I'm a big Goodyear fan, and have been running the F1 Asymmetrics on the track for the past 2 years now, since they came out. Prior to that, I ran Goodyear GS-D3s on track.
I believe it's the best wet traction summer performance tire on the market, and many who took my suggestion and switched also agreed. One friend had it at Laguna in the wet, and passed every car he caught up to. I also tracked Infineon in the wet this past Mar and passed every car I caught up to. I'm sure there were plenty of just-as-fast or faster cars around the track that we never saw, but the fact that neither of us were ever passed should be pretty telling. On the street, the wet traction feels amazing, and in light rain, feels like you're in the dry.
Despite the amazing wet characteristics, it's not why I stuck with Goodyears for track. It was for the superior dry traction. But to be honest, when you're looking at the top few selections in summer performance tires, there's very little difference except for price! For me, I have direct experience comparing with PS2s, and to be honest, the dry grip is pretty much the same. So like I said, I believe only marginal differences between top selections.
But also having driven tuned 335is running General Exclaims, I'm confident you'll notice a big difference.
Lastly, the Goodyears have better treadwear than the PS2s, and even with track days, I get about 30K miles for the front, but only 18-20K miles for the rears. I'm a bit disappointed that it's less than the obsolete GS-D3s, which got me 35K miles front, and 30K rear.
On the track, my front tires are completely chunked out after 6 track days...which is not surprising and happens to all street tires. I got it in January, and by April, I was done. But it has plenty of treadwear left for the road, which was why I haven't swapped them out yet. Rear tires are not chunked.
Right now, I'm consider trying the Yokohama AD08s next (very popular choice, lots of people run on track). Unfortunately, treadwear on these are extremely poor from all accounts. For those who participate in at least 5 track events per year, the most I heard was 18K miles, to as low as 8K miles, which is a big problem since I put ~18K miles annually on my car. If I chunked out my front tires after 6 events, I'm guessing the AD08s would be even worse for me.
I'm running a staggered 19" setup. Hope this review helps.
P.S. I've run Sumitomos and Kumhos in the past, but that was many years ago. I was NOT impressed with them, but as I don't have a direct comparison to the F1s and PS2s, I didn't comment on them in the main text. My feeling is they're on par to the General Exclaims or slightly better, but not significantly so.
P.P.S. I have to say that I've met a few people who ran Asymmetrics on track who switched to AD08s and loved them. They mentioned Asymmetrics/PS2s are really good, but AD08s are even better! But because of poor treadwear, they recommended buying a 2nd set of wheels for the AD08s and track use. That's why I chose to stay w/ the F1s.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Turkeybaster115
Wow, you guys are running 17's at the track? cool. Must be nice to be light on your feet. I'm running VMR M3 csl reps staggered: 235/35/19-front 275/30/19-rears. Currently have on worn General exclaim UHP's-Great tires, I've loved every minute in them. However now I'm torn between these 3 tires:
1. Sumitomo HTZ III
2. Kumho Ecsta SPT
3. Good Year Eagle F1
I need a good summer/all season tire that's great on the track, wet or dry, and has good road manners. I'd appreciate any input guys as I'm about to pull the trigger.
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