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Goodyear Launches New Ultra-High Performance Tire
Continued advances in tire development technology by The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company have spawned the latest entry in the ultra-high performance segment, the company’s Eagle F1 Asymmetric tire, available in North American retail outlets by the end of this year.
Innovations from Goodyear’s engineers and scientists provide a tire that helps maintain even tread contact pressure on the road to enhance grip while cornering. This is accomplished through the company’s exclusive “Active CornerGrip Technology,” with an Aramid reinforcement in the inside sidewall of the tire.
With the Eagle F1 Asymmetric, the tread pattern features an outer tread zone for enhanced grip and a water-channeling inner tread zone to aid wet traction. A continuous center rib helps provide enhanced high-speed stability.
“As a vehicle travels through a corner, a high amount of force is exerted through the tire’s footprint,” said Bob Toth, Goodyear’s general manager of auto tires. “Due to the load transfer characteristics of the vehicle, an increased amount of force moves to the outside shoulder of the tire, and the grip on the outside of the tread is enhanced, while the grip on the inside decreases in comparison.”
With Active CornerGrip Technology, the tire-to-road contact is increased on the inside of the contact area. This technology in the inside sidewall of the tire helps compress the tread evenly on the road for enhanced traction while cornering. In the Eagle F1 Asymmetric, a next-generation polymer tread complements the other technical enhancements, and helps provide grip on dry roads and enhanced wet traction.
Already, the Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric has been labeled a “winner.” In independent comparison tests of the leading ultra-high performance tires conducted by British automotive magazine, EVO, the Eagle F1 Asymmetric was rated number one overall.
“A decisive win for the new Goodyear, with more table-topping performances than any other tire,” stated the magazine in its summary of the nine-tire comparison. The wins came in both wet and dry objective tests, and subjectively, it was voted best tire on the dry handling course.
Additionally, another UK magazine, Autocar, presents a high-performance tire test in its October issue, and again, the Eagle F1 Asymmetric comes out on top. The staff conducted tests in braking, dry and wet handling, and used both front- and rear-wheel drive cars. Not only finishing first in overall test results, the new Goodyear tire also drew rave comments. In a reference to how much the Eagle F1 Asymmetrics improved the performance of the test Mercedes C350, Autocar stated, “With a set of Goodyears, it was like attaching a turbo to the Mercedes’ engine.”
In North America, the Eagle F1 Asymmetric will be offered in 22 sizes, in 17, 18, 19 and 20 inch wheel diameters. These tire sizes will fit cars such as the BMW 550I, Porsche 911 Carrera and Mercedes CLK55 AMG.
Goodyear is one of the world’s largest tire companies. The company employs about 70,000 people and manufactures its products in more than 60 facilities in 26 countries around the world. For more information about Goodyear, go to www.goodyear.com/corporate.
For details about Goodyear and its products, or to find the nearest Goodyear retailer, go to www.goodyeartires.com.
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