since 1976
since 1976
From Goodyear Press Release
After their announcement late last year, Goodyear is now presenting its flagship performance tyres at the Geneva International Motor Show 2019 - the Goodyear Eagle F1 SuperSport, Eagle F1 SuperSport R and Eagle F1 SuperSport RS.
The tyres deploy innovative technologies and compounds that enable significant improvements to braking distances and lap times without neglecting more intangible elements of the driving experience, such as feedback during turn-in, under braking and approaching breakaway.
The Goodyear SuperSport range
The Eagle F1 SuperSport draws on Goodyear’s racing experience to provide superior grip and handling. Responsive directional changes are ensured through the stiff tread ribs while a massive closed outside pattern, used on the tyre’s shoulder, provides control during load transfers in corners. A super-stiff sidewall design further improves handling without unduly compromising ride comfort. Although primarily developed for dry conditions, Goodyear has innovatively addressed wet performance through the deployment of a multi-compound combination that sees dry-optimized outer sections paired with three wet-optimised central segments. This enables drivers to safely push harder through corners on dry roads while still enjoying an exceptional wet braking and wet handling performance.
The Eagle F1 SuperSport R further increases grip levels and steering precision on and off track. Grip levels are enhanced through use of a high-friction compound that provides exceptional dry grip levels, while excellent cornering stability is ensured by bridges in the tread pattern’s inner groove reducing deformation of tread blocks under extreme cornering forces. Steering precision and feedback have also been further enhanced by optimising the tyre’s footprint for more consistent pressure distribution.
The Eagle F1 SuperSport RS is Goodyear’s most race-focused tyre, designed to push the limit on track while remaining road legal. A highly specialised racing-originated compound provides ultimate grip and performance levels in dry conditions.
“For over 120 years Goodyear has obsessively pursued innovations and inventions, partnering with the pioneers driving change and discovery in transport,” said Chris Helsel, Chief Technology Officer at Goodyear. “With mobility companies looking to the sky for the answer to the challenges of urban transport and congestion, our work on advanced tyre architectures and materials led us to imagine a wheel that could serve both as a traditional tyre on the road and as a propulsion system in the sky.”
The AERO concept includes a number of innovative features:
>Multimodal Design: The AERO is a multimodal tilt-rotor concept. It would serve as a drive train to transfer and absorb forces to and from the road in a traditional orientation and an aircraft propulsion system to provide lift in another orientation. With capable vehicles, the AERO would give future commuters the freedom to move seamlessly from the road to the sky.
>Non-Pneumatic Structure: The concept’s spokes would provide support to carry the weight of the vehicle and act as fan blades to provide lift when the tyre is tilted. This unique airless tyre uses a non-pneumatic structure that is flexible enough to dampen shocks when driving on the road, and strong enough to rotate at the high speeds necessary for the rotors to create vertical lift.
>Magnetic Propulsion: The AERO concept would use magnetic force to provide frictionless propulsion. This would enable the high rotating speeds required to drive the vehicle on the ground and, when the wheel is tilted, lift a vehicle into the air and propel it forward.
>Optical Sensing: The AERO would use light-based, fibre optic sensors to monitor road conditions, tyre wear and the structural integrity of the tyre itself.
>Artificial Intelligence: The concept would also feature an embedded A.I. processor that would combine information from the tyre’s sensors with data from vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication. The A.I. processor would analyse these streams of data to recommend a course of action - allowing a vehicle to adapt to a flying or driving mode – and identify and resolve potential tyre-related issues before they happen.
While the AERO is a purely conceptual design, some of its featured technologies, such as a non-pneumatic structure and intelligent tyre capabilities, are being developed by Goodyear today, while others might become the basis for new ideas and potentially new products in the future.
“Goodyear’s concepts are meant to trigger a debate on the tyres and transport technologies for a new mobility ecosystem,” Helsel concluded
Goodyear unveiled the restored Golden Sahara II at the 2019 Geneva International Motor Show in collaboration with Klairmont Kollections,. An iconic custom car of the 1950s and 60s, the Golden Sahara II was one of the first concepts of autonomous vehicles and was fitted with glowing, see-through tyres that were custom developed by Goodyear.
“The 1950s and 60s were a period of intense innovation for Goodyear. We partnered with mobility pioneers in everything from lunar exploration to land speed records,” said Henry Dumortier, Vice President Consumer for Goodyear Europe. “Goodyear’s collaboration on the Golden Sahara II project was our first step in shaping the future of autonomous mobility.”
Developed by Jim Street and legendary custom car designer George Barris, the Golden Sahara II was a platform for testing new electronics systems. It featured a control system with an aircraft-inspired control lever for acceleration, braking and steering and an automatic braking system that used sensors to detect potential objects in the car’s path.
The car’s tyres were developed by Goodyear using Neothane, a translucent form of synthetic rubber, and contained internal lighting, which allowed them to glow. This was part of broader research by Goodyear into the feasibility of tyres that could help improve visibility in bad weather conditions or be wired to light up when a driver hit the brakes.
“The Golden Sahara II is a unique vehicle and a part of American motoring history,” said Larry Klairmont, founder and owner of Klairmont Kollections, a museum of 300 classic and custom vehicles in Chicago, Illinois. “My team and I are proud to have partnered with Goodyear in bringing this iconic vehicle back to life at the 2019 Geneva International Motor Show.”
In its heyday, the Golden Sahara II toured the United States, featuring on television and in films. It then sat in a garage for the best part of 50 years until Klairmont Kollections purchased the vehicle from Mecum Auctions in May 2018. The Golden Sahara II was restored with the help of Speakeasy Customs and Classics in Chicago and was presented at Geneva on four, newly-built Goodyear translucent tyres.
“We are truly honoured to have once again been a partner in the Golden Sahara II project,” Dumortier added. “Discovery and innovation continue to be the core of what Goodyear does. Working on projects like the Golden Sahara II and the concept tyres that we present at Geneva is an opportunity to stretch our imagination and envision the possible products and services of the future.”
