Robert M. Pickrell Jr. wrote:
> So for autocross and stock cars the BFG is a much better comparison to
> the Hoosier. It seems the G-Force is wearing fast for some people, but I
> am sure there are som die hard BFG fans out there that will counter that
> idea. Like Byron or Goeke.
Well, if you're gonna mention me by name... ;-)
I haven't run on them yet, which is driving me crazy. I've been too
busy working on the G-Cube to even bolt on our new sway bar, much less
get tires ordered, etc, etc, etc. But I can tell you that I've seen
GEEZ data on a series of back to back tests between the Hoosier and the
G-Force, and it's very revealing. Although both drivers *felt* faster
in the Hoosier, and both felt that the Hoosier was *easier* to drive,
both were faster on the clock on the G-Forces, albeit by small amounts,
about 0.2-0.3 seconds on 50 second runs.
Looking at the data revealed why. The G-Forces produce MUCH higher
transition rate numbers. On the order of ~4.5g/sec vs ~3.5g/sec for
the Hoosier. Most have reported the tire's snappiness similarly. But
the real surprise was the peak lateral g's. The G-force was
consistently 0.05g higher in absolute peaks. However, both drivers
reported that the increased work of keeping the G-Force on the edge made
them suspect that the Hoosier would maintain higher levels throughout
the entire turn. But it didn't. While the margin between the G-force
and the Hoosier closes as the sustain goes up (I compared at 1/2 second
sustain and 1 second sustain levels), the G-force produced more grip at
each level. In fairness, though, by the time you get to one second
sustains, the G-Force is only pulling 0.01-0.02g on the Hoosier.
The conclusion we reached was that the G-Force telegraphs information to
the driver. Therefore the driver more readily feels when he is falling
off the edge. This results in the driver expending one heck of a lot of
work to try to stay on that thin edge. However, even when he feels that
he's fallen off the edge, he's still often pulling more g's than the
Hoosier. In other words, the BFG makes you work by showing you where
you can improve.
More data will be needed to see if this is a consistent result. The car
in question was a well sorted stock car driven by 2 different National
quality drivers. The car had about 1.2degrees negative camber, and
weighed around 3000 pounds. That day, on that course, with those
drivers, we saw the subjective information matching what many have
reported, but the analysis showed much more insight into the nature of
the G-force tire. At least one of the testers is a netter, so I'll let
him speak up if he likes.
Maybe I *am* just a BFG die-hard, but I was pleasantly surprised by the
results.
--Byron
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