Vehicle Suspension

Initial Review, 5,000 Miles on Tires
April 07, 2013

I have always prefered a Michelin tire, and have had great service from them over the years. The prices are high, and I have wondered if part of that is paying for the name? A few years ago, we purchased a new truck with General tires on it, and the tires performed flawlessly. In fact those 11 year-old Generals were are currently on a farm trailer, and show no signs of dry rot, or other problems. After much thought, I decided to give these Generals a try. These tires are very quiet and smooth. They have great resistance to hydroplaning, which is a feature that I like a lot. The tires are not great in the snow, but than a V-8 powered RWD car is not so great in the snow either. I have a designated AWD winter vehicle, so winter traction does not matter to me. We live in the mountains with lots of winding roads, and tires get punished around here. I have the car set up with a stiff aftermarket suspension, so it rides harsh and corners like a sports car. The car no longer handles like a traditional Crown Victoria. Infact this car has seen an AutoCross track more then once... The OE tires where very soft and the car had a tendency to oversteer with them on it. These tires take the curves very well. So far they have passed the test. I plan to purchase three more sets, one for my wife's Crown Vic, and two sets for our two vintage Pontiac Trans AM show cars. For the price, nothing else compares. General seems to have hit the mark!

Initial Review, 50 Miles on Tires
April 26, 2013

I bought these BFGoodrich Rival tires for use as Autocross only on an NB miata using 8" wheels. The 205/50R15 size has a slight stretch on this size wheel, making for a stiffer sidewall at lower pressures for better turn in response. I have a limited number of miles on the Rival since it is not driven at all on the street, but have competed in 6 full Autocross events on the tire(6-9 runs/event at an average of 60seconds/run).

The Rival is stiff, but compliant over bumps and does not give a harsh ride. Wear is exceptionally good. When paired with the proper amount of camber, and heat cycled correctly, there is no chunking of the tread blocks it it wears very smoothly and slowly. The Rival is plenty noisy, when cornering, but relatively quiet when traveling in a straight line. This noise is necessary for helping determine the grip available mid-corner.

Turn in is immediate, the low and wide treadblocks reduce tread squirm and the sidewalls are stiff. Traction is very good, and has a very smooth and predictable break-away. The Rival has helped improve my straight line braking ability and trail-braking as well.

As a final comparison, I had been competing in the STR class at my local Autocrosses and finishing regularly between 5th and 10th place overall on a summer tire. On the BFGoodrich GForce Rival, I have been consistently part of the top 3. The Rival is just that good. And it will be even better when paired with a properly stiff suspension.

Initial Review, 250 Miles on Tires
April 20, 2013

I just got back today from using these for auto-x on my 93 Corvette with Z07 suspension and aggressive alignment. These tires just plain work, even on a heavy car in cold/wet/dry conditions. It was actually snowing and later got up around 45 or a little less. I kept pace (within a couple tenths or so) with near FTD C5Z06 (Hoosiers, not good at all in those conditions). I was impressed, dry grip is excellent. Breaks away predictably and smoothly. Tires do perform in cold/wet/dry conditions, with due caution exercised.

Quick warm up on tires, only 3 runs and they were warm. Grip got better as I went.

Excellent tire and works well on my Corvette.

Initial Review, 8,000 Miles on Tires
March 15, 2013

Car: Honda S2000
Soft ride, nice tires, there are worse and better tires. Driver side and Passenger side tires can be switched unlike unidirectional tires. Kumho XS gives better dry traction. However, these tires are a standard extreme performance tire. Not bad for the price, you get what you pay for.

Street driving is comfortable, should be matched with a proper suspension setup to yield optimal results. These tires, like the XS, ADVAN AD08 & RE-11 will need a stiffer suspension to better manage the grip. If your not really into supreme handling then sports tires are a far better choice. Longevity is lost for performance gain; increadible performance gain, however, save the performance potential for the track.

