The 12 months was 2014 and a revolution had simply occurred in SCCA’s hottest autocross class. Costly and fragile R-comps had been out–we’re taking a look at you, Hoosier–and 200tw avenue tires had been in. So substantial was this variation, the class was renamed from Inventory to Avenue.
Avenue tires had already been extremely profitable within the Avenue Touring class for over a decade, …
BFGoodrich g-Power Rival +
- Endurance 200
- $273.81
- Greatest Lap: 1:27.19
Our first expertise with the unique Rival was becoming it to our One Lap CRX for the 2013 working of the occasion. The outcomes had been each a blessing and a curse: Whereas it afforded persistently excessive grip ranges as soon as warmed, it was decidedly terrible within the moist. And that 12 months, we had loads of precipitation on transits, leading to many white-knuckle hydroplaning moments.
{Photograph} by David S. Wallens
A decade on, the Rival + replace addresses that deficiency with a contemporary silica-infused tread cap compound. Silica sometimes enhances each moist grip and sturdiness, proving to be a win-win for this endurance-focused tire.
On the Street: The Rival + exhibited harshness typical of this class. Growth joints, bumps and tough pavement all introduced their presence through the stiff carcass. Steering was linear for small inputs, ramping up rapidly as cornering masses constructed up. On easy pavement at decrease speeds, a slight whirring may very well be heard from the tread design.
On the Monitor: The Rival + was straightforward to put, with some audible suggestions arriving close to the restrict of adhesion. That fast steering ramp-up beneath load hunted apexes simply, and when mixed with easy breakaway, made dancing on the restrict easy. Overcook an entry, and a slight throttle adjustment introduced the tire proper again on line.
As with most avenue tires, there’s a flyer lap hiding within the tire whereas cool in case you can join the dots in your first pair of laps. On this present day we did simply that, nailing two laps in a row that overlayed completely on the information log. Some warmth soak then crept in, and the tire stabilized at a barely slower tempo.
BFGoodrich g-Power Rival S 1.5
- Tremendous 200
- $248.68
- Greatest Lap: 1:26.43
Shifting from the Endurance 200 to a Tremendous 200, we subsequent fitted up our Rival S 1.5 tires. These are designed to activate rapidly and produce glorious grip for that one quick time assault lap or autocross run, compromising sturdiness and consistency alongside the best way.
Wanting via our notes, we discovered it had been nearly 5 years since we’d examined the Rival S and had solely performed so in an autocross setting. Additional, we’d by no means bolted on a set of the up to date Rival S 1.5 model. It was excessive time to proper that slight.
On the Street: The Rival S demonstrated comparable street traits to the Rival +, with a few of the harshness muted by the softer compound. Steering was additionally just a little livelier. As famous on the sidewall, each tires share the identical primary belt bundle elements, however they’re organized in another way to tune the dealing with to their totally different compounds. Sometimes, a softer compound by itself will make a tire much less responsive, so belt angles are sometimes adjusted to compensate.
On the Monitor: On this heat day, the Rival S got here as much as temp pretty rapidly and delivered three good laps earlier than starting to warmth soak and gradual. Wanting on the information, we absolutely related all of the dots on the second lap, making it a superb instance of the tire’s final tempo. Dealing with was just like the Rival +, albeit with extra grip.
Vitour Tempesta P1
- Tremendous 200 Benchmark
- $276.00
- Greatest Lap: 1:26.64
New to the scene for 2025, the P1 has been making waves in a wide range of arenas. We’ve observe examined it outright amongst all of its Tremendous 200 friends and located it to be superior at full tread depth. However throughout long-term use, that benefit disappears at about 5/32 inch. Additional, these checks had been performed at a lot cooler temperatures. How wouldn’t it fare on this a lot hotter day?
This specific set of P1s had been run twice earlier than for a complete of 12 laps, in order that they had been of their prime. But on this present day, solely a single quick lap may very well be extracted earlier than they fell off–most notably within the high-energy mixed loading sections of the observe. Arduous braking after a straight, adopted rapidly by sustained cornering, merely cooked the compound. It was fairly noticeable on observe and later information evaluation backed that up. Shockingly, it had didn’t beat the Rival S.
Continental ExtremeContact Power
- Endurance 200 Benchmark
- $273.00
- Greatest Lap: 1:27.01
Realizing that we’d be working the Rival + once more for bracketing functions on the finish of the principle check, we subsequent bolted on its class benchmark. These had been additionally the tires we had used for the warmup session earlier, however they’d been allowed to chill for a number of hours.
We love this tire for its dealing with dynamics, so pure and simple to extract efficiency lap after lap. Nevertheless, paddock discuss from World Racing League use, the place it’s the spec tire, tells us it may be difficult at occasions to dial in an optimum setup.
The ExtremeContact Power gave us two good cool-tire flyers earlier than settling right into a constant tempo. The primary of these was just a little slower due solely to an absence of driver religion on the very first flip of the observe, a high-consequence, full-throttle, 100 mph blind entry. The remainder of the 2 laps overlayed completely on the information logs.
BFGoodrich gForce Rival + (retest)
The Rival+ was then up for one more stint to confirm driver consistency and measure any observe evolution. We’d now additionally get a real back-to-back comparability with its class benchmark in equivalent circumstances.
After its first spherical, the Rival+ had been stacked within the shade to maintain inner temps in test, however there was nonetheless some residual warmth. This confirmed up within the outcomes as we had been solely capable of produce one full cool-tire flyer earlier than warmth started to gradual us halfway via the second lap. Nonetheless, the outcomes nearly completely matched these of the ExtremeContact Power, each for flyer occasions and eventual sustained tempo.
BFGoodrich g-Power Phenom T/A
- Trackable UHP avenue tire
- $194.99
- Greatest Lap: 1:29.37
With the principle, absolutely bracketed check now full, we rounded out our BFG full-line comparability by sampling the brand new Phenom T/A. Having been absolutely reviewed in a earlier check in opposition to its class brethren, immediately’s mission was merely to match and distinction it to its BFG stablemates.
As extra of a real UHP avenue tire design, the Phenom trades observe focus for streetability, particularly in the case of moist utilization. It’s additionally so much cheaper than the observe weapons.
Nonetheless, the Phenom can ship constant laps on observe. Given the marked distinction in grip in comparison with the opposite tires, we underdrove our braking zones for the primary lap however adjusted effectively on the second to get in a flyer whereas the tires had been nonetheless of their optimum warmth vary. Efficiency fell off a bit thereafter.
Conclusions
At this time’s scene is awash with tires–so many who we’ve created totally different subclasses. How do they evaluate in actual life? You should utilize this information as a information. A UHP mannequin, for instance, simply isn’t going to run with a present Tremendous 200. Whereas an Endurance 200 can’t match that prime tempo, both, it’ll ship extra consistency.
And welcome again, BFG, with top-shelf merchandise throughout that vary. Want a persistently fast and sturdy tire for endurance racing or observe day use? The Rival + may very well be the one. Competing for quick lap across the circuit? Think about the Rival S 1.5. For a powerful avenue focus with occasional observe use at a low price of entry, Phenom could also be your droid.
{Photograph} by Andy Hollis
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