Goodyear and Dunlop scoop tyre tests

Media Release

Tuesday 17th April 2007

Goodyear and Dunlop scoop tyre tests

The Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 has maintained its position as Australasia’s number one tyre for large cars after scooping the 2007 Wheels Magazine tyre tests.

It was joined by the Dunlop Sport Maxx as the best tyre for small to medium cars following comprehensive independent tyre tests undertaken recently.

Last year the tests were conducted on 17 inch tyres only but this year the magazine editors split it into two classes – one for 245/45R18 mounted on a V8 Commodore SS and the other for 205/55R16 on a turbo diesel VW Golf DSG. Six different brands of tyre were including the original equipment were tested by professional rally and race drivers Ed Ordynski and Rick Bates.

The tests comprised slalom, cornering, braking and hot laps on wet and dry roads. In the 18 inch tyre category the Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3s beat the Bridgestone Potenza overall, excelling particularly in the wet braking and the wet hot lap.

On the 16 inch tyres, the Dunlop Sport Maxx on the VW Golf performed particularly well, beating the Pirelli Zero Nero original equipment tyre by excelling in the dry braking and wet hot lap disciplines.

“Tyre design and construction involves trade-offs in different performance factors. For example, handling, cornering and braking in the wet or the dry can all be altered by the design and construction of the tyre, the tread pattern and the rubber compounds used,” South Pacific Tyres New Zealand’s general manager of sales and marketing Frank Hughes said.

“These tests show that the Eagle F1 in the large size and the Dunlop Sport Maxx in the smaller size offer the best package for the average driver in a wide range of conditions.

“We were especially pleased with the critical wet braking performance which was over three percent better for the Eagle F1 GS-D3 than the Bridgestone Potenza which is the original equipment fitment on the Commodore.

“And The Eagle F1 is a massive seven percent better than the worst tyre in the class. At the point when the Goodyear tyre had stopped the car, when fitted with the worst tyre, it would still be travelling and potentially crashing at 16 kph,” he said.

ENDS

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