Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric Tyre Launch
October 31, 2008 by Alborz Fallah
Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric Tyre Launch
If it saves you once a year, it’s a Goodyear – that’s the slogan at least – but what about those of us that might not necessarily need saving? We own a performance car and want to have some responsible fun. For those of us that like our cars enough to spend a little more on one of the most vital components, the tyres, this might interest you.
- by Alborz Fallah
Goodyear is a company that has been around since 1898, so if anyone knows tyres, it’s these guys. A call and an email informed us that CarAdvice had been invited to the launch of Goodyear’s latest tyre, the Eagle F1 Asymmetric (with Active CornerGrip technology).
Fortunately for me, David was too busy at a Hyundai launch with Anthony, Paul was away with Skoda, Matt was working hard, George was too busy, Karl, well, he lives in a different country (no offence to our West Australian readers) so it was left to me, the Queensland kid, to find my way to Hyatt Sanctuary Cove on the Gold Coast.
Goodyear called it the Oceania launch, which included most of south Asia and Australia. Journalists all the way form Vietnam and even the Philippines had joined us for the two day event.
Now if you’re wondering what happens at a tyre launch, allow me to explain.
You see, first you need something special, you’re not going to gather half the world’s best motoring journalists just to launch another family tyre.
No, not at all, what Goodyear had invited us to see was their new top-of-the-range performance tyre. A tyre that not only values the integrity of the brand with a strong emphasis on responsibility and safety, but also gives Goodyear that much needed upgrade to compete against the likes of Bridgestone’s RE050A and Michelin’s Pilot Sports.
The two-day event began with an interesting opening ceremony, which demonstrated all the additional uses to which you can put the new Eagle F1 – just look at this guy.
The new Asymmetric tyre will sit above the sexy Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD3, the very tyre that has since the beginning enhanced our background here on CarAdvice (left hand side).
As a previous owner of two sets of the GSD3, the only problem has always been the noise in corners, a result of the V-tread pattern. Goodyear is adamant that despite the introduction of the new Asymmetric tyre, the GSD3 will be available for some time.
Unlike the evolution from the GSD2 to the D3, the F1 Asymmetric tyre was built from a clean platform, with a team of more than 100 engineers, chemical experts and test pilots in Luxembourg designing and testing the tyre in over 18 months.
The benefit of this tyre is summed up in its title, “Active Corner Grip” technology, now that might sound like three ordinary words put together for marketing purposes, but the reality is different.
What Goodyear has done is insert a layer of Aramid into the inner sidewall to reinforce compression during cornering. This results in an increased footprint on the road, the more the footprint, the better the grip and handling. Sounds simple doesn’t it? I am not going to bore you with exactly what they have done to make it do what it does, instead let’s actually see if it really does what it’s suppose to.
Unlike some tyre manufacturers, Goodyear had bravely brought along its direct competitors’ tyres for a side-by-side comparison.
Dear oh dear… Just as bad as Toyota’s ridiculous launches for for new products. What’s the go with the Manpower style doofusses with their shirts off dancing around? I’m sure that would’ve got all the tyre shop blokes excited! Hahaha…
I’ve only heard good things about these tyres, I have the RE050As on my car now, will see how the price compares when I get new tyres in December. How can you tell if they are made in China or Europe? I certainly would want to get the European ones.
Sounds like a great tyre but put the topless dancing promo guys up on the “WHAT WERE THEY THINKING” Wall
How much? I’ve got RE050As runflats on my car, however, they’re pretty exy. $700 per tyre
with the new age of esp,esc,vdc etc,really expensive tyres are now o.e.,or put on my people who really punt their cars hard…which leaves the other 80% of people putting on the ‘monthly special’.falken,hankook anybody!!
I recently got some goodyear eagle f1 tires, they are very expensive but worth every cent, the difference from the older generic brand is light and day, the car is quiter, feels a ton more stable on the roads and very secure in the wet.
Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot
Tyre frollocking – The new olympic sport.
I’d be interested to see how these tyres go. I have a set of the GSD3’s and they’re pretty good, but very noisy and they run down quickly. Got a new set in Feb and there’s not much left of them. I did find though that the GSD3’s aren’t as good in the wet as I’d like.
Alborz, what was your cut? Perhaps you should be in marketing.
What bias!?!?
Where was my invitation?
I’ve heard, but don’t know if it is true that with esp and the like, these days that if you don’t have correct size tyre, and type of tyre as indicated by the manufacture that the insurance company can bail on you, is this true?
Golfy, don’t forget, we live in a whole other country….
Pierre, when you have the competitors tyres there to test against on the same cars, it’s not that hard to see the difference, in fact, if you actually read the article, you would notice I do praise the RE050s, they are one of my favourite tyres.
Andrew, insurance companies would need the car to be road worthy and kept to a required level. So having tyres which don’t meet the specifications can indeed void your insurance. Although not many tyre shops will fit tyres which are not going to meet the requirements cause they can get themselves into a lot of trouble too..
andrew,
the things that WILL bother insurance companys are wether you tyres are wider,are increased diameter,and have speed and load ratings less than the tyre placard on the car.but every insurance company’s different…so check with them first.which brand is open slather…
westnastraya, Karl?
Yes mate.
Wait Awhile!
how are you guys telling what variant of eagle f1’s you are running?
Equal rights…………finally!
Gosh thats all jolly interesting, Wonder if all those corolla drivers will be ripping round corners at 0.5km/h faster now.
a little academic for the humdrum of everyday motoring.
Funny how when you experience tread separation at 130km/hr, you get wary of some brands of tyres.
I’m kind of with John of Perth on this one. I learned very early in car ownership not to toucha. No toucha, no change-a. I’ve just replaced the Golf’s original hoops with Michelin Energy XM1s, with a minimum of research and no buggerising around with widths and profiles.
It could just as easily have been Goodyears. I figure that if I go Goodyear or Michelin, very little research is needed in the first place.
Andrew, I figure I might as well throw my 10c in too, for what it’s worth.
The situation you would have with an insurer with respect to a claim dispute resulting from you fitting different tyres – or making any non standard alteration for that matter – is largely dictated by section 28 of the Insurance Contracts Act. The insurer is basically entitled to reduce or deny your claim to the extent that they have been prejudiced by either your non-disclosure or misinformation (ie. if you don’t tell them something or just flagrantly lie.)
If you fit tyres that don’t meet the car’s minimum requirements, thus rendering it unroadworthy, the insurer can then deny your claim completely because they would not have insurer your car in the first place if they knew it was unroadworthy.
More likely however, assuming you fit tyres that are wider than the standard specification but still suitable for the given rim size, the insurer may have charged a slight additional premium if they knew. In this event, they can either demand you pay this additional amount on top of any applicable excess if you lodge a claim, or they can reduce this amount from the amount of the claim they pay out.
Some insurers flat out wouldn’t care either way if you fit 1 size wider tyres etc (providing it remains legal and roadworthy), even if they did know beforehand, and in that event you shouldn’t have any trouble.
Whatever happened to the Michelin Assymetric tyres developed in I think the 60’s. Michelin tyres at that stage were all radial which was just starting to be offered by manufacturers. The assymetric tread patterned tyre I think was offered on Citroen’s which Michelin owned or partly owned at that time.