The BF Goodrich Advantage Control is a reliable a grand touring all-season tire, proficient in various aspects, yet there are areas, where enhancements could elevate the overall driving experience. Let’s find them all.
The BF Goodrich Advantage Control is a versatile tire, excelling in dry traction with responsive steering, but could benefit from improvements in wet conditions and noise reduction. Its durability and fuel efficiency are commendable, offering a balanced performance in most driving conditions.
Table of Contents
Range of Available Sizes
The BF Goodrich Advantage Control Review comes in 14 to 20 inches rims, and they have the following specs.
- Speed ratings: H, V and W.
- Load ratings: SL and XL.
- Tread depth range: 10.5 to 11.5/32″.
- Weight range: 17 to 32 lbs.
- Treadwear warranty: 75k miles for H, or 65k miles for V and W speed rated sizes.
- UTQG rating: 700 B A.
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Tread Pattern
The BFG tire features an symmetric tread pattern with 5 total column.
The 3 central ribs it forms, are pretty straight forward, and create 4 clear circumferential channels, providing decent resistance to aquaplaning.
Though the tire could use some lateral water evacuating properties, as these “continuous running” ribs don’t allow for that.
But with their unbroken structure, they do offer decent grip on dry.
And yes, the multiple lateral notches and lateral siping provide the needed traction on wet and snowy asphalts as well.
The shoulder lugs are a little more voided though, as they have clear lateral grooves separating them apart. Though they feature similar rectilinear siping like seen on the central ribs.
Find all the All Season tires compared to BF Goodrich Advantage Control.
Internal Construction
Internally, the BFG Advantage Control comes with a very light weight 2 ply polyester carcass, which is reinforced by 2 ply steel belts.
Moreover, the tire also features a single nylon cap ply, which further adds to durability, mainly from the middle.
While on sidewalls, the tire features next gen, “g-wedge sidewall stabilizers”, stiffing up that part of the tire. (It’s a name they give to a special cord, running between the 2 polyester casing plies).
Overall Ride Quality
The overall comfort of a ride is primarily influenced by three factors:
- The amount of noise the tire generates.
- The tire’s ability to absorb bumps.
- The stability of the ride.
Let’s delve into these.
Noise Generation
While the BF Goodrich Advantage Control offers commendable road smoothness, there’s still a notable need for enhancements in its noise-dampening capabilities.
I mean during tests, the tire exhibits a tendency to emit a “growling noise”, which intensifies with speed.
This is basically due to its design featuring open shoulder voids without any ridges placements in between.
But why its significant?
Well, this is because this specific noise, or ‘pattern noise’, primarily results from air particles colliding with the tread walls, with the air predominantly entering through the shoulder voids.
Now, although the noise still blends later on (with speed), in to the white background noise, you can still separate it out (if you focus-hear for it).
Road Smoothness
Now the first two factors come under road smoothness. Where both are linked with the tire’s inner and outer construction. Though its need some explaining.
Generally, tires with a stiffer overall construction tend to offer a stable ride but lack in bump absorption, and vice versa.
Now, the thing about the BFG Advantage Control is that it gives you a mixture of both.
Its outer construction is comes with a tread compound which is effective at soaking up the bumps.
Concurrently, the internal construction, fortified with “sidewall stabilizers” and rigid nylon cap plies, maintains ride stability.
Thus, this tire accomplishes a balanced performance, providing a ride that is both smooth and stable, representing a dual advantage in ride quality.
Tread Longevity
How long a tread would last depends on two main factors, where one is the wear rate, and the other is the wear time.
Wear rate basically tells he speed at which a tire’s rubber is prone to deteriorate.
On the other hand, wear time is influenced by the tread depth, measuring the duration required for a tire to diminish to 2/32″, (the minimal lawful tread depth in the United States), indicating when a tire needs replacement.
Now here, the BF Goodrich Advantage Control although offers the same treadwear warranty, as given by its direct competitors (up to 75k miles), it still takes the lead here, even though its by a small margin.
This superiority can (for the most part), be attributed to its rigid rubber composition and a substantial tread depth of up to 11.5/32″.
I mean compared to its rivals, the BFG’s rubber (although not significantly stiffer), still offers less susceptibility to faster wear.
And with it having more rubber on, it gives more mileage, on average, before reaching down to 2/32″.
For Your Info: If tread life is your main priority, than you should check out the Goodyear Assurance Maxlife (review), one of the Advantage Control’s direct competitors.
Highway Performance
When we talk about how good a tire is on dry highways, we mainly look at two things: how well the tire sticks to the road, and how well it helps in steering the car.
Dry Traction
Now the dry traction is also (further) about two main things: directional and lateral grip.
Directional grip comes mostly from the central area of the tread and is measured by how quickly a car can stop. This is because the middle part of the tire touches the road the most (in the straight line travel).
On the other hand, lateral traction is about how well the sides or “shoulders/sidewalls” of the tire work, especially when the car is turning. This is because they get the most weight concentration on them, while the tire is cornering.
Now, the BF Goodrich Advantage Control doesn’t offer a good enough performance in both these areas.
I mean, it might not be the absolute best, but it is better than most, only slightly behind its main competitor (where on average, it brakes only 3 feet short, and only has 0.1 less g force when it comes to lateral traction).
