VW and Mitsubishi were running them in Dakar.
I though everyone might like a little more info about them.
Source: Michel Maraval, BFGoodrich developer
"Design of the All-Terrain tire began nearly two-years ago", says Michel Maraval, BFGoodrich developer and one of the designers of this new tire. "Rally-Raid prototypes are increasingly efficient, the pace is faster and faster and the efforts that the tires are subjected to increasingly violent. Given these facts, we had to conceive a new tire to replace the Rock T/A, which was nearing its limits."
With bursts of speed of up to 200km/hr, vehicles weighing over 2 tons at stages starting lines and distances of several hundreds of kilometers on rugged or sandy roads under sometimes overwhelming heat, the life of a Rally-Raid tire really goes through hell! When landing from a jump, tires might have to absorb shocks as great as 3.5 tons!
We started with a blank sheet
"Modeling a Rally-Raid tire is complicated, continues Michel Maraval, and we started with a blank sheet in our All-Terrain design. We created a new architecture, a new tread design, our chemists worked on a new rubber..." Even the dimensions are different: the All-Terrain is wider than the Rock T/A. "It is also 40% more resistant than the Rock T/A and performs better on sand", Michel specifies. After designing and developing a prototype tire, the 2nd phase is to validate it on the field. The main difficulty in Rally-Raid is this validation/development phase which requires several thousand kilometers of tests. Between end 2007 and April 2008, the All-Terrain tire drove 5,000km.
The All-Terrain won 5 of the 9 specials
“In addition to our test trials with our partners, we took advantage of certain All-Terrain Rallies to accumulate racing miles and acquire precious data" Dominique Bravy, BFGoodrich Rally-Raid technician explains. The All-Terrain tire made its racing debut at the Rali Transiberico (Portugal/Spain) in May, chosen by Stéphane Peterhansel (Mitsubishi) and Nasser Al-Attiyah (BMW). The Frenchman took the lead from the first long stage of the rally (207km). "The All-Terrain won five out of nine of the event's stages. This was encouraging, but awful weather conditions prevented us from collecting all the data we wanted", reveals Dominique Bravy. Following another 3,000km on test tracks, the All-Terrain tire was once again offered to the BFGoodrich Partner Teams for the late July Baja Espana, to equip three Mitsubishi Pajeros and two BMW X3 CCs. "First victory for the All-Terrain tire! The result was beyond what we had imagined with 1st place for Nasser Al-Attiyah and 2nd for Nani Roma. The 1st leg's specials were, like Moroccan tracks, very rocky. All pilots noted our the endurance and efficiency of our tires".
Over 8,000km with official partners
Strong of this first success, the BFGoodrich developers/technicians forewent their summer break and returned to Morocco to conduct more tests. Over 8,000km were driven by BFGoodrich's official partners, Mitsubishi, Volkswagen and BMW before the starting signal of the PAX Rally, in early September, was given in Portugal. "For us and our partners both, the PAX Rally was a sort of general rehearsal before the Dakar", Dominique Bravy explained. "The rules of this new rally allowed us to switch tire models during the event. Our partners were able to run comparisons between Rock T/A and All-Terrain tires".
The new All-Terrain and the "former" Rock T/A tire each won three specials with Mitsubishi, VW and BMW. The All-Terrain dominated on the harder grounds whereas the Rock T/A dominated on sandier terrains.
The All-Terrain tests continued in October. These last tests were decisive as tire packages had to be ready by mid-November to embark the Dakar Rally caravan at the Havre.
BFGoodrich All-Terrain
Sizes: 245/80-16
Hard rubber racing tire for 4x4 Super Production prototypes (plant vehicle) only, use on rugged and sandy terrain.
BFGoodrich Rock T/A
Sizes: 235/85-16
Hard rubber racing tire and rigid carcass for 4x4 Super Production prototypes only, for use on rugged and sandy tracks (at low inflation pressure).
BFGoodrich Baja T/A
Sizes: 33/10.5-15
Hard rubber racing tire for 2-wheel drive Buggies only (large dimension).
BFGoodrich G2
Sizes: 205/90-16 Hard rubber racing tire, recommended for Production category vehicles, use on rocky and sandy grounds.
BFGoodrich Sand (G3)
Sizes: 245/80-16
Medium hard rubber racing tire designed for Production and Buggy vehicles (front), use on sandy grounds.
BFGoodrich Mud-Terrain T/A
Sizes: 18 references
Serial tire for Production vehicles, use on all types of grounds.
