BF Goodrich The Advantage

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
3.40 of 5, 10.00 votes

Price Paid:  $44.00 from Sam's Club

Year / Model Reviewed:
2003 BFG Advantage Plus

Strengths:
Confidence in rain, snow or shine. Quiet, comfortable ride.

Weaknesses:
None

Summary:
I want to amend the review I wrote last year. This is an awesome tire and it gets better with age. You people putting it down must have something wrong with your vehicle because anyone who blames this tire has zero credibility with me; I know tires. This tire is awesome in wet, dry and winter conditions. Treadwear is great so far (14,000 miles). This is a variation of the highly-rated Control T/A M80, although it is not identical. I had some wobble in my wheel at highway speeds and initially I blamed the tires, but it turned out to be a worn gear in my rack and pinion steering. You people experiencing this problem should have your steering linkage checked. This is a great tire.

Similar Products Used:
Uniroyal Tiger Paw, Pirelli P400

Overall Rating
 1 of 5

Value Rating
 2 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
3.75 of 5, 8.00 votes

Price Paid:  $44.00 from Sams Club

Year / Model Reviewed:
1994 Olds Cutlass Ciera

Strengths:
Tread wear appears to excellent (16K to date), traction in wet or dry average or a little better.

Weaknesses:
Vibrates at 70+mph. Had car aligned, then trued and dynamically balanced by expert local front end shop. Was marginally better, still not acceptable. For fear of excessive wear on front end parts and the misery of holding a shaking steering wheel, today replaced them with Michelin Harmonys and will put these BFG's on my postal jeep since it CAN'T do 70 mph!

Summary:
Tire is BFG Advantage Plus - sold only by Sams Club (and I hear Sears). Tread looks nothing like photo. Good-looking tire, made by BF Goodrich - should be a good tire, one would think - erroneously!

Similar Products Used:
Goodyear Integrity

Price Paid:  $48.00 from Sam's Club

Year / Model Reviewed:
2004 Advantage Plus - 205/70/15

Strengths:
Extremely good in the snow, both handling and braking. Very good wet and dry breaking. Grips as well on dry, better on snow or wet roads than my original Michelin XG4's that came with my Subaru Outback. Extremely good value.

Weaknesses:
None, except its looks are as plain as a tire can get (but on a station wagon, who cares?)

Summary:
Excellent in snow, outstanding value. This tire is sold exclusively through Sam's Club. I called BF Goodrich's tech support line to ask about it and the rep told me it's a Control TA M80, with a different name on the sidewall and a lesser warranty (65,000 mi. vs. 80,000 on the M80). Control TA M80's are very highly reviewed both on this website and on tirerack.com's reviews section, which is another good internet resource for tire research. I paid $47.99 per tire at Sam's Club for a 205/70/15, which totalled $244 out the door for four tires, tax and mounting (includes unlimited free balancing and rotating at any Sam's Club in the country) - one heck of a good deal. I easily saved $100 on this set of tires. My original Michelins (I believe they are the XG4 model - they were standard on my Subaru Outback) would have cost well over $100 a tire to replace, not counting tax or mounting. These Advantage Plus tires are not quite as smooth as the Michelins over large bumps, are probably just as smooth over regular road surfaces (too many reviewers forget that new tires will always ride a bit more rough than old, bald tires), handle just as well on dry roads and are substantially better than the Michelins at both handling and braking on wet roads and on snow. I drove through a blizzard here in Wisconsin two weeks ago and have never felt safer with any tire, the handling was so good in the snow. I was giving some thought to getting a more performance-oriented touring tire, but I'm very glad I did not. On my old BMW, the tires made a very substantial difference in how the car performed and the extra $$ I spent on Yokohama and Bridgestone performance tires was well worth it, compared with a cheaper, inferior set of BF Goodrich Touring TA's I bought. With my Outback wagon, I doubt there would be much difference between the Advantage Plus and a more expensive, performance tire in dry handling and probably the Advantage Plus would have a big advantage in wet or snowy conditions. Going around corners at speed in the Advantage Pluses leaves me feeling secure and confident. I was also considering the Yokohama Avid Touring, which is supposed to be an outstanding tire and outstanding value (although probably $15/tire more expensive, altogether), and I was having some second thoughts on the BF Goodriches until I started driving them. Absolutely no regrets. I hope it's as durable as the warranty would suggest. I cannot comment on this issue, given that I've only put 2,000 miles on my Advantage Pluses, but otherwise, I very highly recommend this tire.

Similar Products Used:
Michelin XG-4

Price Paid:  $5900.00 from Sam's Club

Year / Model Reviewed:
2001 BF Goodrich Advantage Plus

Strengths:
Low price, smooth, quiet ride. Long tread life.

Summary:
BF Goodrich Advantage Plus. Best tire value I have ever found! They were recommended to one of my sons, possibly 7 years ago, for his Camry when he worked as a cashier at Sam's. Since then I have put them on used Buick Park Avenues and LeSabres and have 3-5 years experience. I appreciate the smooth, quiet ride, city and expressway driving. A Sam's employee showed me the advantage of the "Advantage Plus" thinner, flexible sidewall and Michelin, Goodyear, stiff sidewall. My theory is that the flexible sidewall shares some of the flexing with the tread layer, for a smoother ride and less heat build-up. I agree with Jim from Ohio's November 2002 review, that there are several Goodrich tires with the Advantage label. The one I have used is "Advantage Plus". It doesn't look exactly like any tread pattern pictured on the B F Goodrich web site, but it is VERY similar to Goodrich Control T/A M-80. Frank, Peoria IL I have been very pleased with these tires and their price, and will continue buying them.

Similar Products Used:
Michelin, UniRoyal, General

Price Paid:  $235.00 from Sam's Club

Year / Model Reviewed:
2000 BF Goodrich Advantage Plus

Strengths:
Great Price 45,000 miles before replace Good for normal highway driving

Weaknesses:
Not so great on snow and ice.

Summary:
Bought this set 1 1/2 years ago at Sam's Club. At that time I had to replace the original tires on my 2000 Honda Civic. My car is now at 83,000 miles and is about due for new tires. I've had no problems with these tires. I've gotton about 45,000 miles out of them and they have performed fine for me. For the price, I don't think I could have asked for anything better.