Goodyear Eagle F1 SuperSport Reviews - Page 2

I got these three a couple of years ago on a very attractive offer from Costco.

These tyres are extremely competent on a summer’s day. Above 10°c and a dry road I could never reached their limits. In the rain they are also very well put together, albeit I never pushed them in the wet.

Unfortunately, I could never fully enjoy these tyres. Due to the horrendous degradation of our roads, soon after purchase I hit an extremely bad pothole (under a railway bridge. Couldn’t see it until it was too late). Although the tyre and wheel was refitted, I never felt like I could fully trust them. This is there downside. They are extremely hard (due to being a UUHP) and just can’t cope with our roads. They get thrown about all over the place and don’t make for a pleasant ride. This isn’t the fault of the tyres, but really can’t recommend them as an everyday in the UK.

I will add finally that they are useless in the winter. This is no surprise, but under 8°c they are rock hard. So do keep this in mind. Perhaps have a set of winters/All seasons and run these only in the summer.

Stock tires from a VW Golf R. On road they are ok, with fine traction for daily driving, with some driving mixed in. I do find they are rather noisy for a tire of this type. When I switch from my winter tires to these summer tires, I notice an increase in NVH which doesn't seem intuitive but every year I notice the difference.

On track is a different story, I do not recommend them. They're fine under braking and acceleration. You'll need more negative camber to get the tires to bite in corners and on exit. But regardless of suspension and alignment changes they get greasy very quickly and their ideal temperature range is very narrow. Feedback is poor and wear is high as a result. Based on their design and my experience the shoulders of the tire aren't robust enough. For a tire with such glowing reviews I am very disappointed in their performance for light track use (autocross and short tracks, 8 laps per day following a 2 lap warm up, 1 lap push, 1 lap cool down sequence. 3-4 times a year).

The tyres were bought naturally after a TyreReviews review comparing the UUHP tyres and the Goodyear Eagle F1 SuperSport having the best dry grip performance at the time. The PS4 was too lacking and the PS4s weren't available in the 18 inch size, the 19 inch size was a little too harsh for our roads, which is why the SSs were the best available tyre at the time.
The GY SSs are simply superb at dry grip, on longer corners they hold the grip all the way to the speeds and lateral forces I was comfortable with, on shorter corners they greatly mitigated the understeery corner entry of my heavy car, after the apex they transformed the amount of power that can be put out of the corner while still having steering angle to the state where 2nd gear corner exits didn't have enough power to slide the car at 240hp full throttle, which was a first after Potenza S001s, Nexens N8000s, Sava UHP+s and even the Conti SportContact 7s couldn't grip that much.
The wet grip was slightly above average, enough to be safe on the roads, but nowhere near fun. The wear was surprisingly good, 8000miles for a set of 4 with rotations, given the shitty and curvy roads the SSs were dailyed on, it was quite a lot.
Comfort wise they were loud, bumps were very audible, highway tyre noise was high, but all of that was countered by the amount of grip that was unbelievable for such a heavy car.
At the end of life, after 8000 hard miles, there was no tread left on 3-4cm of both inside and outside of each tyre, they were completely smooth. The center maybe had 2mm of tread depth left. But the grip at the end of life was even better than during the actually usable tread life, reaching absurd high speed corner grip levels compared to all the previous tyres I've used, including the SportContact7s.
Definitely the best dry grip tyre I've ever had, without a shadow of a doubt.

I have these fitted to my BMW M140i the car is mapped so puts out a little more HP and TQ than stock.

Dry grip: Really good, grips well off the line and out of corners and you know where the limit is.

Wet grip: Is just okay, it's struggles with traction sometimes spinning in 5th gear (Auto) and at times you can feel the ABS kicking in under braking, it also struggles with clearing standing water a bit too. So overall not confidence inspiring in the wet. Anyone saying otherwise simply doesn't drive hard enough to tell the difference between tyres.

Feedback: This tyre really excels here through the steering wheel and the seat, I can tell what each corner is doing.

Comfort: Is compromised due to a stiff sidewall, but I knew that and I prefer feedback over comfort.

Wear: Too early to tell only covered 2k so far.

Conclusion: If you want a great summer tyre that gives you sporty dry handling buy these. Just know that it does come at the expense of wet performance.

Amazing handling qualities with exceptional steering reactions and highly confidence inspiring in dry conditions. Very good dry grip with good wet grip for a UUHP tire. Nevertheless not a wet performance tire as reactions in the wet at the limit can be a little bit demanding for average driving skill (if the electronics are turned off completely). Good wear especially when driven hard and/or frequently at the limit or on the track (about 5000 miles and still look quite new / about 6 mm left with even wear in spite of driving excessively fast curves). Had before the Yokohama AD08R which I loved. Compared with these, grip is on a identical level but Goodyear demands less heat in the tire to result in same grip. Turn in of Goodyear is a little bit faster and more precise and both are a bit "meaty" and side walls are strong. Therefore only average tire pressure (2.4 bar) is required and tire remains reliable also under extreme driving conditions (no imprecise behaviour or reactions of the tire). Comfort is quite good for UUHP (at least as good as original MIchelin PSS tires).

225/45/18 and 255/40/18

I bought these in 2020 after seeing the excellent reviews on this site. I have so far covered around 10k with them on everything from rough city streets to autobahns and tracks. They have been superb and offer an almost no compromise performance upgrade over more road oriented tyres.

Dry
In the dry these really hang on. Turn in is direct and the grip is well balanced front to rear. I’ve also found myself able to get on the throttle much sooner and with more confidence than before. Braking is excellent and has only made my brake pads seem even more lacking than ever.

Wet
I was a little concerned that there would be a wet weather trade off with this type of tyre, but if there is, I can’t tell. Traction is better than ever and grip is surprisingly good. I don’t use the car much in the wet and don’t tend to push it when I do, but incredibly they appear to perform noticeably better than the old Asymmetric 2s they replaced.

Track
The biggest difference compared to my previous tyres is their ability to be pushed for much longer on track without overheating. The F1 SS is a huge step up in this regard and whilst I’m sure a dedicated track tyre would be better again, you’d be making other compromises to get that advantage.

Wear, noise and comfort.
I doubt many will care that much if they’re looking at this kind of tyre but it’s good to know you won’t need ear plugs, a seat cushion and an overdraft when you’re just driving normally. For wear, it’s possibly too early to tell but there’s huge amounts of tread left and no worn shoulders. I also didn’t notice any increase in noise but as the Z4 is relatively noisy, it’s hard to be sure. In terms of comfort they are a little stiffer and harsher over sharp ridges and potholes but it’s a relatively small difference and a price worth paying if you want that extra connection and directness. An added bonus is that my MPG hasn’t suffered either. I’ve been to Italy and back twice on these and there’s no perceptible difference in economy compared to other times I’ve done the trip.

Summary/TLDR

If you want a high performance road tyre with more grip and feedback compared to a UHP summer tyre, look no further. The F1SS moves the performance on from the Asymmetric range without giving up any amount of real world usability. It’s ability to handle heat is leagues above a normal summer tyre and should satisfy all but the most dedicated of track goers. The only noticeable compromise for me was a slight loss of comfort over harsh bumps but given the nature of the tyre and all the other benefits it offers it’s a total non issue.

I’m reluctant to give these a 10/10 simply because I’m no tyre tester, but I’d say they’re pretty much perfect for anyone wanting more focus and grip without sacrificing the ability to daily drive the car in mixed environments and conditions.