Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3

Rear offside tyre took a nail yesterday resulting in the wall of the tyre breaking up on my rim. Result had to replace the tyre....and as per usual resulted in a two tyre purchase for the back axle. They replaced my P zeros which I have been very loyal to. My tyre dealer talked me into buying a set of 275/30 ZR19 Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3's �504 later I took the car out to a very wet run between Chester and Liverpool (about 30 miles). I gave them a test in some windy roads. Tested start and stopping power. Tried like hell to spin em out. Wow! I mean f...ing wow! These tyres have changed the car entirely. Apart from having incredible handling, they are glued to the road. The roads were very wet. Been raining on and off for weeks here. But not once did I get the rear end to budge out of wack on the road even in some really hairy and wet bends. Incredible. To top it off the road noise has more than halved.....and my car's a cab so it matters. From stop to pedal hit metal, there was no spin. Even in a puddle of water. And stopping power..... Jesus H! If I didn't know it, I would think I just had ceramics fitted. Slamming the breaks at 70 to stop dead near took me thru the front screen. I'm very impressed with these tyres. I am interested if anyone else has tried them?

Now I don't own a 996, but every other 911 model owner knows that you should always have the same make & model tyre on all 4 corners. Did you replace all 4? (It is a bit difficult to make out from your post...) I think I will try these on my car next time.

Found a good write-up on these tyres: http://www.zr1.net/F1G3D3.html No I didn't replace all 4. I do intend to replace the fronts after Xmas is over. Running out of cash :-( However, I am fairly certain that you don't have to replace all 4. Only a complete axle....i.e. 2 tyres. Anyone agree on this?

I have a set of rears I'm about to put on. I'm anxious to try them out. They're supposed to be great in the wet and it sounds like they really are. Thanks for the report.

JakeMate please do keep us posted. Just one other bonus I got. I have had this car since new and despite numerous sets of tyres, tracking, wheel rebalancing done at both Porche Dealership and independent, my 996 has always started to have a light shake at about 85. It seems to dissapear at about 105. From what I have read this is a feature of the 911. Maybe I have read wrong but it's certainly been a feature on my car. Anyway, its gone. Yep, its history. Since fitting these two tyres the car is steady althe way up to 130.....that's the fastest i took it without crapping out ;-) Like I said, they have changed my car. Love these tyres.

I have Dunlop 9000 and the fronts and Dunlop 9090 on the back. No problems regarding mixing but the tires are very close to each other in design. They have been fine. I am on my third set of rears to the front.

Scouser, do you think the road noise improvement is due to the fact that these are new, or better block design? I like quiet tires, a lot. My Pilot Sports aren't as bad as some tires I've heard, but on certain road textures they kick up a fair howl. I plan to drown this out with the GHL exhaust and maybe some intake noise.

No they are definitely quieter tyres. It maybe a better block design whatever that is I duno. They are more solid and I think that's why the car feels stiffer and more solid overall. There's a long winding but sharp bend on the A41 near whitchurch that I usually take at about 70 and on a dry day about 80. The signpost on the bend suggesting 40Mph max . When I had my Audi A6 quattro sport I would take this bend at 85. Well I took it at 95......and in the wet! The tyres and car just felt like they could have done even better than this! I guess the tryes induce some kinda extra confidence in the cars handling. On the way home I go down this road that changes in surface from tarmac to concrete and back to tarmack after about 5 miles. I always hate the concrete patch as it drones out everything including my music system...and I have a 300w per side system with base tube in the back of the car! But the noise didn't come. And that's when I realy got excited and decided to take the car for a spin. I am serious they are really great tyres and they have me dying to take the car out for a spin at every moment. I can't wait to try them out on a dry road. I think you can tell I am more than happy with them. Its a great feeling when you blow your tyre and it costs you �502 just as Xmas is approaching only to find out it was the best thing that could have happened to you. Also, did I tell you there is a rim protector on these tyres to boot. My only issue and it's a small issue, is that the tyres seem a lot more solid and heavy built. They are still low profile of course but they seem to have a lot more rubber. The downside is that its probably added more weight to the car. But its only a small downside for me. pictures to come....

