| 4x4 All Terrain Tire SHOOTOUT |
Slalom Test - Asphalt, Big Bear
Airport - BFG
Airport - BFG
To view the tests on the Slalom of an individual tire,
click on the image of that tire below.
click on the image of that tire below.
All four of the BFG runs can be seen here. The first run resulted in a 90 degree
spin, hitting the camcorder on a tripod at the end of the course. The second ended
with a 180 degree spin, the third run was aborted and the fourth run was clean, but
driven somewhat below traction limit in order to complete the run.
It is unusual to spin on a slalom course. Must vehicles will have the front tires slide
first, and the Land Rover is no exception – except on the BFG tires. Like all of the
tires in the test, we used the manufacturers recommended pressures for all highway
driving.
With the BFGs, as corner speed built, the tires began to go into an oscillation, in this
case a divergent oscillation, meaning the rear of the vehicle was beginning to slide
and the slide would increase in amplitude with each directional change, making the
situation worse and resulting in a broadslide and a spin. This is likely due to a
characteristic called tangential spring caused by the tire sidewall design where the
sidewall flexes under load and springs back abruptly when the load is reduced.
Additionally, this tire had slightly less grip than either the Toyo or the Hankook. But
the critical factor was the responsiveness (or lack of) and the difficulty of control at
the limits of traction. The vehicle was untouched between runs and the other tires
did not show this characteristic in any way. The BFG could easily catch you out in
an extreme situation like trying to avoid an accident – not the best time to behave
badly!
spin, hitting the camcorder on a tripod at the end of the course. The second ended
with a 180 degree spin, the third run was aborted and the fourth run was clean, but
driven somewhat below traction limit in order to complete the run.
It is unusual to spin on a slalom course. Must vehicles will have the front tires slide
first, and the Land Rover is no exception – except on the BFG tires. Like all of the
tires in the test, we used the manufacturers recommended pressures for all highway
driving.
With the BFGs, as corner speed built, the tires began to go into an oscillation, in this
case a divergent oscillation, meaning the rear of the vehicle was beginning to slide
and the slide would increase in amplitude with each directional change, making the
situation worse and resulting in a broadslide and a spin. This is likely due to a
characteristic called tangential spring caused by the tire sidewall design where the
sidewall flexes under load and springs back abruptly when the load is reduced.
Additionally, this tire had slightly less grip than either the Toyo or the Hankook. But
the critical factor was the responsiveness (or lack of) and the difficulty of control at
the limits of traction. The vehicle was untouched between runs and the other tires
did not show this characteristic in any way. The BFG could easily catch you out in
an extreme situation like trying to avoid an accident – not the best time to behave
badly!
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Copyright 2009 Don Alexander
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