Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric, 225/45 R17 94W
I'm sure many of you have seen the myriad of magazine tyre tests that put this as one of, if not in most cases the, best tyres on sale today.
So, with all of that, and struggling at the time (there's much more choice now) to find anything else with the 94 load rating, I bought a set. Initially I bought two and used them on the back for about 2-3 thousand miles. Then they came off while I was reconditioning wheels, then went back on with a new pair (the old pair on the front).
Initial impressions were mixed to good. With all four fitted the grip level was nothing short of phenominal, the car feeling as though it had a wider stance and wider tyres on - grip out of T-junctions was superb. The mixed part was that they were noticeably noisier, firmer side-walled (with the attendant increase in tramlining) and less easy-rolling than the Michelin Pilot Primacy tyres I had on the car before - these things are not a huge criticism though, because that is what comes of a more sporting tyre (the Eagle) compared to a GT tyre (the Primacy). Over time, the next thing to show up was wear rate - they wear FAST. I don't drive hard compared to many people, but found the fronts wearing at a pretty high rate. I swapped the fronts and rears to compensate for this.
So, so far they have excellent grip with the expected compromises of a very high performance tyre.
Unfortunately there is a much more significant downside. Summer tyres are bad in the snow - everyone knows and expects that. Many people know that summer tyres aren't great in cold conditions. However, the Eagles suffer from a spectacular loss of performance in the cold - temperatures around 4C have the feel of the car gone from sure-footed and secure to donkey-on-rollerskates. I have NEVER experienced this level of change with temperature - yes, all summer tyres are worse in the cold but this is such a huge change that the tyres go from being among the very best to being among the very worst (the only comparable tyre I have any experience of is the Linglong 688 on a colleague's car - look up car and driver's review of that tyre to get the idea). With the Eagle's tread pattern being mainly longitudinal, with little in the way of lateral sipes I am absolutely dreading the onset of snow with these on the car.
Ultimately, I'm forced to conclude that the Eagle F1 Asymmetric is a great tyre in its performance envelope, but that envelope is simply too narrow. For UK use it is fine for April-October, but it's not a year round tyre and since few people change tyres for winter here it's just not suitable.
I won't be buying them again.
I'm sure many of you have seen the myriad of magazine tyre tests that put this as one of, if not in most cases the, best tyres on sale today.
So, with all of that, and struggling at the time (there's much more choice now) to find anything else with the 94 load rating, I bought a set. Initially I bought two and used them on the back for about 2-3 thousand miles. Then they came off while I was reconditioning wheels, then went back on with a new pair (the old pair on the front).
Initial impressions were mixed to good. With all four fitted the grip level was nothing short of phenominal, the car feeling as though it had a wider stance and wider tyres on - grip out of T-junctions was superb. The mixed part was that they were noticeably noisier, firmer side-walled (with the attendant increase in tramlining) and less easy-rolling than the Michelin Pilot Primacy tyres I had on the car before - these things are not a huge criticism though, because that is what comes of a more sporting tyre (the Eagle) compared to a GT tyre (the Primacy). Over time, the next thing to show up was wear rate - they wear FAST. I don't drive hard compared to many people, but found the fronts wearing at a pretty high rate. I swapped the fronts and rears to compensate for this.
So, so far they have excellent grip with the expected compromises of a very high performance tyre.
Unfortunately there is a much more significant downside. Summer tyres are bad in the snow - everyone knows and expects that. Many people know that summer tyres aren't great in cold conditions. However, the Eagles suffer from a spectacular loss of performance in the cold - temperatures around 4C have the feel of the car gone from sure-footed and secure to donkey-on-rollerskates. I have NEVER experienced this level of change with temperature - yes, all summer tyres are worse in the cold but this is such a huge change that the tyres go from being among the very best to being among the very worst (the only comparable tyre I have any experience of is the Linglong 688 on a colleague's car - look up car and driver's review of that tyre to get the idea). With the Eagle's tread pattern being mainly longitudinal, with little in the way of lateral sipes I am absolutely dreading the onset of snow with these on the car.
Ultimately, I'm forced to conclude that the Eagle F1 Asymmetric is a great tyre in its performance envelope, but that envelope is simply too narrow. For UK use it is fine for April-October, but it's not a year round tyre and since few people change tyres for winter here it's just not suitable.
I won't be buying them again.