Bought to replace Continental Premium Contact Sport 5s on the assumption these would be much quieter. Tested on a UK VW Polo 95TSI Manual on motorways and country roads. Key attributes of the Goodyear as follows:
Handling - Relative to the Conti the Goodyear sidewall flexes more. This presents itself in a few ways. Firstly turning into a corner at high speed there is a moment where the sidewall flexes and you don't know if there is sufficient grip, there is a sense of vagueness to it. This also shows up on the motorway at high speed as the car has a greater tendency to wander, and feel more vague on the straight ahead. It saps rather than instils confidence. It isn't dramatically bad or dangerous, but if you like to know exactly where the levels of grip are, this isn't the tyre for you. In crosswinds these traits are exacerbated.
Comfort - It is marginally quieter than the Contis when rolling from 30-70mph, but not by a great deal. What is better is that when the Goodyear hits a bump, there is less of a 'crash' in the cabin (something the Polo is known for in basic spec): this is probably due to the softer sidewall. So comfort overall is slightly better than the Conti PC 5s.
Wet Grip - the tyre hangs on gamely, at least as good as the Contis, in the wet, but because of the amount of flex in the tyre to begin with, you are never quite sure where you stand. On the same roads in the same conditions the Goodyear will take you down a wet road as quickly, but on a road you don't know, you will back off because you can't trust it the same. It's not bad, it's just not as good as the Conti's.
I wouldn't recommend these tyres and would consider NEXEN NFeras or Conti Premium Contact 6/7 over these.
Handling - Relative to the Conti the Goodyear sidewall flexes more. This presents itself in a few ways. Firstly turning into a corner at high speed there is a moment where the sidewall flexes and you don't know if there is sufficient grip, there is a sense of vagueness to it. This also shows up on the motorway at high speed as the car has a greater tendency to wander, and feel more vague on the straight ahead. It saps rather than instils confidence. It isn't dramatically bad or dangerous, but if you like to know exactly where the levels of grip are, this isn't the tyre for you. In crosswinds these traits are exacerbated.
Comfort - It is marginally quieter than the Contis when rolling from 30-70mph, but not by a great deal. What is better is that when the Goodyear hits a bump, there is less of a 'crash' in the cabin (something the Polo is known for in basic spec): this is probably due to the softer sidewall. So comfort overall is slightly better than the Conti PC 5s.
Wet Grip - the tyre hangs on gamely, at least as good as the Contis, in the wet, but because of the amount of flex in the tyre to begin with, you are never quite sure where you stand. On the same roads in the same conditions the Goodyear will take you down a wet road as quickly, but on a road you don't know, you will back off because you can't trust it the same. It's not bad, it's just not as good as the Conti's.
I wouldn't recommend these tyres and would consider NEXEN NFeras or Conti Premium Contact 6/7 over these.