By Christopher A. Sawyer
The Virtual Driver

(August 13, 2016) “The everyday driver is an accidental performance driver.” It was one of those statements that sticks in your mind because it strikes a chord of truth. How often, if ever, do most drivers get a chance to push their vehicle hard enough to see what it will do, and do so in a controlled setting?

Driver training is woefully inadequate, and we set teenagers loose on their own if they proved reasonably proficient in parallel parking, paid attention in situations far removed from what they will encounter in the real world, scored at least 50% on the written test, and could navigate everyday roads with an instructor sitting in the passenger seat. If, by the law of averages, this same teen progresses without any accidents, we consider them a good driver. Even worse, they consider themselves a good driver.

“Magnum P.I.’s Ferrari 308 had about 230 horsepower. Today, a Honda Accord V6 has more than 270.” Another nugget of truth. Cars have improved tremendously over the past 30 years. There are airbags to the front and side, an electronic safety net (ABS, traction control, electronic stability control, etc.), crush structures, survival cells, and more.

Above a certain price point, nearly every car — and a lot of crossovers — have fully independent suspension, four-wheel disc brakes and are powered by an overhead cam engine with four valves per cylinder. This was the stuff reserved for high-end sports cars not so long ago, and it has trickled down to mainstream vehicles. Competition, the drive for greater powertrain efficiency, and the explosive growth in electronics have given us vehicles far more capable than we could have imagined when Tom Selleck was cruising Hawaii solving cases.

“Those four small patches of rubber are the only contact you have with the road, and tire design and construction determine everything that happens at the contact patch.” Also true, and the reason I am sitting under a tent in sweltering heat. BFGoodrich has invited me to join local tire dealers in a set of exercises to highlight its all-season g-force Comp-2 A/S and Advantage T/A Sport radials, after a classroom session on its All-Terrain T/A K02 truck tires.

Our venue was Bosch’s test track in Flat Rock, Mich., where the tent was pitched atop smooth asphalt that has been baking in the sun. Our teachers were a motley group of current and ex racers who had laid out two mirror-image gymkhana courses, one for each tire. To our left was the dry track where we would drive a pair of 2016 Ford Mustangs powered by a V6 mated to an automatic transmission.

To the right, on the wet course, were a two Mazda3 sedans, also fitted with automatic transmissions. In the background was a storm front ambling toward us though, with the number of storms that had fizzled out over the prior two weeks, it was a crapshoot as to whether we’d get wet.

The exercise was simple. Each course began with foot-to-the-floor acceleration toward a marked pylon. Once the nose of the car was past the pylon, it was a full-ABS stop to a standstill, followed by acceleration along an inside curve that turned back toward the outside of the track in a decreasing radius arc, and exited into a tight turn that led into a slalom. Then it was out of the slalom, down an even shorter straight, through a lane change, around an increasing radius corner, and back to where you started.

We were able to check tire pressures prior to our runs to make sure there were no tricks being played, and would do two runs before switching to the car with the competitive brand tires. And, if time permitted, we could reverse the process, starting with the competition and finishing with the BFGs.

If we learned one thing in the chalk talk, it was that Michelin, owner of BFGoodrich (and Uniroyal in the U.S.), is sharing technology first used on its namesake premium line with BFG. Michelin was the first to put silica in tire tread — 10 years before its nearest competitor — and mastered the process to distribute this hydrophilic substance evenly. Over the years, Michelin quickly moved from full-depth one-dimensional tread sipes that slid across each other, generating friction, wear and encouraging tread squirm, to two-dimensional sipes that look like mountain peaks and lock the tread surface together to promote block stability. This was followed by three-dimensional designs that are locked across and down the tread block. A “bump” on one side of the sipe fits into a “pocket” on the other side to lock the two firmly together; a good thing with such deep siping.

It was about this time that the winds picked up and the rain began to fall. It was a light shower, but enough to wet the track to the point where it started bringing up the oils in the asphalt. Perfect. Short of a freak snowstorm and quickly plunging temperatures, it was a good test of the tire’s performance in less than perfect conditions.

The Continental ExtremeContact DSW06 tires felt more lively than the g-force Comp-2s on the Mustang and, as the rain increased, the liveliness continued to grow. In these conditions I drove the car less with the steering wheel and more with the throttle, but charging toward the slalom and braking upon entering the first gate unloaded the rear, seriously affecting traction. It took a conscious effort to slow the car and bring the tail back under control, reducing its swing to the point where a natural rhythm through this section returned.

Also, under heavy braking, there was a small but discernible amount of tread squirm from the Continentals that wasn’t there with the BFGs. Not to mention that, with the g-force Comp-2s, the tail of the Mustang never got as lively, eliminating the need to bring the tail back into line. In fact, the BFGs felt so linear they lacked any drama and made the Mustang feel a touch staid, especially in initial steering response The flip side was that they were more predictable, the car felt planted, and you felt as though there was a greater margin of safety — and speed —  to play with.

If these traits translate to the snow and cold, it could make cars like the Mustang GT much more usable in winter without having to switch to snow tires.

A quick walk across the lake of asphalt to the mirror-image course brought us face-to-face with a pair of Mazda3 sedans, one fitted with Goodyear Assurance tires, the other with BFG’s Advantage T/A Sport skins. Like any front-driver, the front contact patch must handle acceleration, steering and braking forces. This makes this drive configuration quite sensitive — and susceptible — to the effects of tread squirm.

Once again it was a case of foot-to-the-floor to go, then to stop, followed by a turn to the inside then the outside that leads into the slalom. That’s followed by a short chute, lane change, an increasing radius turn, and back to the starting point. It took no more than the full-on ABS stop to tell the tale.

The Goodyear tires suffered from lots of tread squirm; to the point that each contact patch felt and reacted slightly differently. This extra motion was transmitted to the body, which began a very subtle, gentle swaying biased toward the direction of the main force through the contact patch. This also impeded acceleration, and added a slight extra motion in the slalom. These characteristics would have been fun to play with in a “pitch-and-toss” kind of way had we the time to do such a thing, but — in an emergency situation — this squirminess did not impart confidence. If that wasn’t enough, the nose ran wide under acceleration, and the tail started to move under braking. It was hard to believe that a 3D tread block and sipe design would eradicate this, and make the Mazda feel more planted.

Switching to the BFG-shod Mazda3, I accelerated to the pylon, jammed on the brakes and felt none of the squirm I had with the Goodyears. Instead of acting like independent contractors, the contact patches performed like a team, bringing the car to a straight, smooth stop in less distance. Acceleration was slightly better as the tires seemed to transmit more power to the road, and the slalom was, as the British like to say, a “doddle” followed by a smooth slicing through the lane change. (I had to add power to get near the limit of traction in the slalom, something that wasn’t as necessary with the Goodyears.)

Also more power could be fed through the front tires in the increasing radius turn. The difference in performance, feel and capability was eye opening. Though, to be fair, this test couldn't tell me anything about the tire’s smooth or rough road ride, its noise level in town or on the highway, and what effect the BFGs might have on fuel economy. That would take a much larger, more comprehensive test.

However, BFGoodrich’s Advantage T/A Sport, like its performance oriented g-force Comp-2 A/S brother, showed just how stable and communicative it can be in emergency situations. Good choices both for the accidental, or committed, enthusiast.

The Virtual Driver