Just been told that Goodyear has discontinued this tire in N. America...bummer!

I had GY F! GS on my 3000GT vr-4 a couple years ago. I was very impressed with their levels of grip and wear. I got about 30K miles out of them which is amazing for z rated tires. Im gonna throw the GS-D3s on my C4 as soon as my Pilot Sports wear out. Im glad they work well and look forward to them. Hopefully they will wear a lot longer than my Pilots. Bobby

What! I am gobsmacked! That has got to be a marketing issue.

I do, but Porsche does not. This has been debated all over this site. Two schools of thought. 1) Don't mix, period. 2) those of us who don't push the car have very little to worry about. However if you do get frisky with the car and prang it, don't bitch about the tires........

Well I use 19" rims which Porsche don't approve of in the first place.

Carbon00 You sure abou that. Tirerack, discount tire direct and other suppliers have it in stock ready to ship out and my local guy has no news about that. Maybe just in Canada. Bobby

Some more info from the blurb.... I never thought of fuel consumption (item 4). 1) The tyre's main characteristics are its striking appearance with its sweeping directional tread design and exceptional levels of grip and steering response. 2) The directional tread design features grooves which follows the natural flow pattern of water thereby assuring that water is evacuated via the quickest and most efficient path. 3) The tread pattern features a tread shift arrangement which means that no two blocks enter the tyre's footprint at the same time. This means significant reductions in noise frequency levels. 4) The silica based tread compound allows the tyre to achieve exceptionally high levels of grip in both wet and dry conditions, improving wet braking, rolling resistance (and therefore fuel consumption) and roadholding at speed. 5) The Eagle F1 features a multi-radius tread contour which helps provide even pressure distribution across the road contact surface of the tyre, thereby maximising the amount of rubber in contact with the road. A further benefit is high levels of vehicle control, even at high speeds.

I have the same tires on my 99 and I just can't say enough about them. One of the best tires I have ever had on a P-car and I have tried quite a few. Holds the road at high speed tlike no other tire, even on wet pavement and on occasion I do drive my car hard. Had it on the track and the handling was excellent with these tires. They are a little pricey but worth it.

Hey 996 Aero, Hows the wear on them???? Bobby

A little over 8000 on them right now and the tread still looks good. I think I might get another 3000 or maybe more if I'm lucky. Of course the rears are wearing more than the fronts. I will definately need to replace the rears first and probably run the fronts till they wear out. I no many do not agree with that. Should replace all four. But they are very pricey. About $270.00 each for the rears.

On my 85 I was lucky to get 8000 on Pirelli's, Dunlops, and one other brand I cannot remember right now.

Might just be a Canadian thing on the discontinue, that being said I may have also been misinformed by the dealer.

$270! man that is cheap. They are �252 here in the UK. That's about $400! I don't know how they get away with ripping us off like that. Still they are great tyres.

It seemed to me that everything was expensive in the UK when I was there last year, especially eating out excpt for the pubs. You folks must make a lot more money over there !!

Also never saw so many Porsches in one place as I did in London.

996 AERO, I dissagree. I saw way more Porsches in Palo Alto and the SoCal area. I saw three, yes three 996 Turbo cabs in one day! But you do see a good deal of Boxters in London. I was down in London last week. I saw countless Boxters but no 996 apart from my own. As promised, here are some pics of the Eagle F1's on my car. Notice the rim protector. (not modem friendly)

Nice looking color, Scouser. I have heard similar impressions about the F1's that are consistent with your report. I've gone through two sets of Pirelli Rosso Asimmetricos, and IMHO they have relatively poor wet performance. The Rossos seem to do OK in full rain, but in the damp or drizzle, they are very unpredictable! Dry traction, however, is very acceptable with progressive break away. I'm running S-03s mainly for street use, even though I've tracked them twice. The S-03 wet performance shames the Rosso... and it has a more compliant ride (not much of a factor for me) at the expense of turn in that's not quite as sharp as the Rosso. Rain ON!

Scouser(or anyone else with experience), I'm running SO2's currently. How do they compare in your opinion to the GS-D3's? What's the quietest tire on the market(and how much performance do they give up if any?). Thanks