Track:
displays good ultimate grip, should be careful will probably outdrive 90% of most drivers, meaning to fully maximize performance from these tires, they are a perfect blend of street and track use..

Might try a different set of tires, Dunlop should really design something that has a more durable centre section for regular driving and softer outer sections for higher grip.

Initial Review, 10,000 Miles on Tires
April 03, 2013

These came stock on the 19" x 8.5" rims of my 2011 Mustang GT. I drive 6-speed with 3.55 gears, so the rear tires get a bit more shock treatment than that of an automatic.

Brand new, the tires are great. You almost can't get them to break traction short of turning the traction control off and dumping the cluth after reving up to red line. But after doing that a few times, you will find the traction/stickiness of the tire will have depleted.

They are still good all-around tires, but after a few months of driving, they lose their launch traction.

I have already replaced two sets (four tires total) in the two years that I have had the car and am about to replace another set on the rear. That would mean that about every 10,000-13,000 miles, they need replaced. The tread is not down to the cords or anything, but you can feel a major difference in the performance at the 10k wear point.

Road noise is pretty minimal for a low-profile tire and the ride is comfortable as the suspension on the GT with these tires rides very well. There seems to be a bit of roll/softness in cornering, but if you know your car well enough, you know what you can and can't do and the tires stay fairly firm. I will buy them again for all year tires, but I will probably switch to something stickier for Summer track action on street tires.

Initial Review, 12,000 Miles on Tires
March 12, 2013

Have these on my Mach 1 that sees a LOT of spirited driving. These tires HOOK!!! I've had M/T drag radials and these far out performe them for much less money. I was very surprised with how long they lasted as well, over 12k miles and they still hook. They are on my weekend car so havent seen rain with them but I think the tread design is good enough for a little rain.

At the track, these things are AWESOME! Very consistant launches and GREAT 60' times as well. My car makes 400rwhp 500rwtg on nitrous and these dead hook out of the hole on the bottle. Constant 1.5x 60's with minimal suspension and weight reduction mods. The sidewalls will even wrinkle like slicks. Will for sure be buying another set of these some time this summer!

Initial Review, 38,000 Miles on Tires
April 01, 2013

I live in Florida, where the roads are pretty good.

At 38,000 miles, my back tires are nearly done, near the wear marks. Front tires still have the "DW" mark. Overall, I'm very happy with the treadlife; I've done suspension mods recently, driven the car hard and treadlife is still good.

For a summer performance tire, DWs are a nice balance of price, ride quality, traction, tread life, and wet performance.

When pushed hard, my car has plenty of grip and everything is predictable. Car feels very composed in the rain and we get plenty of rain here in Tampa.

I'm looking to buy replacement tires now and DWs are on my short list. Only reason I might pass on them would be to splurge on something finer like Michelin PSS.

***UPDATE - just bought them again today. They're just a great value with many good qualities. Mich PSS may have better responsiveness and traction but the DW's have longer UTOG, lighter weight and cost 25%+ less.

Initial Review, 20,000 Miles on Tires
March 30, 2013

The Goodyear Assurance Tripple Tread All Season is the next best thing to a performance tire. It is also the next best thing to a snow tire. It is also the best all season tire I have ever purchased in my 46 years of driving. I've got the originals and am extremely satisfied witht their performance. I can't imagine how Goodyear could have improve the performance with the new version of these tires. I am sure that Goodyear did and cannot wait to purchase a set whenever these tires need replacement. When traveling down the road I get the impression that the car is traveling in a track. Straight as an arrow when I'm on the go. Cornering is like the suspension has gotten a major upgrade.

Initial Review, 17,000 Miles on Tires
March 26, 2013

After 17,000 miles the tires and not wearing good and starting to cup. They ride ok, but are noisy. All around traction is pretty good. I will be lucky if I get 40,000 miles out of these. Air pressure is checked once a week, newer suspension, and good aliment. Wont buy again.

