Hib Halverson
Technical Writer for Internet & Print Media
CAC members-
Goodyear will soon introduce, a new, ultra-performance, non-runflat tire to fit C5s except Z06. It's called the "Eagle F1 All Season" and it's the first time Goodyear has had all-season product in its. F1, ultra-performance line.
The last great American tire company will come to market in July with the first 22 sizes and will have another 16 sizes by October 1st. These 38 sizes fit a large number of sports cars, performance sedans and sports coupes. The C5 front (245/45ZR17) will be available in july and the rear (275/40ZR18) will come by 10/1.
The F1 All Season is the debut of carbon fiber technology in an ultra-performance tire application. "CF" is familiar to Corvetters as the material used for the '04 Z06/Z16 hood and the '06/'07 Z06 front fenders, wheel wells and floor. In this tire, CF is in a different form, carbon fiber-reinforced inner and outer sidewalls. It stiffens the sides of the tire to improve steering response. This new tire, also, brings DuPont Kevlar into ultra-performance tires after Goodyear introduced it a few years ago in a broad-market replacement tire called "Assurance Triple-Tred." In the F1 AS, a layer of Kevlar stiffens the tire's structure just below the tread.
The CAC talked to Bob Toth, Goodyear's Marketing Manager for Auto Tires, the guy who developed the "Eagle" branding concept back in the early '80s and is one of Corvette's biggest supporters inside Goodyear. “Our Eagle F1 line has always been synonymous with great dry traction, precise control and crisp handling," Bob told CAC at a preview event last week at Daytona International Speedway. "Our award-winning F1 GS-D3 brought those attributes to wet roads. The new, Eagle F1 All Season extends that envelope by offering traction on dry, wet and snow-covered roads. These new, Eagle 'Carbonfibers' enable enthusiasts in places which experience occasional subfreezing weather to drive their Vettes all year long, if they choose." (our italics)
Using "tread zone" idea Goodyear introduced in the Assurance Triple-Tred, an F1 AS has a directional, "dual-zone" tread. For wet traction, there is the "All Season Zone", comprised of famed "Aquachutes", which channel water from under the tread and away, "micro grooves" each of which has a "biting edge" to enhance traction on snow or ice, along with a silica tread compound unique to this tire and designed for improved traction in subfreezing conditions. The All Season Zone enhances traction on snow and ice to the point that this tire is a "soft" all-season tire. it's certainly not for frequent and regular use in deep snow and ice conditions but, if you drive your Corvette or other performance car every day, do so in a place were, in the winter, you might start home from work and get caught in a modest snow fall or find the roads a a little icy from a sudden temperature drop; this tire will help you get there...and get there in a far more safe manner than will either stock EMTs or other non-run-flat tires will allow.
The Eagle F1 AS's dry traction is comparable to competing products and builds on the F1 brand's reputation for tires that stick. It does this its "Ultra High-Performance Zone", having aggressive, shoulder blocks and a stiff, continuous center rib. Additionally, the All Season Zone has Goodyear's (yet another buz word...sorry) "Treadlock Technology" which is a system interlocking micro-grooves which lock together when the tire is generating significant lateral acceleration. This locking stiffens the tread across both zones and improves traction in turns. All this tread technology, coupled with carbon fiber in the sidewalls and Kevlar in under the tread, makes for a noticeable improvement in steering response.
Two of this Goodyear's competitors are the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S and the Bridgestone Potenza RE960AS Pole Position. The executive summary of test data Goodyear supplied is that the Eagle Carbonfiber is comparable to both in dry traction. Has better lateral grip and much better acceleration and braking performance in the wet.
At Daytona last week, I had a chance to test those three tires against each other. Admittedly, this testing was not done with a Corvette, because the C5 rear size is not available, yet. My brief comparison was done with a few rear-drive, performance coupes, a Mazda RX-8 and an Infinity G35, along with a Pontiac Solstice. While sometimes inconsistent weather from one run to the next made some of the testing difficult, in autocross and running on a short road race course, on wet courses (and this was in actual rain not on a watered-down course) I found the new Goodyear had better steering response and lateral grip than both the Bridgestone and the Michelin and the improvement over the Pilot Sport A/S was significant.
In the near future, I'm going to test this tire for a longer period on one of the cars in my test fleet and a little bit later, once the C5 rear is available, I'm going to put a set on a Corvette and do some testing.
