TMCP #186: Matt Lippert on the BFGoodrich Rival: Where the Rubber Meets the Road!

 

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BF Goodwrench Rival Tires

FEATURE INTERVIEW

Matt Lippert BF Goodrich Marketing
Matt Lippert from BF Goodrich marketing being interviewed by Speed TV.

This weeks interview is with Matt Lippert, marketing guru and traveler extraordinaire from BF Goodrich Tires. Matt literally called me from the 2013 Holley LS Fest where is is promoting BF Goodrich’s new line of performance tires, which is one of over 30 events he works each year (growing up he moved a lot so staying in one place is not in his blood). BFG really believes that you have to be at the events to talk to people and learn what the customer wants in pro-touring, tuner, light truck, and others high performance vehicles.

BF Goodwrench all new G Force Rival tire released early this year.
BF Goodwrench all new G Force Rival tire released early this year.

The BF Goodrich Rival tire was released earlier this year and it is the latest in a long line of street performance tires. Larry Callahan and I attended the BF Goodrich Rival tire debut and you can hear it on the Pro-Touring.com podcast episode #35.

In the early 1990’s BFG released the original R1 race compound tire for use in street cars. This was replaced in the late 90’s by the G Force KD “summer performance” tire for dry climates. This tire was asymmetrical and directional so they could only be used on one side of a car. Later the line changed to the KDW wet/dry summer tire then the KDW-S All Season tire.

As road race style street cars got better BF Goodrich saw the need for a higher performance tire. The current KD series tires were working very well against the competition, but BFG knew they could do it better and the new g-Force Rival line is the proof. They have once again designed the dominating tire on the performance market and made it wear like a street tire.The g-Force Rival is designed to be forgiving AND high performance at the same time. BFG knew they would have to design a no compromise tire with tons of grip and get good wear.

A couple of the feature points of the g-Force Rival are the large tread blocks for enhanced outer edge grip and  silicone grip infused compound for great wear and progressive grip. They have also designed the tread surface specifically for different tire sizes. Instead of just rubber stamping the tread pattern onto each tire BFG added more grooves on to the larger tires for increased traction and water dispersion.

Matt talked in depth about tread wear and sizes offered on the Rival series. He commented that the muscle cars being built now are putting out so much more horsepower and the tires have to handle that. On top of that Pro-Touring demands race car type handling and street car tire wear characteristics. The G-Force Rival has been designed from the ground up to handle these issues. One very important thing is BF Goodrich tires are manufactured in the USA in plants across the nation.

You can find out more about BF Goodrich, g-Force Rival tires at BFGoodrich.com, or you can get more involved or find events you may see Matt attending at  BFGoodrichtiresforce.com

Thanks for the great information and incredible interview Matt. See you at the next event!

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This interview sponsored by our pals at National Parts Depot – your premier source for muscle car restoration parts!

National-Parts-Depot

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