Goodyear SUV Tyre Test
We test the Goodyear Eagle F1 asymmetric’s on a Velar
CHANGE IS afoot in the UK car market. Figures suggest one in every five cars sold is an SUV. The demands on car manufacturers continues to grow, as it also does with the tyre industry. Goodyear continues to ramp up its range of SUV tyres, with summer, winter, all-weather and off-road tyres alike.
Its latest effort is, deep breath, the Eagle F1 Asymmetric 3 SUV, a tyre aimed squarely at the on-road user. Which is why I find myself at Goodyear’s test facility, just outside Montpellier, behind the wheel of a box-fresh Velar.
Goodyear’s Miravel test track is a remarkable place, boasting mile after mile of track, for a variety of purposes, across more than 370 acres. Overlooking the Mediterranean, the scenery could barely be more idyllic – although it’s the more predictable, drier weather that’s important to testers. It’s a shame the circuit’s original purpose as a motorsport venue never took off, but competition fans’ loss is most certainly Goodyear’s gain. Sadly, there’s no off-road driving today; our testing programme remains firmly on the blacktop.
Sitting at the on-road end of Goodyear’s SUV tyre range, the Eagle F1 Asymmetric SUV family will gradually replace the least aggressive member of the Wrangler family, the HP All- Weather, as Goodyear’s OEM commitments for that tyre dry up.
Its latest launch is an evolution Eagle F1 Asymmetric 3 tyre for passenger car applications, and sports much of the same technology. Here, of course, it’s been optimised for the demands – and extra weight – of the latest SUVS. Tipping the scales at a little under 2000 kg, the Velar should represent a good test of Goodyear’s boffins’ work, even though it’s not currently a standard-fit tyre. It seems plausible it could be in the future though, as Goodyear has close relations with JLR, and it’s the tyre that ships with the Jaguar E-pace. Perhaps tellingly, it was with the Alfa Romeo Stelvio that the latest tyre was developed, rather than the more off-road-ready Velar.
The Eagle F1 Asymmetric 3 SUV will, by November, be available in diameters ranging from 17 to 21 inches. Interestingly, Goodyear is seeing a market shift towards larger rim sizes, so has moved its focus accordingly.
The test
First up on our day-long workshop is a dry slalom and braking test against the clock. We already know that the Velar is an accomplished and agile SUV, particularly given its mass, but
the tyres were perfectly able to match the car’s effectiveness. Slinging the Velar at speed between the slalom cones, the grip was sufficient to rarely wake the ESP. Its braking from around 60 mph to a halt was equally impressive.
This was followed by a wet braking workshop, which was our only opportunity to test the new tyre against a competitor. On a purpose-built, saturated facility, we accelerated to around 60 mph before hitting the brakes. Perhaps predictably, the new tyre pulled up more quickly, more smoothly, and in a subjectively more controlled manner than the competitor. By contrast, the second car, shod with identically-sized 255/50 20, Y-rated Michelin Latitude Sport 3 tyres, inflated to the recommended pressures, provided a slightly unsettling kangarooing motion as the brakes were firmly applied. Across our group, the average stopping distance was 37.22 m, versus the Michelin’s 39.41 m; a difference of 2.2m.
Perhaps the least demanding workshop followed, although admittedly the most fun. Behind the wheel of 380 ps petrol and a 300 ps diesel Velars, we took to Miravel’s challenging 3.4 mile circuit. Although it’s hard to draw definitive conclusions from this test, particularly with no prior track experience of the Velar on its factory tyres, it impressed.
Pushing harder than you reasonably would – or could – on the public road, the tyres provided progressive handling which, when the grip limits were overcome, broke away gently leaving us with no nasty surprises and plenty of warning that corrective inputs may become necessary. These are all attributes more akin to a performance car, than a big, luxurious Land Rover, but reinforces the Velar is a car that can do it all.
The final test required more from the driver, and certainly more from the tyres. Miravel’s 1.4-mile wet handling circuit provides the kind of saturated conditions that would make some hatchback owners think twice about venturing out. Pretty much the entire circuit was covered in standing water, save for the hills where the water visibly flowed.
Yet for all this, the Eagle F1 Asymmetric 3 Suv-shod Velar was as stable, predictable and progressive as it was in the dry. Occasionally tyre squeal – not something usually experienced in the wet – through some of the bends suggests its design was doing an impressive job of clearing the water. But hard acceleration through long, sweeping bends revealed the merest hint of the nose washing wide, and despite nudging over the UK motorway speed limit through some sections of the twisting circuit, there was never a word from the car’s ABS or stability control systems, suggesting there was huge mechanical grip.
Although unofficially Goodyear’s flagship summer tyre, our Miravel adventure indicates there’s real depth to the talent on offer for those seeking a fit-once-and-forget tyre, even if its flanked by the firm’s all-weather offerings that are more overt in their do-it-all market positioning. We look forward to spending more time with the tyre in some more real-world situations, including cold weather, soon.