Thoughts on BF Goodrich g-Force R1

[Tristan Smith]

How does the performance of these tires stack up to the rest of the Race DOT tires out there? I am looking for 255/40 17 tire for the 300zx and surprisingly enough the Goodrich is one of only a few tire makers with a tire this size.

Yes, I know it will not be as fast as a Hoosier......but then again, the car will be new and I won't know the difference.

[BruceG]

Ran them at Skip Barber 3 day racing school. Not as much grip as the hoosiers but much better wear and better in the rain(obviously). They run them on all their Formula Skip Barbers.

[CRallo]

Ran them at Skip Barber 3 day racing school. Not as much grip as the hoosiers but much better wear and better in the rain(obviously). They run them on all their Formula Skip Barbers.

Wow! When was this!?

[BruceG]

Sorry Chris..brain fade. They were BF Goodrich Gforce but obviously not R1's...LOL. Part about the grip in the rain is correct though since they are radials...ar..ar. Skippy runs them because they don't have time to change to rain tires in the schools if there is a downpour and they are much better wearing due to a hard compound.

That being said, the R1's would have been great for extra grip!

[Cobrar05]

My experience with the BFG R1 is that they can be as fast as the Hoosier R6. If they are not, its marginal and only for a few heat cycles. The R1 will hold its lap times for a full race run and a couple dozen heat cycles.

We ran R1's on the Mustang in the ARRC enduro in 2007. Three hours on the same tires and set fast lap of the race 5 times in the final 15 minutes of the race.

I ran my personal best lap times at Road Atlanta this past August on the same set of R1's. I highly recommend them.

[Tristan Smith]

Thanks Rob, that's reassurring. Especially since you are running a heavy car like mine will be.

[titanium]

I'm with Rob on the R1's.
I switch to them this year after running Toyo's for the last 3 seasons.
I went down from a 275 section width to a 245 and I have run faster at every track.

[jlucas]

My first experience with them was at IT Fest this year and despite them only having 205s in 15" (normally run 225s) I ran my fastest lap ever at MidOhio with no other changes on the car. (MidO is my home track for the past 8 years!)

Looking forward to running them some more. :)

[Cobrar05]

Really there are only two issues with BFG R1's.

1. None of the track support tire suppliers carry them. That means going the tire rack route and having them mounted elsewhere. That is not a problem for me as I only use the track support for something that comes up at the track. Additionally the BFG is $25-30 cheaper than the R6. That makes up for not having the easy delivery at the track in my view.

2. There are no payoffs for running them as opposed to the Hoosier contigencies. But since a Hoosier is good for two race weekends max and the BFG is good for more than double that I am not sure that really matters either.

As Titanium mentioned the BFG is very wide. A 245 BFG is the same width as a 275 Toyo. The R6 Hoosier is in between. Going down a size can also save some money.

An easy plan is to buy two sets of sticker BFG R1's for the ARRC. Take care of them and those 8 tires can last you all the way thru the next season.

[Tristan Smith]

I am sold. I will try them out.

[Bob Roth]

We run them on our type r for endurance racing. Good grip, we tested them compared to the Hoosiers and couldn't see an appreciable difference. Except the BFG's don't go away and last very well. Everything I read above is consistent with our experieinces.