but it didnt have as many reviews as I had hoped to see. Plus, the Conti DWs were still a better price.

Yet, I ended up with BFG KDW2s

ttribe

So, apparently, the Comp-2 won't be available in a 285/35/19 until the second week of September. That kind of makes my decision for me since I'll need new tires much sooner than that and that's the size for the rear tires on my car. Oh well.

civicdrivr

iTrader: (9)

That sucks. Theyve got one size for the FR-S right now but its expensive as hell.

ttribe

Really? How much? They were quoting about $260/tire for the Comp-2 for my car.

By way of comparison, the Bridgestones are about $320/tire, and the Michelin PS2 are $300 for each front and $530 for each rear. Stupid Michelin.

civicdrivr

iTrader: (9)

I forget the exact size I was looking at, but they were $180/ea for 17s. Im still looking for tires for the FR-S though, but I need to decide on wheels first.

The KDW2s were for the CL.

zeta

iTrader: (1)

I'm liking the tread design on these new BFG's.


Love the block type tread contact area of the tire and the stiff sidewall for cornering; hate the weight, otherwise IMHO very good tire for the heavy CL.

civicdrivr

iTrader: (9)

The weight is the reason why Im looking at the Contis for the FR-S.

Even the COMP2s are heavy. All BFGs are heavy TBH.