Goodyear Eagle F1 'Looks Fast Even When Standing Still'

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SAN ANGELO, Texas -- A new ultra-performance tire from Goodyear has been engineered to provide sports car owners with superior handling, maximum wet traction and a quiet ride in a sleek, stylish European design.

Goodyear's Eagle F1 tire, developed in Europe, features a striking, sweeping tread pattern and sophisticated sidewall design. Available in October in 39 popular ultra-performance 15- to 21-inch sizes, Eagle F1 will replace Eagle F1 GS, Eagle F1 GS-D2 and Eagle GS-C tire lines.

"This new tire looks fast even when standing still," Bob Toth, marketing manager for auto tires, said. "It's Goodyear's most technically sophisticated Eagle ultra-high-performance radial ever."

Eagle F1 is designed specifically for upscale, sports car and sedan owners as well as restylers and tuners. "Ultra-performance tire consumers are extremely knowledgeable about cars and tires. They emphasize functional performance capability first; styling is also very important, but secondary. In terms of styling without function, less is better," Toth added.

The new tire features sweeping unidirectional V-TRED technology and a custom-blended triple-polymer AATRAX tread compound, delivering the highest "AA" quality grading label for wet traction. Senior tire engineer Bob Nelson said Eagle F1's V-TRED improves water flow through the tire's footprint for outstanding wet traction on rain-slick roads.

For maximum force transfer between the steering wheel and dry roads, the tire's OneTRED design provides continuous road contact across the tire footprint, Nelson said. Eagle F1's OneTRED delivers maximized handling, acceleration and braking performance and optimum noise comfort.

Considering V-TRED technology and OneTRED design, some key Eagle F1 features include:

• Directional V-TRED feature employs virtual rib technology, which efficiently transfers load from shoulder to centerline to shoulder for responsive handling. More than forty 13- to 15-inch-long grooves sweep water diagonally outward to tire shoulders for up to 7.9 percent shorter braking distances from 60 mph, when compared to competitive tires.
• Combining solid shoulder elements, a solid centerline and sweeping V-TRED power transfer bridges, OneTRED design delivers shoulder-to-shoulder tread contact, allowing drivers to experience race-slick-like response in a street-approved tire. The result is improved braking on dry pavement.
• Increased lateral stiffness in the shoulder area delivers 3 percent improved handling on turns and corners.
• V-TRED’s long sweeping channels bend to approach the tread’s footprint edge at a right angle for reduced impact noise and improved ride comfort. Tread grooves -- three times longer than the footprint -- avoid trapped air inside the footprint. Together, they deliver 5 percent improved steering feel, ride comfort and noise levels.
• Eagle F1, a prime example of the track-to-street connection, uses technology from sports car race tires, particularly the blending of traction resins in the tread. In addition, a significant amount of silica increases adhesion on dry and wet surfaces.

• Increased robustness in construction provides improved steering response and sporty handling. A new tire shape defines an optimized tire footprint and pressure distribution for improved handling, uniform wear and traction on rain-slick roads.
• Specially designed rim flange protectors near the tire bead area help guard expensive alloy wheels from accidental curb impacts.

Eagle F1 is manufactured at Goodyear plants in Lawton, Okla., and in Germany at Fulda, Phillipsburg, Hanau and Furstenwalde.