Story & photos by Randy S. Peregrino
ONE of the well-known American tire brands that has been around manufacturing reliable rubbers for more than a century recently staged a strong comeback. It’s no other than BFGoodrich, the popular brand you knew way back when all petrol cars still run on carburetor. Now owned by Michelin, BFGoodrich brought along two of its finest products in the country—the new BFGoodrich Advantage T/A Drive and T/A SUV tires.
As one of America’s most-trusted brands, not only does it draws inspiration from the love of driving, but also knows exactly what it takes to deliver the critical expectations of serious drivers. “BFGoodrich is once again demonstrating the innovative cutting-edge that makes the company a well-recognized tire brand in the industry with the launch of the new BFGoodrich T/A Drive and T/A SUV tires. These tires are dedicated to make daily commutes and weekend getaways an unconditional pleasure,” Michelin Philippines chief representative Michael Ferdinand Nunag said.
For BFGoodrich, it’s all about doing things with a desire to share and encourage the exhilaration experience, both on and off the road, as well as on the track—unconventionally. And this kind of innovative approach has made the company a legend in the tire industry. Taking all these into consideration, both the new Advantage T/A Drive and T/A SUV tires were developed for optimum performance and value for money. Furthermore, these rubbers are designed to give drivers the assurance to be in control at any given weather and road conditions.
With the enhanced symmetric tread design—rigid blocks and shoulder along with jagged grooves—it promotes absolute peace of mind in driving, because that kind of design allows the rubbers to respond to every driver’s maneuver while delivering excellent handling. As a result, driving becomes more stimulating and enjoyable. Likewise, dealing with extreme weather conditions is worry-free, thanks to those large tread block with deep, wide longitudinal/latitudinal channels and sipes.
These particular tread configurations aid in achieving maximum stopping force on both wet and dry paths. Add to that the combination of large pattern blocks on the tread and shoulder (with various sizes and jagged grooves and reinforcement fillers), going through curves on a wet situation is made easy—whatever the driving style may be. Overall, no road is a challenge, as the entire tire structure is built with multiple tough plies underneath to take on the punishing road conditions.
The Advantage T/A Drive tire intended for compact and subcompact cars offers a wide range of 31 sizes and series. It targets cars such as Toyota’s Wigo, Vios and Altis; Honda’s City and Civic; Ford’s Fiesta and Focus, to name the few. The Advantage T/A SUV, on the other hand, offers a total of 17 dimensions for today’s popular sport utility vehicles and crossovers. It can fit the likes of Toyota’s RAV4 and Fortuner, Mitsubishi Montero, Ford Everest, Honda CR-V and Hyundai Santa Fe, among others. Both tires are now available in all authorized dealers at an equally reasonable price.