Bridgestone Potenza RE010 vs BF Goodrich G-Force Rival S 1.5

[GBL1]

I need new tires, have been running a Sumitomo / Kumho combo front & rear, but someone pointed out the importance of having the same brand front & rear for more predictable handling. Basically, the front is designed to respond based on the assumption of the front being the same and having the same grip characteristics...and vice-versa. Made sense to me considering the source was a parts manager at Ferrari.

Anyway, I'll give that a go, but since the choices of matching sets are fairly limited, I need good (not radical) ideas. I'm in a stock '92 with bolt-on only mods (upgraded sway bars), and '94 7-spoke wheels. In a 215/45-16 front & 245/40-17 rear, Tire Rack has only two choices for matched sets:

Bridgestone Potenza RE010 (OEM)

or

BF Goodrich G-Force Rival S 1.5 (New to the market)

I know the Bridgestones are good, but does anyone have experience with the BF Goodrich ones?

I have not tracked the car, but can't say I won't ever. Most driving is highway around town, or club drives. I just want good handling.

Thanks!

 

[Ravi]

I need new tires, have been running a Sumitomo / Kumho combo front & rear, but someone pointed out the importance of having the same brand front & rear for more predictable handling. Basically, the front is designed to respond based on the assumption of the front being the same and having the same grip characteristics...and vice-versa. Made sense to me considering the source was a parts manager at Ferrari.

Anyway, I'll give that a go, but since the choices of matching sets are fairly limited, I need good (not radical) ideas. I'm in a stock '92 with bolt-on only mods (upgraded sway bars), and '94 7-spoke wheels. In a 215/45-16 front & 245/40-17 rear, Tire Rack has only two choices for matched sets:

Bridgestone Potenza RE010 (OEM)

or

BF Goodrich G-Force Rival S 1.5 (New to the market)

I know the Bridgestones are good, but does anyone have experience with the BF Goodrich ones?

I have not tracked the car, but can't say I won't ever. Most driving is highway around town, or club drives. I just want good handling.

Thanks!

I cant speak for the Bridgestone but do remember that it is a very old design. I have used he BF Goodrich Rival S on multiple cars including the NSX (now on my second set) and they are very grippy on the track in dry and okay in wet. Looking at the thread pattern, the Bridgestone might likely be better for wet. For the best handling you can trust the Rival S to deliver but they come at cost! The cost is that it wears quite quickly being primarily designed to put down quick laptimes in autocross and time attack.

If you want more options, you can look at a tire with a 205/45/16 fronts as well. The new Hankook Rs-4 which comes in 205/45/16 fronts and OEM rears are supposedly longer lasting and have just about the same grip as the BFG. It shouldn't give you any TC issues as well. Also if you go by the tire width, the 205 Hankooks are the same size as the 215 BFG and 215 Bridgestones, and so you are not really going to be short on rubber by going to this size.

 

[jwmelvin]

For general purposes the RS4 may be good; the RS3 was reportedly a great all-around tire. But the autocross and track people are reporting relatively poor performance for it as compared with the Rival 1.5, which is on par with the best 200 tw tires currently available. I imagine both will offer considerably more grip than an RE010 and similar levels of responsiveness/feedback.

 

[Wavey1]

Likely not an issue for you but the BFG's are "not intended to be serviced, stored nor driven in near- and below-freezing temperatures"

 

[GBL1]

Likely not an issue for you but the BFG's are "not intended to be serviced, stored nor driven in near- and below-freezing temperatures"

Great, and I bought a set of front ones from a guy in BC Canada...

 

[Wavey1]

That's true of nearly all of the "extreme performance summer" tires. They're basically auto-x / track tires and most of the manufacturers won't cover the warranty if the damage is from exposure to cold.

 

[nsxbaby]

I am on my first set of the BFG rival. I really like them, they mounted with hardly any weights added, they are quit and plenty of grip. I tracked them at Sebring last year during the nsxpo and have put an additional 4K on them with no issues.

 

[TurbodreamZ]

Does anyone know if the Rear Bridgestone RE010 tires are Asymmetrical or does it not matter from left to right? I know they are different for the front but unsure about the back.

 

[mwagner10702]

Does anyone know if the Rear Bridgestone RE010 tires are Asymmetrical or does it not matter from left to right? I know they are different for the front but unsure about the back.

Asymmetric and directional meaning a specific tire for each corner. Doubtful you'll find many of the RE010 any more. Certainly a set of four will be difficult.