Goodyear Eagle RS-A

The Goodyear Eagle RS-A is a High Performance All-Season tire produced with several speed ratings & in a wide variety of sizes. Its design is heavily influenced by its use as an Original Equipment tire by BMW, Volkswagen, General Motors, Chrysler & others. The Eagle RS-A features a subtle asymmetric tread design with larger tread elements in the outside shoulder intended to deliver more responsive h&ling, cornering, & steering. Smaller tread blocks on the inside shoulder combined with wide tread & lateral grooves are intended to enhance wet & snow traction.

Out on the road, the Eagle RS-A exhibited good road manners. Overall h&ling felt sporty but not nimble, while ride comfort & road noise both scored well with our team. This combination delivered a nice blend of comfort & performance, & helped illustrate why many vehicle manufacturers select the Eagle RS-A for Original Equipment fitment.

On the test track in the dry, the Eagle RS-A delivered h&ling that was appropriate for a tire in the High Performance All-Season tire category. But its all-season tread pattern & compound, combined with the narrower size just could not match the h&ling of the other three, more performance-oriented summer tires in this evaluation.

Under wet conditions, the Goodyear Eagle RS-A has often proven to be very capable when compared to other All-Season tires. In this evaluation, the Eagle RS-A again performed well. Overall grip was good, & drivers using smooth steering & throttle inputs were rewarded with relatively quick lap times. But when pressed hard, or if the driver used abrupt steering inputs, the Eagle RS-A would quickly transition to moderate understeer, pushing wide in the turns. Traditionally, the Eagle RS-A is relegated to last place for overall lap time when competing against more performance-oriented Ultra High Performance Summer tires like in this evaluation. That was not the case this time as the Eagle RS-A was able to lap our test track faster than two of the summer tires in this evaluation.

BFGoodrich g-Force Sport

The g-Force Sport is BFGoodrich's Ultra High Performance Summer tire designed for sport compact drivers who want to combine outst&ing dry h&ling with affordable prices. The g-Force Sport was developed to provide crisp & responsive h&ling in both wet & dry conditions.

On the outside, the g-Force Sport features BFGoodrich's racetrack-developed BlackTech tread compound technology as the record-setting g-Force T/A KD, molded into a directional tread design with large independent shoulder tread blocks. In addition, two continuous center ribs, g-Hook elements in the intermediate ribs & two wide circumferential rain channels are molded in to help blend dry cornering, wet traction & straight-line stability.

Internally, the g-Force Sport features twin high tensile steel belts that are further strengthened by BFGoodrich's ETEC System (Equal Tension Containment) spiral-wrapped reinforcement to stabilize the tread area to enhance h&ling & high-speed capability. A dimensionally stable polyester cord body & g-control sidewall inserts help resist lateral deflection to generate cornering force & stability.

Driving around our road ride loop, the g-Force Sport was the h&ling favorite, delivering a good blend of steering response & overall h&ling. There was some tread pattern noise on all road surfaces, but was most noticeable across the coarse, rain-grooved concrete portion of our route. Ride quality was firmer than the OE Goodyear Eagle RS-A, but this is expected of tires in the Ultra High Performance Summer category, where performance takes priority ahead of ride comfort.

The g-Force Sport felt at home on our h&ling course in dry conditions. Steering response was linear, & the grip level felt reassuring. Overall h&ling balance was very neutral, & without the usual understeer felt when reaching the limit of most tires. This "free" feeling allowed the vehicle equipped with g-Force Sport to rotate nicely entering each corner. There was even a hint of power on oversteer with our RWD test vehicle, with just enough rotation to help the car finish the corner & accelerate towards the next turn.

With water on the course, the g-Force Sport did not feel as comfortable. The "free" feeling experienced in the dry proved to be somewhat of a hindrance in the wet, where the car went from gentle understeer to oversteer in the transitions of the slalom, or when accelerating away from a corner. This slowed average lap time to a distant third place overall.

Dunlop SP Sport FM901

The SP Sport FM901 is Dunlop's Ultra High Performance Summer tire designed to blend eye-catching style with performance for today's sports cars, coupes & sporty sedans. This also makes the SP Sport FM901 an ideal c&idate for customizing vehicles by providing a look & size lineup that provides a wide range of Plus Two or Plus Three applications.

