Vehicles used:
2006 BMW E90 325i Sedan

Because of their contribution to vehicle appearance & performance, the popularity of using low profile tires & large diameter wheels on sports cars, sporty coupes & luxury performance sedans as Original Equipment (O.E.) or Plus Sized replacements continues to grow. However since many of today's sportiest vehicles come from the factory with summer tires that concentrate on increasing dry & wet traction only, the drivers that will only face occasional light snow during the winter months are creating a parallel need for appropriate Ultra High Performance All-Season tires as well.

In order to address the needs of those drivers with tires designed specifically for them, Goodyear developed the Eagle F1 All Season tire line that represents their next evolution of materials & tread design technologies. Carbon Fiber Technology reinforced sidewalls help maintain tread contact with the road for control when cornering while TredLock Technology incorporated into the tread design blends stability on dry roads with hydroplaning resistance on wet roads & all-season traction on snow-covered roads.

In order to confirm how tires featuring Goodyear's latest technologies measure up to today's popular Ultra High Performance All-Season tires, we compared the Eagle F1 All Season to Bridgestone's Potenza RE960 A/S Pole Position, Michelin's Pilot Sport A/S & Pirelli's PZero Nero M&S tires. Our evaluation used 2006 BMW 325i E90 sedans with new, full tread depth 225/45R17 tires mounted on 17x8.0" wheels.

What We Learned on the Road

Our 5.6-mile loop of expressway, state highway & county roads provides a great variety of road conditions that include city & highway speeds, smooth & coarse concrete, as well as new & patched asphalt. This route allows our team to experience noise comfort, ride quality & everyday h&ling, just as you would during your drive to school or work.

All four tires in this test delivered ride quality appropriate for the Ultra High Performance All-Season category, isolating many of the road's bumps without disconnecting the driver from the driving experience. The Pirelli PZero Nero M&S displayed a slight advantage in ride quality over the others in this test, doing a good job absorbing the medium- & large-sized impacts along our route. The Goodyear Eagle F1 All Season & Michelin Pilot Sport A/S were both close behind, followed by the Bridgestone Potenza RE960 AS Pole Position. Like the Goodyear & Michelin tires, the Bridgestone was similarly comfortable over the small- to medium-sized bumps, but transmitted more impact noise when encountering the larger bumps & patched surfaces.

The asymmetric, non-directional tread pattern of the PZero Nero M&S was found to be fairly quiet over most road surfaces, but did produce several noticeable pitches in the 35-45 mph speed range when driving on smooth asphalt. The other three tires with their highly directional tread patterns all produced non-distinct, white noise volumes that were similar, although the Eagle F1 All Season has somewhat of a growl at higher speeds & across the coarser road surfaces.

The Michelin & Bridgestone tires were scored first & second for overall road h&ling, feeling taught, responsive & well connected to the road. The Pirelli was a little slower to respond to initial steering inputs as an apparent trade off for its ride quality advantage. The Goodyear h&led well, too, possessing crisp initial steering response. But as the Goodyear-shod vehicle continued to turn into the corner it displayed a slightly elastic feel as the cornering load increased or changed with bumps & road surface undulations.

What We Learned on the Test Track

Our 1/3-mile per lap test track course includes 90-degree street corners, lane changes & simulated expressway ramps. Run in both dry & wet conditions, the test track allows our team to experience the traction, responsiveness, h&ling & drivability normally only encountered during abrupt emergency avoidance maneuvers or competition events.

Previous tests have shown the Pirelli PZero Nero M&S (sharing its tread pattern with the summer-only P Zero Nero tire) will deliver high levels of grip & responsive h&ling capable of posting quick lap times on our dry h&ling course. & while this test showed us once again how well the Pirelli h&les when pushed hard, the Goodyear Eagle F1 All Season was able to post the fastest overall lap time, highest average cornering g forces & quickest slalom sector time. Subjectively, the Goodyear did not feel as composed as the Pirelli when driven hard, but it was apparent to our team that the Goodyear possesses plenty of dry grip. We did observe that this came at the price of tread wear (under the extremes of our track test drive), showing more wear than the other tires in the test. The Michelin Pilot Sport h&led well, but was not quite up to the level of the Goodyear or Pirelli. The Bridgestone was a close fourth, right on the heels of the Michelin.

We usually see larger differences in the wet than in the dry, & this time was no different. Here, too, the Eagle F1 All Season was the class of the field, setting the top mark for slalom time, cornering g forces & total lap time. The Potenza RE960 AS Pole Position was next, feeling well balanced overall but not quite the match of the Eagle F1 All Season. The Pilot Sport A/S was close behind the Bridgestone, exhibiting some gentle understeer at the limit. The PZero Nero M&S rounded out the test group, lacking the wet grip to challenge the Goodyear or Bridgestone.

Product Details

Bridgestone Potenza RE960 AS Pole Position (Ultra High Performance All-Season): The Potenza RE960AS Pole Position with UNI-T AQ II Technology is the Ultra High Performance All-Season member of Bridgestone's Potenza family of performance tires for the drivers of sports cars, sports coupes & performance sedans. The Potenza RE960AS Pole Position is designed to provide year-round driving flexibility by offering predictable h&ling, traction & control on dry & wet roads, as well as in light snow.

Goodyear Eagle F1 All Season (Ultra High Performance All-Season): The Eagle F1 All Season featuring Carbon Fiber Technology is Goodyear's Ultra High Performance All Season tire designed to give sports car, sporty coupe & performance sedan drivers piece of mind in virtually any weather condition. It was developed to combine crisp responsiveness & confident h&ling with year-round traction, including in light snow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Michelin Pilot Sport A/S (Ultra High Performance All-Season): The Pilot Sport A/S is an Ultra High Performance All-Season tire member of the Michelin Pilot family of low profile, high-speed tires. The Pilot Sport A/S was developed for the drivers of sports cars, coupes & sedans who desire year-round traction, including in light snow. The Pilot Sport A/S is designed to minimize dry & wet driving compromises while maximizing all-weather traction.

Pirelli PZero Nero M&S (Ultra High Performance All-Season): The PZero Nero M&S is manufactured for the North American market by molding an all-season tread compound into the non-all-season P Zero Nero summer tire's tread design. While this combination enhances the tire's dry road h&ling & comfort, it results in a scarcity of snow & ice traction enhancing sipes. Our experience has been that this tire is best suited for drivers who only encounter occasional light snow.