evo UK – September 2019

ADVERTISINGFEATURE

T’S EASY FOR ANY TYRECOMPANY

to talk the talk. ‘Our tyres do this.

They excel at that. They’re the ones

you’ll prefer.’ But the acid test of any new tyre

comes whenyou let the people who are likely

to buy themtry them.Especiallywhenthey’re

an audience as discerningas a group of track-

obsessedevoreaders...

Thatwas the challenge Goodyear accepted

whenlaunchingits new Ultra Ultra High

Performance (UUHP) tyre, the Eagle F1 SuperSport,

to a bunchof experienced trackday goers at a

recentevo-sponsored event at the acclaimed

Bedford Autodrome and also at the challenging

Knockhillcircuit, bothnotoriouslyhard on

tyres. A handfulof readers had a set of Eagle F1

SuperSports fi tted to theircars to experience at

the absolute limit on those circuits’ demandingand

punishingcurves, whileanothergroup got to try the

tyres duringsome hard-driven road miles.

And having pushed these superbnew tyres

to extremes, what’s theevoreadership verdict

on the performance of the new Goodyear Eagle

F1 SuperSport?

Tom Parritt has experience of rival trackday

rubberand came away very impressed with how

the new Goodyears behaved on his 302bhpall-

wheel-drive Mercedes-AMGA35. ‘The SuperSport

is very progressive and quieter thanthe P Zero – I

thinkit’s generally superiorto the Pirelli,’ he said.

‘It was great in the wet on the track; it was very

hard to lose the car.’

Anotherdriver able to provide some comparative

commentwas JohnGray, owner of one of Porsche’s

superlative CaymanRs. ‘The SuperSportis more

progressive and provides better feedback thanthe

MichelinPilot Sport4 S,’ was his frank appraisal.

Also a fan Is Rhys Hawkes, owner of a Renault

SportClio 220 Sport:‘The turn-inwas really

positive, and in Race mode,even withouttraction

control or ESP, the back end was more locked down

because they warm up more quickly. There was no

understeer or squeal. On the road there’s not too

muchtyre noise and compared with othertrack

tyres they give more all-roundusability.’

Meanwhile,out on the road Aaron Whiffin

and James Scott, bothof whomown a Mk7

Volkswagen Golf R and are members of the UK Mk7

Golf R Owners Club, were also very enthusiastic.

‘They turn a well-handlingcar into something

phenomenal,’ raved Aaron. ‘I’m amazed by them,’

proffered Scott.‘For a fast road tyre they are going

to be hard to beat.’

We’ll leave the fi nal remarks to Gordon Shedden,

three-timewinnerof the BTCC and therefore

a shrewd judge of tyres. He tried a set of Eagle

F1 SuperSports on an Audi RS3 and had this

to say: ‘Thatpower and that four-wheel-drive

system require the best tyres to get the best

possible performance from the car. These Eagle F1

SuperSporttyres provide grip in abundance: they’re

everythinga driver could want.’

Positive feedback, then,from a knowledgeable

group of potentialbuyers, as well as from someone

with a little more track experience thanmost...

Whichbodes well for Goodyear’s ambitionthat

the Eagle F1 SuperSportrange be seen as a true

challenger to the established trackday staples from

Michelinand Pirelli.

It’s designed to bringout the very best from

the sort of pulse-raisingcars that fi llevo’s pages

each month,with the Eagle F1 SuperSportand

SuperSportR availablein a widerange of popular

sizes to suit everythingfrom hot hatches to

supercars, whilethe Eagle F1 SuperSportRS has

been designed specifically for Porsche 911 GT3

and GT2 models.In fact, the SuperSportRS is

Porsche’s recommended trackday tyre for its two

most extreme sports cars, a furtheraffirmation

as to how accomplished this new Goodyear tyre

is on the circuit.

The Eagle F1 SuperSport’s on-track prowess

is a direct result of Goodyear’s 100-plusyears

of motorsportexperience, spanningall the elite

branches of the sportfrom NASCAR to Formula1 –

and Goodyear has just announced it is developinga

new range of race tyres for the FIA World Endurance

Championship(WEC) for the 2019/2020 season.

Whichmeans the design team for the Eagle

F1 SuperSportwasn’t shorton inspirationand

direction whencreating this stunningnew UUHP

trackday tyre. Of course, the Eagle F1 SuperSport

also has to behave well on the road – you need

to get to and from the circuit, after all – but

the emphasisof its design is to boost the

performance of your car on the track, and

to instil confidence in you, the driver, when

you’re givingit all.

As Technical Partneratevo’s track events,

Goodyear has an intimate understanding

of the ingredients required to produce a

class-leadingtrackday tyre. Extreme levels

of grip are fundamental, and a technically

advanced new rubbercompoundensures that

evenevoreaders will be impressed by how hard

they can pushtheircar throughcorners on a set

of these tyres.

Grip is just part of the equation,though.

Precision handling– the ability to accurately hit

an apex lap after lap – is crucial,too, and with

the Eagle F1 SuperSportthis is facilitated in a

numberof ways. All versions of the tyre have an

optimised footprintthat gives more consistent

pressure distributionacross the tyre, enhancing

steering accuracy and feedback. Stiff sidewalls

help here, too. The ‘regular’ SuperSporthas a

closed outside tread pattern that boosts control

duringload transfers throughcorners, whileits

stiff tread ribs aid agility in high-speed directional

changes. And the SuperSportR features bridges

across the tread pattern’s innergroove to enhance

in-cornerstability.

So, you’ve absorbed the informed opinions

of fellowevoreaders, and learnt the technical

highlights. Now would be a good time to experience

a set of Goodyear Eagle F1 SuperSports for yourself...

I

You’ve read all about

them, now win a set

If you like the sound of the new

Goodyear Eagle F1 SuperSport

UUHPtyre range, imagine getting to

experience them first-hand on your

own car. That’s what five luckyevo

readers will get to enjoy as first prize

in a special online competition being

run by Goodyear andevo*. You’ll find

the competition at http://www.evo.co.uk/

goodyearcomp and it’s quick and easy

to enter. So get online right now and

maybe you’ll be the one to win the

best performance upgrade you could

give any car.

*Tyre size dependent. If Goodyear DunlopTyres UK Ltd do not produce a tyre in a winner’s size, no alternative can be offered. Please see full T&Cs online.