Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric Tyre Launch
October 31, 2008 by Alborz Fallah
The first event for the day was a wet-surface brake test. Two identical BMWs would drive side by side and jump on the brakes at the same time. The results, although not independently verified, were impressive. As you can see the competitor tyres (in this case, the RE050As) took a good one-and-a-half car lengths longer to stop.
The first and most obvious difference in the new tyre is the tread pattern, no longer portraying that sexy GSD3 look, the Asymmetric tread not only provides better grip, but is also quieter and according to Goodyear, lasts longer too.
Interestingly you can now swap the tyres front and back as well as side to side. Given the Asymmetric design pattern, the tyres are not affected by a left to right switch.
Goodyear says while the tuners and racers might still pick the GSD3, the target market for the Asymmetric is the high end, Audi, BMW, Porsche and Ferrari drivers.
Of course when you have more than 40 journalists on hand the last thing they want to do is stand around and watch test drivers have all the fun. So Goodyear kindly handed us the keys to a wide variety of cars for some, err, responsible driving on track.
The first test involved two slaloms in the wet and dry. The idea was to go out and feel the new corner grip technology doing its work. In the dry at low speed the Asymmetric is a solid performer, a very quite one too.
The wet however, is where it shines. Push it harder and harder and you won’t feel it slide. Wet or dry, the grip levels are comparable.
The next activity, perhaps the most fun, was a speed test. Four cars, three identical BMW 525s and an SS Commodore waited patiently as we made our way across the Holden Performance Driving Centre.
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.