Goodyear Eagle F1's Wild Treads Grab Consumer Attention

AKRON, Ohio, Sept. 23, 2002; Featuring a striking, wild tread pattern, Goodyear's new ultra-performance tire appears as radical as the Aquatred tire when it made a splash in the North American marketplace.

Goodyear's Eagle F1 tire, developed in Europe and featuring a sweeping tread pattern and sophisticated sidewall design, will be available in late October in 39 popular ultra-performance 15- to 21-inch sizes. The new tire is engineered for sporty cars, sport trucks and a growing segment of highly modified compact-car "tuners."

"This new tire looks fast even when standing still," Bob Toth, marketing manager for auto tires, said. "It's Goodyear's most technically sophisticated Eagle ultra-high-performance radial ever."

Eagle F1 features sweeping unidirectional V-TRED technology and a custom- blended triple-polymer AAtrax tread compound, delivering the highest "AA" quality grading label for wet traction.

For maximum force transfer between the steering wheel and dry roads, the tire's OneTRED design provides continuous road contact across the tire footprint, Toth said. Eagle F1's OneTRED delivers maximized handling, acceleration and braking performance and optimum noise comfort.

Directional V-TRED feature employs virtual rib technology, which efficiently transfers load from shoulder to centerline to shoulder for responsive handling. More than forty 13- to 15-inch-long grooves sweep water diagonally outward to tire shoulders for up to 7.9 percent shorter braking distances from 60 mph, when compared to competitive tires.

Eagle F1 is manufactured at Goodyear plants in Lawton, Okla., and in Germany at Fulda, Phillipsburg, Hanau and Furstenwalde. The new tire already has received accolades from discriminating automotive media in Germany and Great Britain.

For more information on Eagle F1 and to experience the tire's performance on the A1 Ring racetrack in Austria, go to www.eaglef1.com .