Baja Racing News LIVE!
I though everyone might like a little more info about them.
Source: Michel Maraval, BFGoodrich developer
"Design of the All-Terrain tire began nearly two-years ago", says Michel Maraval, BFGoodrich developer and one of the designers of this new tire. "Rally-Raid prototypes are increasingly efficient, the pace is faster and faster and the efforts that the tires are subjected to increasingly violent. Given these facts, we had to conceive a new tire to replace the Rock T/A, which was nearing its limits."
With bursts of speed of up to 200km/hr, vehicles weighing over 2 tons at stages starting lines and distances of several hundreds of kilometers on rugged or sandy roads under sometimes overwhelming heat, the life of a Rally-Raid tire really goes through hell! When landing from a jump, tires might have to absorb shocks as great as 3.5 tons!
We started with a blank sheet
"Modeling a Rally-Raid tire is complicated, continues Michel Maraval, and we started with a blank sheet in our All-Terrain design. We created a new architecture, a new tread design, our chemists worked on a new rubber..." Even the dimensions are different: the All-Terrain is wider than the Rock T/A. "It is also 40% more resistant than the Rock T/A and performs better on sand", Michel specifies. After designing and developing a prototype tire, the 2nd phase is to validate it on the field. The main difficulty in Rally-Raid is this validation/development phase which requires several thousand kilometers of tests. Between end 2007 and April 2008, the All-Terrain tire drove 5,000km.
The All-Terrain won 5 of the 9 specials
“In addition to our test trials with our partners, we took advantage of certain All-Terrain Rallies to accumulate racing miles and acquire precious data" Dominique Bravy, BFGoodrich Rally-Raid technician explains. The All-Terrain tire made its racing debut at the Rali Transiberico (Portugal/Spain) in May, chosen by Stéphane Peterhansel (Mitsubishi) and Nasser Al-Attiyah (BMW). The Frenchman took the lead from the first long stage of the rally (207km). "The All-Terrain won five out of nine of the event's stages. This was encouraging, but awful weather conditions prevented us from collecting all the data we wanted", reveals Dominique Bravy. Following another 3,000km on test tracks, the All-Terrain tire was once again offered to the BFGoodrich Partner Teams for the late July Baja Espana, to equip three Mitsubishi Pajeros and two BMW X3 CCs. "First victory for the All-Terrain tire! The result was beyond what we had imagined with 1st place for Nasser Al-Attiyah and 2nd for Nani Roma. The 1st leg's specials were, like Moroccan tracks, very rocky. All pilots noted our the endurance and efficiency of our tires".
Over 8,000km with official partners
Strong of this first success, the BFGoodrich developers/technicians forewent their summer break and returned to Morocco to conduct more tests. Over 8,000km were driven by BFGoodrich's official partners, Mitsubishi, Volkswagen and BMW before the starting signal of the PAX Rally, in early September, was given in Portugal. "For us and our partners both, the PAX Rally was a sort of general rehearsal before the Dakar", Dominique Bravy explained. "The rules of this new rally allowed us to switch tire models during the event. Our partners were able to run comparisons between Rock T/A and All-Terrain tires".
The new All-Terrain and the "former" Rock T/A tire each won three specials with Mitsubishi, VW and BMW. The All-Terrain dominated on the harder grounds whereas the Rock T/A dominated on sandier terrains.
The All-Terrain tests continued in October. These last tests were decisive as tire packages had to be ready by mid-November to embark the Dakar Rally caravan at the Havre.
BFGoodrich All-Terrain
Sizes: 245/80-16
Hard rubber racing tire for 4x4 Super Production prototypes (plant vehicle) only, use on rugged and sandy terrain.
BFGoodrich Rock T/A
Sizes: 235/85-16
Hard rubber racing tire and rigid carcass for 4x4 Super Production prototypes only, for use on rugged and sandy tracks (at low inflation pressure).
BFGoodrich Baja T/A
Sizes: 33/10.5-15
Hard rubber racing tire for 2-wheel drive Buggies only (large dimension).
BFGoodrich G2
Sizes: 205/90-16 Hard rubber racing tire, recommended for Production category vehicles, use on rocky and sandy grounds.
BFGoodrich Sand (G3)
Sizes: 245/80-16
Medium hard rubber racing tire designed for Production and Buggy vehicles (front), use on sandy grounds.
BFGoodrich Mud-Terrain T/A
Sizes: 18 references
Serial tire for Production vehicles, use on all types of grounds.
Baja Racing News LIVE!