The Best Value UHP Tire for Your BMW?

Spring has officially arrived, and for BMW enthusiasts, that means it’s time to swap out those winter tires. If you’ve pulled your summer tires out of storage only to find the tread is looking a bit thin, the rising cost of everything might have you bracing for some serious sticker shock. But just in time for the driving season, a formidable new contender has emerged in the ultra-high-performance segment: the BFGoodrich G-Force Phenom T/A.

A Worthy Successor to BFGoodrich’s High-Performance Legacy

You may know BFGoodrich for their offroad tire prowess with the All-Terrian T/A KO line of tires. But almost 45 years ago, BFGoodrich started to develop a new high performance street tire. The results of this effort were legendary, capturing a GTO class win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans on street tires, and paving the way for BFGoodrich to develop OE tires with Porsche with the BFGoodrich Comp T/A tire for the Porsche 911.

In the late 90’s and early 2000’s, BFGoodrich leaned heavily into the modified car market. They launched the Scorcher T/A which featured an industry-first: full tread depth color ribs on a performance tire. The tread color was clearly visible, even as the tires wore down. They were a perfect finishing touch for the performance aftermarket that was blowing up.

From Scorcher to COMP-2: How BFGoodrich Built Its Street Performance Credentials

In 2012 they launched the g-Force Sport COMP-2, which featured a silica-infused tread compound, g-Control wedge inserts in the sidewall, BFG’s Equal Tension Containment (ETEC) system surrounding the tire’s internals, and a directional tread pattern with BFG’s signature “g-Hooks” and shallow shoulder blocks. This tire looked really good and provided a great performance value.

And after many years of waiting, BFGoodrich has officially unveiled its latest offering in the Ultra High Performance tire segment: the G-Force Phenom T/A. This new tire replaces the g-Force Sport COMP-2, and slots between the g-Force COMP-2 A/S Plus all-season, and the track-ready g-Force Rival S tires.

G-Force Phenom T/A Tread Pattern: Asymmetric Design for Dry Grip and Wet Confidence

At the heart of the Phenom’s innovation are stiff sidewalls, shallow shoulder blocks, and offset shoulder grooves for better feedback in steering at their limit. This is achieved through what BFG calls “g-Control” sidewall inserts that are designed to resist deflection for immediate turning response. Also, the tire’s dynamic suspension system offers a reinforced internal structure designed to maintain control and support ride comfort. These two features should allow the Phenom to corner hard, but still be comfortable cruising down the highway.

The Phenom offers an asymmetric tread pattern for ultimate grip in hard cornering and a bold performance look. Divided into two distinct regions: a “dry zone” and a “wet zone.” The dry zone reminds me of their g-Force Rival track tire with its robust shoulder blocks that curl over to the side of the tire. This g-Force tread evenly distributes stresses across the tire footprint that is designed to improve long-term wear. This design choice hints at the tire’s commitment to delivering strong grip and responsiveness in dry conditions. Complementing this, three wide rain grooves efficiently circumnavigate the tire, a crucial element for evacuating water and enhancing hydroplaning resistance in the wet.

Silica-Infused Compound: What Makes the Phenom T/A Stick

The rubber compound is a silica-infused mix that incorporates nearly 200 proprietary ingredients. The overarching goal for BFGoodrich was to engineer a sticky, street-legal tire, with a particular emphasis placed on superior braking performance in both dry and wet conditions.

According to BFGoodrich, the Phenom T/A distinguishes itself by out-braking numerous competitors on wet roads. Specifically, it claims to outperform the Yokohama Advan Apex V601, Falken Azenis FK510, Firestone Firehawk Indy 500, and the Hankook Ventus V12 Evo2 in these critical wet braking tests. However, as is often the case with such claims, the fine print advises that actual on-road results may vary depending on various factors.

BFGoodrich Phenom T/A Sizes and Pricing: Real Savings vs. Michelin Pilot Sport 4S

Since hitting the market early last year, the Phenom has rolled out in about 50 different sizes, starting at 205/55/16 and stretching up to a meaty 275/40/20. While prices obviously depend on the size you need, you can generally expect to pay between $155 and $300 per tire.