I'll let you know what I find-out.
Goodyear will soon introduce, a new, ultra-performance, non-runflat tire to fit C5s except Z06. It's called the "Eagle F1 All Season" and it's the first time Goodyear has had all-season product in its. F1, ultra-performance line.
The last great American tire company will come to market in July with the first 22 sizes and will have another 16 sizes by October 1st. These 38 sizes fit a large number of sports cars, performance sedans and sports coupes. The C5 front (245/45ZR17) will be available in july and the rear (275/40ZR18) will come by 10/1.
The F1 All Season is the debut of carbon fiber technology in an ultra-performance tire application. "CF" is familiar to Corvetters as the material used for the '04 Z06/Z16 hood and the '06/'07 Z06 front fenders, wheel wells and floor. In this tire, CF is in a different form, carbon fiber-reinforced inner and outer sidewalls. It stiffens the sides of the tire to improve steering response. This new tire, also, brings DuPont Kevlar into ultra-performance tires after Goodyear introduced it a few years ago in a broad-market replacement tire called "Assurance Triple-Tred." In the F1 AS, a layer of Kevlar stiffens the tire's structure just below the tread.
The CAC talked to Bob Toth, Goodyear's Marketing Manager for Auto Tires, the guy who developed the "Eagle" branding concept back in the early '80s and is one of Corvette's biggest supporters inside Goodyear. “Our Eagle F1 line has always been synonymous with great dry traction, precise control and crisp handling," Bob told CAC at a preview event last week at Daytona International Speedway. "Our award-winning F1 GS-D3 brought those attributes to wet roads. The new, Eagle F1 All Season extends that envelope by offering traction on dry, wet and snow-covered roads. These new, Eagle 'Carbonfibers' enable enthusiasts in places which experience occasional subfreezing weather to drive their Vettes all year long, if they choose." (our italics)
Using "tread zone" idea Goodyear introduced in the Assurance Triple-Tred, an F1 AS has a directional, "dual-zone" tread. For wet traction, there is the "All Season Zone", comprised of famed "Aquachutes", which channel water from under the tread and away, "micro grooves" each of which has a "biting edge" to enhance traction on snow or ice, along with a silica tread compound unique to this tire and designed for improved traction in subfreezing conditions. The All Season Zone enhances traction on snow and ice to the point that this tire is a "soft" all-season tire. it's certainly not for frequent and regular use in deep snow and ice conditions but, if you drive your Corvette or other performance car every day, do so in a place were, in the winter, you might start home from work and get caught in a modest snow fall or find the roads a a little icy from a sudden temperature drop; this tire will help you get there...and get there in a far more safe manner than will either stock EMTs or other non-run-flat tires will allow.
The Eagle F1 AS's dry traction is comparable to competing products and builds on the F1 brand's reputation for tires that stick. It does this its "Ultra High-Performance Zone", having aggressive, shoulder blocks and a stiff, continuous center rib. Additionally, the All Season Zone has Goodyear's (yet another buz word...sorry) "Treadlock Technology" which is a system interlocking micro-grooves which lock together when the tire is generating significant lateral acceleration. This locking stiffens the tread across both zones and improves traction in turns. All this tread technology, coupled with carbon fiber in the sidewalls and Kevlar in under the tread, makes for a noticeable improvement in steering response.
Two of this Goodyear's competitors are the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S and the Bridgestone Potenza RE960AS Pole Position. The executive summary of test data Goodyear supplied is that the Eagle Carbonfiber is comparable to both in dry traction. Has better lateral grip and much better acceleration and braking performance in the wet.
At Daytona last week, I had a chance to test those three tires against each other. Admittedly, this testing was not done with a Corvette, because the C5 rear size is not available, yet. My brief comparison was done with a few rear-drive, performance coupes, a Mazda RX-8 and an Infinity G35, along with a Pontiac Solstice. While sometimes inconsistent weather from one run to the next made some of the testing difficult, in autocross and running on a short road race course, on wet courses (and this was in actual rain not on a watered-down course) I found the new Goodyear had better steering response and lateral grip than both the Bridgestone and the Michelin and the improvement over the Pilot Sport A/S was significant.
In the near future, I'm going to test this tire for a longer period on one of the cars in my test fleet and a little bit later, once the C5 rear is available, I'm going to put a set on a Corvette and do some testing.
I'll let you know what I find-out.
hnoes
