Minimal

Last June, I got myself fresh rubber all round on the Mini and decided to go for a set of Goodyear Eagle F1’s. Not only do they have a great-looking tread pattern, but Evo magazine had rated them #1 in their tyre test article. I’d already tried their #3 option, Continental SportContact2’s, and been quietly impressed, so I was expecting big things of the Goodyears. Sadly, they failed to live up to expectations, but that might not be entirely the tyres’ fault...

First mistake I made was getting a non-standard tyre size for the 16" rims on my Mini. The manufacturer-specced tyres are 195/55’s, but I bought 205/50’s. Practically-speaking, this made very little difference to the rolling radius, but was likely to mean a little more lateral flex. In my defence, I was only matching the size of the tyres I was removing. I just hadn’t realised the guy I bought them off had fitted a non-standard size.

My second mistake was to take them out on track when fresh and in blistering heat. The day was so hot, in fact, that parts of the circuit were disintegrating as hot rubber plucked and picked at the melting tarmac. The conditions saw my tyre temperatures rise to such a degree that pressures shot up dangerously from 30PSI to 42PSI and the tread simply melted. I must’ve lost a good 2 or 3 millimetres in fewer than 10 laps as the tall tread blocks flexed back and forth (also giving me a few frights under braking).

Following that trackday, they never really felt the same. The succession of right-hand corners had left the tread blocks badly worn on the left-hand edges, greatly reducing the amount of rubber left in contact with the road. My confidence in the car was reduced accordingly. Even though the conditions had been a tad extreme on the day, I’m still left feeling that Eagle F1’s aren’t suited to summer track work. The ribs on the tread pattern are just too flexible for their own good. In hindsight, the wide blocks on the Conti’s are probably a much better bet. Shame they went when I sold the 17" rims they were on.

On the more everyday side of things, I can’t really say the tyre fared that much better. The car always felt as though it would slip into understeer a little too readily. In wet conditions, it was especially noticeable and severely limited my confidence in situations that other tyres had handled well. True, I may have done lasting damage on the trackday, but I’ll never know. Overall, I reckon they’re worth a 3 out of 5.