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The Newest Member of the BFGoodrich g-Force Family
Vehicles used:
2003 BMW 330Ci
BFGoodrich has been advertising the "traction advantage" of their T/A radials for years, & has recently introduced a new member to the family, the Traction T/A. Designed with several speed ratings & tread patterns to better suit the tire's size & intended application, the Traction T/A can be categorized as either St&ard Touring (T-speed rated sizes) or High Performance All-Season (H- & V-speed ratings).
But what's in a name? We wanted to evaluate how the High Performance All-Season Traction T/A (with an H-speed rating) performs vs. other tires in the category. We also wanted to find out if the Traction T/A has any significant trade offs in ride & noise comfort while trying to live up to its name. Tire Rack team conducted a Real World Road Ride & Performance Track Drive comparing the BFGoodrich Traction T/A, Bridgestone Potenza RE950 & Dunlop SP Sport A2. We used 2003 BMW 330Ci coupes, & installed BMW's "st&ard model" tire size with 205/55R16 tires mounted on 16x7.5" AT Italia Type 5 wheels specially designed to clear the larger front brakes on some of the E46 chassis BMWs, like the 330Ci. Our evaluation used new, full tread depth tires.
We also included a fourth, 2003 BMW 330Ci fitted with the Original Equipment 205/50R17 Goodyear Eagle RS-A High Performance All-Season tires mounted on factory 17x7.0" wheels. We have included this vehicle/tire combination as a control in other tire evaluations, & have found it to be a good benchmark in this tire category to compare against.
The Eagle RS-A is a High Performance All-Season tire produced with several speed ratings & in a wide variety of sizes. Its design is heavily influenced by its use as an Original Equipment tire by BMW, Volkswagen, General Motors, Chrysler & others. The Eagle RS-A features a subtle asymmetric tread design with larger tread elements in the outside shoulder intended to deliver more responsive h&ling, cornering, & steering. Smaller tread blocks on the inside shoulder combined with wide tread & lateral grooves are intended to enhance wet & snow traction.
Out on the road, the Eagle RS-A exhibited civilized road manners, providing levels of ride comfort & road noise that were appropriate for tires in the High Performance All-Season tire category. For sport touring, the Eagle RS-A & the 17" tire & wheel fitment exhibits why it was chosen by BMW as the Original Equipment combination, allowing the driver to feel connected to the road, without making an extended trip uncomfortable.
On the track in the dry, the Eagle RS-A offered responsive h&ling that was appropriate for tires in the High Performance All-Season tire category, but wasn't quite able to match the quicker lap times of the other three tires in this test, falling 0.35 second behind the first place BFGoodrich Traction T/A.
Under wet conditions, the Eagle RS-A High Performance All-Season tire felt responsive (aided by its lower profile, 17" size), but was not able to match the grip levels or lap times of the other three tires.
Belonging to BFGoodrich's Traction T/A family, the H- & V-speed rated Traction T/A radials are sporty, durable & attractively priced High Performance All-Season tires, developed to blend good treadwear, responsive h&ling & dependable traction on dry & wet roads, as well as in light snow.
On the outside, the Traction T/A features a silica-enhanced tread compound molded into a size-specific, directional tread design that features large independent tread blocks (185 & 195mm section width sizes use a "5-rib" design while 205mm & wider sizes have a "6-rib" design). Large tread blocks provide stability on dry roads while the directional design helps pump water through the tire's footprint to increase hydroplaning resistance & wet traction. Lateral grooves & sipes in each tread block increase the number of biting edges to enhance wet road & light snow traction.
The Traction T/A H- & V-speed rated versions feature twin, high-tensile steel belts reinforced by BFGoodrich's Equal Tension Containment (ETEC) system that uses spirally wrapped nylon to provide high speed durability with even ride quality. This tire also features g-Wedge sidewall stabilizers to enhance steering response & cornering stability.
Our evaluation used the H-speed rated version with the 6-rib tread pattern, & our team found the on-road manners of the Traction T/A to be right in the sweet spot for High Performance All-Season tires - offering a combination of good h&ling, reasonable ride, & moderate tread noise. While the Traction T/A wasn't rated as #1 in any of the three road rating areas, its blend of all three made it the favorite in this test. The sporty h&ling did come with a bit of a trade-off, leaving the Traction T/A feeling slightly firmer over the repetitive, staccato tar strip bumps on the highway when compared to the other tires tested.
