The BFGoodrich® All Terrain T/A KDR2+ benefits from the first class teamwork and dialogue which prevailed in the course of its development. Data gleaned from several different fields (not only circuit racing and rallying, but also aviation, earth moving vehicles and trucks) was carefully collated and analyzed in order to address the different technical challenges that were encountered along the way. BFGoodrich® was effectively able to call upon the experience of a pool of engineers from a variety of backgrounds, with each and every one of them making a key contribution to the process as a function of their area of expertise. To ensure the coherence of the results that were obtained in this way, the program called for significant investment. The early Extensive computer simulation work was followed by real-life tests across the globe in order to subject the tires to the widest possible spectrum of extreme conditions.
BFGoodrich®’s experts worked closely with the brand’s partners and drivers who all have an important part to play. A prime example of the real-world testing that was carried out was October’s Rallye du Maroc, in Morocco, which allowed the engineers to sign off a number of the tire’s technical features, while at the same time assessing the working methods of the brand’s cross-country rally team. Although long, the journey from the initial simulations to the final sign-off tests was geared exclusively to producing the best tires possible for BFGoodrich®’s Dakar teams and crews.
Another crucial test for the BFGoodrich® All Terrain T/A KDR2+ was the 2018 Dakar when the brand’s engineers worked hand-in-hand with its partners teams to collect the invaluable information required to refine and improve the tire’s specification ahead of the 2019 event. Feedback from the drivers was cross-referenced with the analysis and dissection work carried in laboratory conditions of the tires that came back from the 2018 Dakar. It is thanks to this typically rigorous approach that BFGoodrich® has succeeded in acquiring its unparalleled expertise in cross-country rallying to lay the foundations for its future.