But how it does it, even though its more voided up in comparison (to its competitors)? Well, this can be attributed to the tire’s robust tread design, featuring numerous biting edges and three cohesive central ribs.
The tire’s shoulders display in-groove lateral notches, which furnish substantial lateral grip. Meanwhile, the continuous central ribs maintain consistent contact between rubber and road, with additional notches enhancing longitudinal traction.
Steering Feedback
When discussing steering, it’s noted that the BFG Advantage Control ensures stable handling and instills a feeling of control and assurance during abrupt maneuvers.
It maintains a good “on-center feel”, providing stability and precision when the steering wheel is centered. This leads to fast and crisp responses to steering inputs, demonstrating the tire’s reactive and precise nature.
This is because of the tire’s lighter single ply casing, and stiffer sides, attributed to its spirally wound nylon caps. These put less pressure on the tread, and that combined with the tire’s stiffer rubber, the lugs aren’t flexing that much and giving out better over/under-steering balance.
Though on the negative side, the tire could use some more refinement in this area.
I mean, it could use a little weight/resistance in the overall steering (which could provide a more connected and engaging driving experience). Though its subjective, and just what I feel.
For those who don’t know: “On-center feel” refers to the responsiveness and stability of a vehicle’s steering when the steering wheel is in its centered or neutral position, (basically when its not being turned).
And yes one more thing here: The tire’s overall steering response is actually very similar to Cooper Endeavor Plus (review).
Wet Traction
The BF Goodrich Advantage Control has interlocking sipes all over, which should help control the car better, but it struggles a bit on wet roads because of its harder rubber compound.
I mean compared to Vredestein Hitrac AS (on the of the best in the category here), the BFG lacks by 20 feet on braking distance test, and comes in 3 seconds slower on the lap time (both calculated on average).
So, what’s going on here?
Well, sipes are important as they help remove water coming in under the tread blocks. These sipes upon meeting the ground, expel out air, and create a suction for the water particles, which get soaked up in their slits, and as the tire rolls over, those particles are sprayed out.
Now, the problem with BF Goodrich Advantage Control is that, these sipes can’t provide ample suction. This is due to the tire’s harder rubber composition with less silica density, so the siping ends up giving out more slippage.
And where traction is lacking, the steering also tells you about the tire’s susceptibility to understeer.
It needs additional weight/resistance in the steering, (which could yield a more connected and engaging drive).
In other words, its steering is relatively lighter (less effort is required to turn), so with less output coming in, you end up with the tire understeering most of the time (when limits are slightly pushed).
Traction in Wintry Surfaces
The BF Goodrich Advantage Control is a well-rounded tire known for its impressive traction, especially on light snow.
The tire although lacks the distinctive mountain snowflake certification, it excels in key areas including acceleration, stopping, and handling, ensuring a stable and confident ride during winter.
The tire achieves this level of performance chiefly due to its well engineered ribs, furnished with multiple biting notches.
And those biters, when coupled with the tire’s deliberately narrower lower section width, you get more pressure on the snow, allowing it to be captured within the grooves, so that effective snow-to-snow contact could be made.
(This type of contact forming is an essential attribute, as snow doesn’t bound with rubber so great).
In addition, the tire is manufactured with unique materials that maintain softness and flexibility even in freezing temperatures, allowing for optimal road grip under cold conditions.
Side Note: As an all-season tire, it is recommended to be used when temperatures are above 7 degrees Celsius (or 44.6°F).
And yes one more thing, its crucial to emphasize that there is room for improvement in the ice traction department for the tire. I mean although it “notably” outperforms its competitors when it comes to soft snow traction, but at the same time lacks to them on ice.
Fuel Efficiency
The fuel consumption depends upon numerous factors, including the tire’s design, its manufacturing process, and the conditions under which it operates.
And considering all, it can be explained why the BF Goodrich Advantage Control offers an above-average overall performance here.
This is mainly because of two things:
- The tire comes with a pretty lightweight internal construction (comparatively speaking).
- And its tread is very stable.
The lightweight structure, basically exerts reduced weight pressure on the lugs, as the tire rolls, consequently generating less rolling resistance.
Furthermore, the tire exhibits a stable construction in its tread, with all its ribs being continuous and longitudinally aligned. This streamlined alignment allows for an ease of rolling, particularly in the forward direction, contributing to enhanced fuel efficiency.
Moreover, with the tire having G-Wedge sidewall stabilizers, (which basically allows the tire to keep its shape under pressure), the tire undergoes limited lug flexing.
And with less bending of the lugs, more energy is oriented towards the actual rolling of the tire, and less is wasted, hence adding to the overall fuel economy.
Take Home Points
The BF Goodrich Advantage Control presents a balanced performance in a variety of conditions.
In terms of dry traction, it maintains decent grip, and combined with a pretty responsive steering.
In wet conditions, the tire shows a deficit in traction, attributed to its harder rubber compound, but offers above-average handling.
Similarly, its winter performance is impressive, particularly on light snow, due to its specialized design and materials, although there is a notable need for improvement in ice traction.
Moreover, the tire is pretty great in terms of fuel economy and tread life, both are above average, compared to other tires in its category.
And yes, it also provides a decent ride quality, balancing between stability and bump absorption due to its dual-constructed design. However, noise levels could benefit from improvements.
