Goodyear Eagle All-Season Tires. Click image to enlarge
Review by Paul Williams, photos by Paul Williams and Goodyear Tire Company, Video by Goodyear Tire Company
Bob Bondurant School of Performance Driving, Phoenix, Arizona – The first performance all-season tire made by Goodyear was the Eagle GT+4. That was back in the late 1980s and its development caused big debate in the company, according to Goodyear’,s Director of Product and Innovation Bob Toth.
“How can you have an all-season and a performance tire at the same time?” was the typical concern. “Isn’,t that like oil and water? They don’,t mix!”
But the Eagle GT+4 went on to become one of Goodyear’,s bestselling tires, and the all-season performance tire in various forms is a now popular option for those with sporty vehicles who don’,t want to equip them with the dedicated summer performance tires sometimes used as original equipment for sport-oriented vehicles.
Why wouldn’,t you want to continue with the dedicated performance tire? “The summer tires will wear more quickly and their replacement is often more expensive than consumers expect,” says Mr. Toth. But many consumers still prefer a genuinely performance-oriented product, which is where the typically less expensive performance all-season finds its niche.
The new Eagle Sport All-Season tire is an evolution of the performance all-season concept, replacing the current Eagle GT line of tires, and offering an 80,000 kilometre tread life warranty on both V and W rated tires. It will be available in 47 sizes (an expanded range compared with the Eagle GT) for cars and SUVs by the end of 2013.
The Goodyear Sport All-Season’,s performance goals were to “achieve excellent performance in both dry and wet handling, offer a smooth and quiet ride, deliver enhanced ice and snow traction for all-season performance, offer an industry leading treadwear warranty and be suitable for original equipment applications.”
It features circumferential grooves to provide water evacuation, an asymmetric groove pattern for improved wet and dry traction and handling, with wider grooves on the inboard side versus the outboard side, seven percent more rubber on the outside of the tire, asymmetric groove wall edges for better cornering (they are buttressed against lateral forces), and biting edges (blading) to improve ride and reduce noise. The tire features a rim protector to help prevent rim damage from accidental contact with curbs.
Goodyear Eagle All-Season Tires. Click image to enlarge
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