On our dry h&ling course, the Traction T/A provided responsive steering & predictable h&ling. It felt especially stable around the constant radius 200' diameter skidpad, generating the highest level of lateral cornering force (average lateral g-forces) among the tires in this evaluation.
In wet conditions, the Traction T/A also felt very responsive, providing crisp h&ling & good steering response. The ultimate grip did not feel quite as good as the Potenza RE950 however, limiting average overall lap time to a close second place, only 0.23 second behind the Potenza RE950.
The Potenza RE950 is a High Performance All-Season tire that was developed to meet the needs of the drivers of sports cars, coupes & sedans by blending dry, wet & year-round traction, even in light snow. The Potenza RE950 is Bridgestone's first tire in America to feature UNI-T AQ II technology which uses advanced compound & construction features to enhance & preserve wet traction through the tire's life. The Potenza RE950 h&les wet - even as it wears.
On the outside, the Potenza RE950 molds Bridgestone's second-generation dual layer tread compound into a directional tread design. The dual layer compound is designed to enhance wet grip from day one, & also to counteract the negative effects of aging on wet traction as the tire wears. The tread design features large tread blocks for quick response & sporty h&ling with lateral grooves that help move water toward the sides of the tire to resist hydroplaning. A continuous center rib helps reduce noise while providing constant road contact to enhance straight-line stability. Internally, the Potenza RE950 features a Computer Optimized Component System which blends twin, high tensile, steel belts with spiral-wrapped, jointless belt edge strips to stabilize the tread area & enhance h&ling, high-speed capability & ride quality while minimizing weight.
On the road, the Potenza RE950 delivered a sporty blend of h&ling & comfort, appropriate for a tire in the High Performance All-Season category. Our team found the h&ling was good but not overly crisp. Tread noise was moderate, with several faint but distinct pitches heard at most speeds.
On the dry test track, the Potenza RE950 performed well, posting the fastest average overall lap time, just 0.02 second ahead of the BFGoodrich Traction T/A. H&ling felt predictable, making this tire easy to drive at the limit.
Under wet track conditions, the Potenza RE950 felt the most comfortable & easiest to drive of the tires in this evaluation, posting the quickest slalom time, highest level of average cornering g-forces, & the quickest average overall lap time of the group.
The SP Sport A2 is Dunlop's High Performance All-Season radial designed to compromise the least on all-season high performance while delivering the greatest value. The SP Sport A2 is designed to blend long treadwear, responsive h&ling & dependable traction on dry roads, wet roads & even in light snow.
On the outside, the SP Sport A2 molds Dunlop's innovative "dual-phase" tread compound into a mildly asymmetric tread design that features outside shoulder blocks with minimal siping to enhance steering response & cornering stability, while the inside shoulder blocks feature more sipes to provide the additional biting edges required for added traction in foul weather. The SP Sport A2 radial's 3-rib center contact patch is designed to enhance dry, wet & light snow traction during acceleration, braking & cornering. The entire tread design features Dunlop's "CHAOS" pitch sequencing of tread block shapes & sizes to help reduce noise to increase comfort. On the inside, the SP Sport A2 features twin, high-density steel belts reinforced by Dunlop's JointLess B& nylon to enhance driving control & provide long, even treadwear while minimizing weight & enhancing ride quality. Additionally, hard rubber bead fillers & a high ply turn-up enhance steering response & cornering stability.
Out on the Road Ride loop, the Dunlop SP Sport A2 provided a well-refined level of ride & noise comfort, receiving good marks from our team. H&ling was found to be appropriate for a tire in the High Performance All-Season category, but was somewhat less responsive than the other three tires in this test.
Average overall lap time for the SP Sport A2 on our dry h&ling course was only 0.28 second behind the first place Traction T/A, demonstrating that the SP Sport A2 belongs in the High Performance All-Season category, & that the ultimate dry weather performance of most tires in this category is very similar. What the average overall lap time doesn't show is the subjectively softer steering response & overall h&ling our team felt the SP Sport A2 displayed versus the other three tires tested.
In wet conditions, the SP Sport A2 performed well, but was not able to match the responsiveness or ultimate grip of the Bridgestone Potenza RE950 & BFGoodrich Traction T/A.
