Ozark Mountain Region SCCA

Sam and I did a test on the 5-19-13 SOLO to compare the 595 RS-R to the Rivals both size 205/50-15 on the STS Miata. Both sets were brand new and we did scuff them with street driving (40-60 miles on each set) with just a touch of hard cornering to knock off the mold release. Here is my best attempt to let you guys know what we found.

Federal 595 RS-R:

• Smoother on the highway, less noise and vibration. At least while new, these things are silent. Also seem to do well in the wet.
• They are noticeably heavy mounted on wheels that are within a pound of the others.
• Easier to drive at the limit, they squeal a lot and really communicate.
• Part of the reason they are easy to drive at the limit is because it is much lower than the BFG's, they proved to be 1 sec slower on the 40 sec course.

BFGoodrich Rival:

• More vibration (likely due to larger asymmetrical tread blocks), louder, and just more "darty" on the road. Wet traction not tested.
• When pushed they are still very progressive as they break away and give a good amount of feedback.
• Much better traction at the limit, again at least 1 sec quicker on 40 sec course.

We talked about it after the event and the best way to sum it up is the Federal feels like a sticky summer tire with decent road manners that would probably hold up to being autocrossed (it would be slow though). The BFG feels like it was built with nothing but speed on the mind. It responds more like a heat cycled R-Compound that just doesn't quite have grip it did and doesn't really have much of a street tire feel to it.

Thank you Sam for loaning your car/talent to this test, and thank you Radlee for the pit stop help.

Thanks for the feedback Matt. I ran the Rivals this past event as well. In the Mini they were very quiet on the highway. I was having a tuff time with air pressure.. I ran 37 front and 35 rear. The front seemed to fold way over and I never got a chance to add more air "rolling grid and talking to much lol". Next event I'll spend more time dialing them in.

The Huff wrote:I ran the Rivals this past event as well. In the Mini they were very quiet on the highway.

I thought you said there wasn't much camber in your car and I wonder if the angle of the tire on the road makes a difference. Also, you are in a nice well insulated modern car, not an old Miata with the top down so this probably accounts for some difference of noise. I don't think that Sam thought they were way loud, just when compared to the others they made more noise/vibration.

Rivals seem to basically be competition tires that you can run on the street, the Federals are more like street tires that can stand up to some abuse.

Tirerack just posted their latest Extreme Performance test. Good info here:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/tes ... id=172&cid