Initial Review, 5,000 Miles on Tires
March 19, 2013

I haven't had these very long but I thought I would share the experience at 5000 miles. They are good performing stiff tires and hardly seem to wear. They still have the same tread as 5000 miles ago similar to my last set of run flats (Michelins). The negative so far is even with a luxury class suspension and noise reduction you feel the road bumps like a sports car and hear noise. I don't know if non luxury class cars could deal with the bumps and noise. However, I am sold on run flat technology and feel the performance safety benefits far outweigh the noise and more vibration in the ride. That being said, these are good performing so far, I hope they last 45k miles like my last set of run flats did. So far so good.

Initial Review, 3,000 Miles on Tires
March 05, 2013

I have this tire on a BMW Z4 so it is hard to evaluate. Z4 steering is as vague as a Honda so I wanted every advantage I could get. Steering is still vague. The back end does not kick out any more, can not make it do so. Rears stick like glue. These tires do not get caught in road ruts like other run flats. When warm they ride well, pretty harsh when cold. I do get road noise from the rear tires, but this Z4 is a hardtop coupe and they seem to funnel noise into the cockpit from the rear of the car. Never hear the front tires. Driver's seat is near the rear axle. I will not spend this much money on a tire again. Just put Defenders on my Suburu and they are terrific, for $600. I do not know how to rate this tire as I can not separate it from the Z4 steering, suspension and chasis, all of which are flawed. Far better the the OEM Potenzas, but they were --- awful.

Initial Review, 10,000 Miles on Tires
February 16, 2013

I+ thought this tire can handle light snow. But today there is about 2 inches of snows, and I can't even stop! It slided about 3 cars length before it comes to a full stop from 40mph. But to be fair, 255 is very wide on snow.... Please use caution with this tire if yours are wide too

Initial Review, 5,000 Miles on Tires
March 19, 2013

I have worn out a number of very high performance tires on this car. All have their quirks. These are still low miles, so I haven't really tested them much, but so far so good. The PZero Nero offer surprisingly civilized ride, fairly low noise, with strong and predictable cornering. My suspension is mostly stock with Koni shocks, and these tires will out perform my suspension with no drama or unexpected motion, and max cornering on ramps is very stable and predictable. I am impressed that wet traction is very good and they still behave well. I can't wait to put them back on after snow season!

Initial Review, 2,500 Miles on Tires
March 02, 2010

This is more a review of these tires on my specific car.



Great in the snow, absolutely great. The more snow the better, or so it seems. Braking is easily better than all-seasons, as is handling and acceleration. Wet snow is noticable more difficult to maintain control, however. Now for the bad news, seemingly terrible in the slush. Not sure if it is my car or the tires, but the car gets pushed around very easily by even small amounts of slush. I tend to believe it has more to do with my cars suspension, weight, and width to wheelbase ratio than the tires though. Easier to drive through 6 inches of snow than 1 inch of slush. Fun to have a car willing to rotate on dry roads, but not so much on wet winter slush.



Dry roads are mixed, as these things like to grab every little pebble and sand grain the road commission dumps on Michigan. Slip and control is well within tolerance though, and really only becomes an issue in spirited driving. It takes very little to spin the inside wheel accelerating through a tight corner if there is any sand, debris. Clean roads are great in the dry though. Some tire wandering above 65 mph, although determined mostly by road surface. Tires seem to move and stretch a noticable amount more above freezing temperatures, although this is only apparent driving back to back temperature differences.



Very quiet tire, almost as quiet as the non-OEM all-seasons that I had on before. (Coopers?) Much quieter than my father and bro-in-laws Blizzak Revo's. Stock wheels are 17", these are on 16", I notice more rebounding motion from the tires than stock, although small imperfections are slightly smoothed over versus stock. In retrospect, I should have gone with 17" as the extra sidewall can be felt in hard acceleration. Not sure on tread-wear yet.



In summary on my Mazda 6s, great on the snow, bad in slush, matches wet(rain) A/S performance, dependable dry weather performance and a very quiet ride for snow tires.