Cory M

I think you are confusing the BFG R1 with the Nitto NT01. Nitto and Toyo are owned by the same company and the NT01 is reported to be the same compund as the Toyo R888 which is the Toyo RA1 replacement tire.

We have tried out the Nitto NT01 and it is a good tire. The only problems are that they've had some availability issues (expected for a new tire) and that they don't make a 245/40/17 (they do make 245/45/17 which is too tall for me and 235/45/17 which is too narrow for me).

As for the BFGs being faster than Hoosiers, I'll believe it when I see it...

daigo

Cory,
No, I had it right. Apparently the compound of the old Toyo R1 is the same on the new R888. Only difference is the tread pattern. At least thats what the team hired too test them said.

Mike Buck

I was trying the new BFG R1's this past Saturday at Summit Point. Impressive grip under braking and very quick turn in compared to the Toyos I have run for a while now. Didn't get much good laps on them due to all the traffic, yellow flags, and short sessions. Put a huge flat spot (no ABS) on a rear one during the race and it was toast. I think their huge grip threw off the brake balance of my car trailbraking into T1. Went back to stock rear pads (from PF97's) and Toyo's on Sunday and all seemed well again. But I could tell the car was slower and sliding more. I need to buy a new rear before the next VIR race and will tweek my alignment closer to what BFG recommends and then start taking tire temps. Like them so far, but really don't have enough laps on them yet. Stay tuned.

Darren

BUMP -- Any other recent experience?

Racerrob

My enduro co-driver bought a set that we used in the Watkin's Glen enduro (SP2). He started the race and promptly flat spotted them before turning over to me. Despite their condition I turned my fastest lap of the weekend ( a few tenths faster than my R6's). I liked the turn in very much. The slip angle was a little less than the Hooters but they felt pretty good. I dont know that I am ready to switch til I see how they will last compared to the R6.

It seems that every year someone comes out with a tire that is "faster than the Hoosier and lasts longer" but never seems to be their measure. I do hope that they will compare as I was a big fan of the old ones but I am still skeptical.

Darren

Didn't the old ones have extra camber built into them? Is that true of the new ones?

Racerrob

I believe that the last version of the old ones did have camber built in. I'm not sure of the new ones.

jakermc

I used them a few weeks ago for a day long test & tune, qualy, and 1 race. My comparison is against MPSC and run 225/265/18.

BFG is a better tire. Once heat cycled they come up to speed quicker, are easier to drive (wider tolerance with regards to slip angle & temp), and resulted in quicker lap times. They are quieter than MPSC but give ample feedback otherwise. Despite the same listed size, the BFG tire is wider than MPSC and it resulted in a rub against the oil line inside the rear fenderwell that I now have to correct. The BFG has more of a square profile versus the rounded edges of the MPSC.

In sessions lasting up to 30 minutes they never lost grip. I have not tried longer sessions yet. It's worth noting however, that I was on a new track and was not pushing as hard as I would have on my home track. I may not have gotten enough heat into them to really see how long they can run near the limit.

The downside - it began to rain during the race and the tires were miserable. Almost instantly I had no grip, even before conditions would have called for a rain tire. Not a good choice if there is even a little precip.

No idea yet about longevity. I had a couple of very small lock-ups under breaking and they did not flat spot. Tire wear was only moderate on my 2700 lb car and they seem to have lots of life left.

chrisp

I'll be running a set at the Mosport race. I'll report back with comparisons to MPSC and RA-1's.

My only issue is I am trying to stuff the 275/40-17 on the rear of my SC G-car. The width itself isn't a problem because it's a touch narrower than the Hoosier in the same size and statically my clearances are all pretty good. However the OD is about .3"-.4" larger than the Hoosier and I may get upper fender rub since that's usually the tight spot.

forklift

How were the BFGs?

Thanks.

chrisp

They were great. You saw my post about the oil leak. So I judged everything by how they handled the right hand turns over the four days.

I have not used Hoosier's, only A-032R's, Victoracer's, MPSC's, and RA-1's.

I put 14 heat cycles on them in four days. Two were 55-60 minutes. Two were 40 minutes and 10 were 20-30 minutes.

They were as drivable and predictable from the first to the 14th heat cycle.

I would say they are half worn. I don't run as hard as some guys and tend to heat cycle my tires out well before they cord.

I plan to run them again in September at Lime Rock which will be a very good baseline.

I ended up using the 235/255 combo because I felt the 275 was a little too risky to travel all the way to Mosport and have clearance issues. Plus at 25.6" (measured by roll out) I wasn't all that happy with the gearing effect.

I didn't have pit lane support so I couldn't do a comprehensive pressure analysis but i did one full swing and tweaked from there. I ran two sessions at 38 psi and then 2 at 32 psi hot. The 32 psi felt better. I settled at 33 psi hot since that felt a little bit better than 32.

Overall this one test at a track I've never driven before was a pretty positive one. Again, Lime Rock will be a better test.

earlyapex

How were your lap times? Were the tires good from the start? Did their performance drop off?

chrisp

my laps times aren't great. my fastest was a 1:44.9 but I think that's good for the pace I usually run and considering it was my first time at Mosport. Honestly, I expected to be slower. If I hadn't been oiling my front right I think I would have carried much more speed through 2 and 4 and should been able to take 1-1.5 sec off that time.

The left side tires were as sticky in the first heat cycle as they were at the end of the weekend.

earlyapex

Thanks, I am very interested to read your impressions. Especially on how their speed versus life span compared to the other R compound tires that you have used.

chrisp

My MPSC's heat cycled out at about 35 cycles. I never really got a lot of performance from them. I agree that they are not right for sub 3,000 lb cars. I tried everything from running them 38 hot down to 28 hot and everything in between.

RA-1's wear like iron and are very consistent and good in the rain. This is the best all around DOT-R if lap times aren't you're biggest concern and minimal cost per lap interests you.

The Victoracers are sort of in the middle. Decent grip but would heat cycle out. It's just not as advanced of a tire considering what new products have appeared since they came out.

I just hope enough people buy R1's to keep it alive. I know they can make future generations even better. Just think of the resources in a company like that. They took a big step towards supporting racers by making this tire as opposed to the MPSC which is really just a fast street tire.