To put that into perspective: a set for my car can be ordered online for $1,038. If I had gone with the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S, I’d be looking at $1,480 – that’s nearly $450 in savings! But this is an ultra-high performance tire compared to the benchmark max performance tire. Does it perform like one? I put them on my 2002 E46 BMW M3 to find out!

Real-World Performance on a 2002 BMW E46 M3

My M3 has been running on Michelin Pilot Sport tires of some form since I bought it in 2010. But for the last few years, it’s been mostly sitting in storage with only an occasional Sunday cruise. Last spring I decided to finally put some work into it – and that started with replacing the Pilot Sport 4Ss which had been on it for almost seven years.

Since I have only tracked my car once and don’t plan on running any more autocrosses with it, I decided to open up my choices for replacement. I have tracked the BFGoodrich Rival and was really impressed with its performance, so when I got this opportunity to test the Phenom, I thought it might be a great fit for my project car.

I run a set of aftermarket wheels on my M3 with specs of 19×8.5 up front and the 19×9.5 in the rear with the staggered set of Michelin Pilot Sport 4Ss being 245/35ZR/19 and 275/30ZR19, respectively. The Phenom comes in the same size for the front, but unfortunately the closest size in the rear is 275/35ZR19. With my car being a little bit lowered, the more squared-off shoulders of the Phenom compared to the PS4S resulted in the faintest bit of rubbing in the rear.

Nothing a little bit of rolling the inside of the fender couldn’t fix!

Speaking of that square shoulder, these tires are beefy and I think they look great on my M3. I have been wanting to get a set of 18” wheels to have a more tire to wheel ratio, so the way these turned out made be very happy – even though I still want a set of Style 219M wheels from the E90s M3.

Dry Grip and Steering Feel: Progressive and Predictable

For most drivers in the ultra-high-performance segment, a tire’s everyday street performance is what truly matters. In that regard, the BFG Phenoms hit the sweet spot, striking an excellent balance between dry grip, impressive wet traction, and everyday predictability.

The standout feature of the Phenom is its progressive nature. These tires are quite forgiving. Rather than surprising you with a sudden loss of traction, they offer plenty of fair warning through the steering wheel and pedals. When pushed, oversteer comes on gradually, making it easy to feel the absolute limit and comfortably regain control.

The steering is precise without feeling overly aggressive on twisty backroads, though it can feel a bit eager on the highway (which might just be the terrible road ruts we have here in the PNW). Paired with reassuringly strong braking and a linear handling response, the overall driving experience feels nicely dialed in.

Ride Quality and Road Noise: Stiff but Composed

On the road, the Phenoms definitely have that signature “performance-tire stiffness.” You will feel the road’s imperfections, but the tire remains composed. It does a fantastic job of taking the harshness out of sharp bumps and road seams without numbing the driving feel. If you’re coming from a tire like the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S and regularly drive on less-than-perfect concrete roads, you’ll appreciate this improvement in impact absorption.

As for road noise, it’s reasonably well-managed. While it isn’t whisper-quiet, it completely avoids any annoying drones, producing only a mild sound that is typical for performance tires.

Wet Weather Performance: Built for Pacific Northwest Roads

Given that the Pacific Northwest is a notoriously wet place, a tire’s rain performance is critical and the Phenoms did not disappoint! Even on damp, slippery roads, they provided a deep sense of control. The rear end remained firmly planted, producing excellent grip when the weather refused to cooperate.

Though I couldn’t conduct a true side-by-side comparison with the Michelins or its ultra-high performance rivals, others have and their testing shows the Phenom easily holding its own near the top of the ultra-high-performance charts. While it might fall just shy of the raw metrics of a true max-performance tire, it makes up for it at the register. At a 35% discount compared to the premium alternatives, the value it brings to the table is huge.

Final Verdict: Should BMW Drivers Buy the BFGoodrich G-Force Phenom T/A?

If you’re in the market for some new rubber, you need to check out the BFGoodrich g-Force Phenom T/A. It’s an excellent choice for daily driving a high-performance BMW. It provides great grip and predictability in the dry, but still inspires a ton of confidence when the rain starts falling. Plus, those square meaty shoulders really do look great!