On the outside, the SP Sport FM901's wide tread features large interlocking tread blocks that are aligned in a directional pattern to enhance dry traction & h&ling, increase wet traction & resist hydroplaning. Dunlop's "Chaos" tread block arrangement varies the size & shape of the tread blocks to help break up repetitive patterns & minimize noise levels. On the inside, the SP Sport FM901 features two steel belts reinforced by a spirally wrapped JointLess B& (JLB) of nylon to support the tread area for high-speed durability & predictable h&ling while minimizing weight & improving ride uniformity. Additionally, a single str& of steel is spirally wound to form beads that are rounder for a better fit to the wheel & to further enhance h&ling & ride quality.

Out on the road ride, the Dunlop SP Sport FM901 delivered ride & h&ling levels that are appropriate for a tire in the Ultra High Performance Summer category. While initial steering response was very crisp, the overall balance of the FM901 did not feel as good as with the g-Force Sport or Ecsta Supra 712. The fairly high level of responsiveness coincided with some additional impact noise & harshness versus the other tires in the test. There was a fair amount of tread noise present across all road surfaces, where the relatively large tread blocks produced a noticeably constant tone throughout all speeds.

In the dry on our test track, the SP Sport FM901 was somewhat harder to drive at the limit than the g-Force Sport or Ecsta Supra 712. Overall balance was neutral with some trailing throttle oversteer, but the overall grip level was not up to the level of the other two Ultra High Performance Summer tires in the test. With the SP Sport FM901, it was challenging to hold the throttle down as you accelerated through the slalom. Doing so could induce some oversteer during the rapid side-to-side transitions. Holding a constant radius around the skidpad was easy, but just at lower average lateral g's than the BFGoodrich or Kumho tires. The SP Sport FM901 did show the least amount of tire wear under the harsh conditions of our dry test track drive, however.

In the wet, the FM901 was not easy to drive quickly. There was a fair amount of understeer turning in to the tight 90° corners, or when the driver used quick steering inputs. Under acceleration, the rear tires would spin easily, causing plenty of oversteer accelerating away from every corner.

Kumho Ecsta Supra 712

The Kumho Ecsta (x' ta) Supra 712 is a member of Kumho's summer performance tire family. Developed to meet the dem&s of drivers who require ultra high performance h&ling & traction, the Ecsta Supra 712 offers a unique combination by blending value-oriented pricing with European design & styling.

On the outside, the Ecsta Supra 712 molds Kumho's advanced silica tread rubber compound into a wide directional tread pattern to provide dry traction & h&ling. Its angular tread blocks are separated by high angle lateral grooves & a large circumferential center groove to resist hydroplaning & enhance wet traction by evacuating water from between the tire's contact patch & the road. Internally, the Ecsta Supra 712's twin steel belts are reinforced with two nylon cap plies to provide high speed durability while delivering responsive h&ling & stable cornering. Finally, a unique casing profile reinforced with a polyester cord body enhances ride comfort.

Along the road ride route, the Kumho Ecsta Supra 712 delivered crisp h&ling along with reasonable road manners. The Ecsta Supra 712 did seem to be showing its age somewhat, feeling a little less refined over the sharpest impacts from expansion joints & broken pavement than the other tires. Tread noise was moderate when traveling over concrete, & relatively quiet (for an Ultra High Performance Summer tire) on smooth asphalt.

On the test track in dry conditions, the Kumho Ecsta Supra 712 proved easy to drive. Overall h&ling was predictable, with no significant under or oversteer. The sensation was more of carving through the turns, than the "free" feeling of the g-Force Sport. In the end, the Ecsta Supra 712 proved to be fast, turning an average overall lap time less than 0.1 second behind the g-Force Sport.

The Ecsta Supra 712 proved capable in the wet, too, feeling easy to drive quickly. The Kumho tire felt composed & well-balanced, without the sudden transition from understeer to oversteer displayed by the other two Ultra High Performance Summer test tires. The confidence inspired by this tire allowed it to easily outpace the other tires in the test, posting an overall lap time nearly 1.5 seconds ahead of the next fastest tire.