The typical day for a minivan driver may consist of a visit to a coffee shop, a stop at the dry cleaners, a shopping trip to the grocery store or a workout at the gym. The racetrack isn’t normally where you find a minivan.
Michelin’s BFGoodrich brand decided to combine these daily activities, a Toyota Sienna and the NOLA Motorsports Park to debut its latest tire – the BFGoodrich Advantage T/A Sport. The very unusual racetrack event was created to show how the Advantage T/A Sport is designed to put a little “fun” into the daily driving routine.
During the track day, tire dealers and media also drove in Mazda 3s, Subaru Crosstreks and Honda Accords while testing the tire on a dry-wet course, skid pad, and wet braking simulation.
The Advantage T/A Sport is designed to keep up with the busy lifestyle of the everyday consumer, shared Jon Hausman, marketing manager for BFGoodrich.
“The overall message to drivers with active lifestyles, busy family lives or a combination thereof is simple: You don’t have to settle for merely getting from point A to point B. Because performance is happening with these tires on every drive, you can have a little fun along the way, every day with the BFGoodrich Advantage T/A Sport tire,” he said.
According to the brand, the tire offers consumers a bit of “FUN”:
Four seasons of traction;
Undeniable performance, mile after mile; and
New levels of handling.
The new Advantage tire performs in all seasons and features locking 3-D sipe technology that enhances longevity and performance, BFGoodrich said. The sipes lock together under the tire’s footprint to provide stability, giving the tire more biting edges for increased wet and light snow traction.
Additionally, Aqua-Flume technology assists all-season grip and wet-weather performance, while the tire’s Next Generation ETEC (Equal Tension Containment) System helps keep the tire footprint optimized during cornering and high-speed situations and the next generation g-Wedge Sidewall Stabilizer helps provide a comfortable ride, BFGoodrich said.
Replacing the Advantage T/A, the T/A Sport also offers 12% better wet braking, 15% better snow traction and 15% better dry handling than its predecessor.
The Advantage T/A Sport is available in sedan, sport coupe, passenger CUV and minivan fitments, with 31 sizes on sale starting in August. An additional 23 sizes will be available in March 2017. Tire sizes range from 15 inches to 18 inches, with T, H and V speed ratings.
The Advantage T/A Sport is backed by a 70,000-mile limited treadlife warranty for T-rated tires and a 60,000-mile limited treadlife warranty for H-/V-rated tires.
Dealers will have the chance to experience the Advantage T/A Sport first hand during BFGoodrich’s 2016 “Are You Driver Enough?” tour.
