Tires and Technology, Your Car’s Connection to the Road.

How much tire keeps your Car or Truck on the Road!  Think about it, in reality it is not that much between your car and the road, about the size of four palm prints, one for each tire.  Look at the palm of your hand, and that is your cars footprint in four places. In essence those four patches of rubber is all that keeps your car on the road. That small amount of space is what keeps a couple of tons of moving machine with you and your family inside, safe and on the road.

How those tires are engineered and made is the difference of how those four patches of rubber keep you on the road. What is the first thing you think of when you drive over that pothole on the highway? “Ouch!” Is my first response, as the car jumps and bounds out of the pothole and on its way, then again as the back tire hits the same spot, yep I am sure that I will have two flats within a few miles. How does that black doughnut withstand that and still come out round and full of air?

We found out that there is more to tires than just looking good on your car when – BFGoodrich® Tires, invited us to one of their dealer training events designed to educate tire dealers on their main products. BFG has been making tires since the end of the 19^th Century, while its hardworking history may not be as fancy as some of the designer brands of tires, the BFG brand is a part of the Michelin family, keeping its American tough guy heritage.

Aggressive traction be it in snow, mud, on road or off road, is key to moving as well as stopping, better grip in mud and snow, Side-Biter lugs in the sidewall improve traction in mud, snow and rocks. Raised bars in the shoulder help release compacted mud for better traction in soft soil. 3-D sipes create biting edges for better snow traction. With 3 Peak Mountain Snowflake symbol, indicating the Rubber Manufacturer Association’s severe snow traction requirements. The BFG KO2 tire has 10 percent greater traction in the mud and 19 percent greater traction in the snow4 compared to the previous-generation tire.

Durability is equally important with the KO2 lasting twice as long on gravel roads and 15 percent longer on asphalt, (think of a gravel road is very rough sandpaper, and asphalt is finishing sandpaper, both scrub off the tread.) The KO2 has a new tread design and rubber formulation that gives it better tread life, helping it to last twice as long on gravel and 15 percent longer on asphalt than the previous tire. The tread rubber has been optimally blended to reduce chips and tears on gravel. The footprint shape and interlocking tread design provide more uniform wear over the long haul. Special stone ejectors push objects out of the tread to reduce drilling into the tire.

The BFGoodrich® All-Terrain T/A® KO2 tire incorporates race-proven and race-winning CoreGard™ technology for split and bruise-resistant sidewall rubber, and a thicker, extended shoulder to prevent sidewall failures, giving it unmatched toughness. Twenty percent stronger sidewalls are critical in off-road performance. The BFG KO2 sidewalls are designed to deflect protruding objects, reducing the chances of splits and snags.

Off Road Tires are not the only products BFGoodrich has to offer. The same is engineered into their high performance tire, the gForce™ COMP-2™ A/S. Incorporating a Performance Racing Core (PRC) that delivers crisp responsive control while cornering hard, on wet, dry or light snow covered roads. Delivering wet and dry traction, stopping up to 15 feet shorter on wet roads and up to 5 feet shorter on dry roads, with better snow traction. Technology directly derived from track tires and optimizes the contact patch (that spot the size of your palm,) for enhanced traction at speed for increased acceleration, while adding sidewall stiffness to resist deflection for immediate turning response, while still maintaining ride comfort.

UltiGrip™ Technology: The g-Force™ COMP- 2™ A/S is made with a high-silica, cold-weather flexing compound designed for the best wet and dry grip, with all-season traction. This combined with Directional Tread Design and V-shaped angled lateral and longitudinal grooves optimize rubber-to-road contact for ultimate dry grip while efficiently evacuating water for better wet traction.

G-Force™ Tread: With advanced mold design and a performance tread profile evenly distributes stresses across the tire footprint improving long-term wear, as well as resisting irregular wear typically associated with directional tread designs.

Performance Racing Core (PRC): ETEC System™ (Equal Tension Containment System), Dynamic Suspension System (DSS), and g-Control™ Sidewall Inserts provide a reinforced internal structure that increases control while maintaining ride comfort and added sidewall stiffness to resist deflection for immediate turning response.

BFGoodrich® Tires now boasts two of the highest performing all-seasons tires in their respective tire categories. Engineered from BFGoodrich’s rich heritage of pavement racing and motorsports technology, BFG knows that performance seeking drivers demand the same attributes in a tire on the street in all seasons. BFGoodrich Tires’ UltiGrip™ Technology and g-Force™ Tread provide enhanced wet and dry traction, optimized rubber-to-road contact and the ultimate grip in hard cornering for control all year long.

For more information about the BFGoodrich® Tires g-Force™ COMP-2™ A/S tire, please visit http://www.bfgoodrichtires.com.