BF Goodrich Comp T/A R1

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Visitors rate this review
2.33 of 5, 6.00 votes

Price Paid:  $410.00 from TFT

Year / Model Reviewed:
2003 Comp T/A

Strengths:
Nice look and good grip.

Weaknesses:
There is this pit that is called the graveyard because many vehicles go down there and don't come out. I thought these tires would get me in and out with no prob. I was wrong. The truck got stuck in the ditch! The tires were not gripping the ground as they should. I removed the rims from the truck and had a freind bring me to my house. I put them on my Honda and they looked great! The only problem is I forgot the Lug nuts at the pit. While driveing to the pit to get the lugs the tires flew off the car on the highway and sent me into a flip hitting the guard rail and another car. Both cars were a total. So I guess my gripe that they don't grip well in pit's and the tires will not stay on the car without lug nuts.

Summary:
I put these on my truck and loved them. They grip very well. High speed cornering is easy and above average. Great tire for the summer and they look good to.

Similar Products Used:
The other ones.

Price Paid:  $400.00

Year / Model Reviewed:
 1992 Taurus SHO

Strengths:
GRIP, GRIP, GRIP!!!

Weaknesses:
I wish I could drive this tire all the time!

Summary:
This was the autocross tire of choice until the new R1's came out. The grip is incredible. They wore evenly on my car. I autocross about 5-6 times a year and have used the same set I bought 3 years ago. They had lasted about 12 autocrosses. The new R1's are even better. If you stay out of puddles, you can even use these on the road in the summer.

Similar Products Used:
None

Price Paid:  $120.00

Strengths:
Value = very good RACE tire for the price
Sticky = confidence level high when on the auto-x or road course

Weaknesses:
o Don't use these tires in the rain!
o Would like a quicker time to reach operating temp
o Availability

Summary:
This is not a street tire even though it is DOT rated. Preferred usage is for the road course, i.e. Sears Point Int'l Raceway or Laguna Seca Raceway. Okay for auto-x, but it takes a little bit of time for the tire to reach optimum stickiness.

I enter 4 - 6 track schools, plus 6 - 10 auto-x races, per year. So, you can imagine the need for race tires as I go through a race season. Since I run both the full road courses and the auto-x circuit, I had to compromise between an auto-x tire (reaches optimum operating temp quickly, softer compound) and a tire designed for road courses (lasts longer than an auto-x tire, takes a little more time to reach operating temp). The BFG T/A R1 fit my performance requirements and budget very nicely. A set of tires will last approximately 4 - 6 days on the track (4 x 20 minute sessions/day) or about 10 - 12 auto-x races.

Prior experience is with auto-x tires. Thus, I cannot compare the R1's to other road racing tires, yet. I do know that R1's stick very nicely at high speeds and have a predictable feel. No issues with quality or performance. So far I have only used these tires on a '95 M3 with a factory suspension setup and factory tire sizes (235/40-17). I easily kept up to other cars with modified suspension setups. Could be the tires or it could be driving skill -- probably a combination of the above.

Availability is based upon your time of need. BFG has a limited number of prodution runs for the R1's during the year. If your tire source is out-of-stock, then you either have to call around, wait for the next production run, or try a another brand/compound.

Similar Products Used:
Yokohama A008R