Introduction
Since owning the Goodyear Eagle F1 SuperSport tyres at the time of the track day I had driven around 3,000 miles. This is my second track review, this time at Castle Combe, organised by Swallows Jaguar Racing with an invite from PVE Engineering (a local tuning company).
My original plan was to be able to directly test these the Goodyear’s on track against the Michelin Pilot Sport 4 but unfortunately my new set of wheels were not available in the fitment I wanted and had to be specially ordered.
The conditions were changeable throughout the day, started out wet and gradually dried throughout the morning. For the afternoon the track was dry so it was a great test of the Goodyear Eagle F1 SuperSport tyres in different weather conditions.
The Track Day Review
“What were the Goodyear’s like in the wet and damp on track?”
For the morning sessions as it was my first time in the wet on track I’d left the traction control in sport mode as these Megane’s can be quite tail happy. Wet grip was generally good and progressive although I felt I could have probably pushed harder if the whole day had been wet as the traction control was cutting in quite a lot as you would expect trying to apply 360lb ft through the front wheels.
Greasy conditions were much more difficult than full wet, when the traction control cutting in it was potentially unsettling the car and I had a couple of oversteer moments where the car snapped quite quickly. In the damp and especially drying conditions under hard braking and corning the tyre was squealing and screeching so I was getting near the limit unlike on the road or at Goodwood.
“What were the Goodyear’s like in the dry on track?”
For the dry sessions the traction control and ESP was turned completely off therefore the gripper front differential was able to lock up and held pull the car out of corners which was very impressive.
The Goodyear’s held up well initially with good grip under braking, traction and cornering. Although they did start to squeal within a lap or two (which didn’t happen at Goodwood) and went ‘off’ and lost grip as they overheated.
The rear of the car became more mobile and unstable especially through the medium speed corners under full throttle, having to lift where earlier in the session I was flat, a good example of this was through Old Paddock Bend.
The front of the car also started to loose grip as the dry sessions went on and the front wheels tried to spin up under traction when the gripper diff was locked, it felt like the car was sliding across the track, especially out of Quarry corner.
“Can I compare the Goodyear’s to the Michelin’s on track without testing them back to back?”
I have had previous experience at Castle Combe on Michelin Pilot Sport 4’s but in a completely different car, a modified R56 Mini JCW. In the wet I’ve had a lot more experience in the Mini and with the traction control off I felt comfortable really pushing the car but didn’t find the limit in terms of oversteer, unlike with the Megane. The Megane is also trying to apply another 70bhp and 100lb ft of torque through the front wheels which is a lot and with the traction control on the gripper differential is not locking up.
In the dry the Michelin felt like it lost more laptime time when the tyre went off in my previous Mini JCW over a whole session. The Goodyear felt like it had more ultimate grip and more consistent lap times (even though it was still going off and overheating) compared to the Michelin.
Overall although they are different cars with different modifications at this time I would have had more confidence in the Mini in the wet, although the laptime of the Renault I suspect would be faster. In the dry I had much more confidence and preferred the Goodyear.
“Can I draw any conclusions from this track day?”
Even though the Megane was fast on track and wasn’t overtaken all day I have found the limits of grip especially in the dry. It has to be said this is a tyre which isn’t designed for hard track use and the Megane has had some significant upgrades meaning the tyre will be under a lot more strain than on a standard Megane.
For me to go significantly quicker on track in terms of outright and more consistent laptimes I would need to upgrade to a more track focused tyre. Although the temperatures were much cooler than Goodwood and I only stayed on track for around 10 minutes at a time I still found the limit of the tyre, especially in the dry.
What’s in the next blog?
The second road review where I’ve been using the tyres in the colder and wetter winter conditions whereas the previous review was mainly focused on dry, warmer conditions.
Thanks for taking the time to read this blog, if you have any questions or comments please post them.
EP400 in the Wild 