Just had some Goodyear F1's mounted today. Heading out from OK to Durango, Telluride, Aspen and home for the next five days. I will try to report daily about the new shoes and their behavior.

 

Those be some mighty nice Crossfire roads!!!

 

I'd like to know the size of those F1s please? Stock? Wider than stock? etc.

 

Stock sizes front and rear. They look a little lower than the Conti's but maybe thats just illusion. I've only driven them about five miles at this point so nothing to report yet. Stay tuned.

 

How many miles did you get on the Contis?

Pete

 

A good choice for new tires, I've heard only good things about the F-1's. Please
keep us posted on them.

We're heading up to Telluride, Silverton and Ouray in the Jeep to do some four
wheeling on the 20th. I'll be keeping an eye out for you around town.

 

Pete, I got 26K on the Conti's. Rears were down to the wear bars. Fronts still had 4k left in them but I changed them anyway to reduce PITA factor.

Ben, We had lunch in Ouray and then drove over to Telluride for the night. More running around tomorrow.

The F1's as mounted had a very slight vibration to start with. Other low profile HP tires I have had did the same but smoothed out after a few hundred miles and these did the same. The first 500 miles were interstate or fairly straight roads with few curves or lateral G's. They were quiet and tracked well but wanted to walk a little in the deep "trucker's trench" on I-40. More of a complaint of the road than the tire. The drive from Durango on gave me a chance to try the tires in the curves. I was very happy with the neutrality of the tires and handling. I had to try pretty hard with the throttle to break the back end loose a little. My XFire is a Limited and not an SRT so overwhelming the tires takes a little effort. I'm not fast by any stretch of the imagination but they were very confidence inspiring. Incidentally, I use a GPS and the speedo matched the GPS exactly on the interstate so the diameter is right on. They really look good on the car and I have about $950 in them including shipping from Tire Rack. They had to ship from two warehouses (Shreveport, LA and Atlanta, GA) as the rear tires were not in stock in LA. Will be happy to try to answer any specific questions if I can.

John

 

Hit Weston Pass and Mosquito Pass - awesome 4WD roads!!!

 

Where were the F1's made? I purchased some recently and the rears were made in Germany and the fronts were made in China. I asked about it at the Goodyear store and got a full history of every plant they have in the world. Basically, they said that it really didn't matter where they were made; if they were Goodyear F1's then they were all built the same. With all the stories floating around on the internet I was concerned about the ones from China.

 

Just put F1's on yesterday - I'll have to check them out, never dawned on me that they would be built in different places. Thanks for the info.

 

If I remember correctly, they can be made in the USA, Germany, 2 plants in China, and Brazil although these don't usually make it into the US as demand in that country keeps them there. There may have been a couple of others (Canada? Mexico?) but I don't really remember the conversation. Hey, it's been 3 days and my memory is shot!

 

My fronts were made in China and the rears are German. Hell of a combination. After 2k I am very happy with them.

 

I now have 20K on the F1s. Completely happy with them. May have another 10k left on the fronts. Rears maybe not. Very confidence inspiring and shure footed. "Truckers Trench" on interstates makes it want to "hunt" a little but not severe. On a good smooth road they are wonderful.

 

I put on F1 all-seasons in november. 8000 miles later both front tires are cupped and the back are showing the same. After checking alignment (which is fine) and after the Goodyear song and dance regarding how thier tires should last longer but "gee were sorry" you will have to buy another set at 1200 per. I really wonder what is the best tire for this car? I've had ps2 and eagle f1's both are a disapointment on the longevity side.

Any assistance would be appreciated.

Kelly Kelso
2006 Limited 15000 miles

 

By "cupped" I assume you mean that you see this on the outer/inner edges of the tires. I find it difficult to understand how a tire does this on its own and even harder to see how this happens to all 4. I have to think that the alignment (toe in/out) is not correct and that whoever mounted the tires made the same error on all 4 tires. Maybe you need to think about taking it to another shop?

 

The vehicle has been to both the originating dealer and to Aristocrat MB, Porsche, Jaguar, Rover dealer and both say the alignment is fine. Let me rephrase my earlier post the edges of the tires are scalloping not cupping.

Other than this tire issue the vehicle is a terrific car and is driven daily.

 

Terminology aside (I understand exactly what you're talking about), the problem that you are experiencing is weird. To check the obvious, what tire pressure are you running? Somebody who has lots of experience with tires has to know what is causing this. My Eagle F1's seem to be wearing just fine but that's no comfort to you. You may want to just do a Google search along the lines of "what causes tires to cup" and similar variations. Results may not be specific to the XF but may give you some clues. Here are the results from one hit that I got:

"Cupping can be caused by an unbalanced tire condition, faulty wheel bearings, loose suspension parts, unbalanced tires, fatigued springs or weak/broken shock absorbers. The cupping is not an 'uneven' wear like excessive toe-in/out would cause, it’s an 'intermittent' scrubbing of rubber from the tire. Camber or toe wear indicates misalignment due to loose, worn or bent steering linkage components. Many camber and toe wear problems can be traced to spring fatigue, which causes the vehicle's frame to ride closer to the road. Once the vehicle is below the manufacturer's height specifications, it is not possible to achieve the correct camber change designed into the suspension without replacing the springs. The vehicle also experiences excessive toe change as the suspension travels through jounce and rebound, again causing abnormal tire wear. This principle also applies to after-market mods for lowering the vehicle. My 330xi has "sport suspension" which really is dofferent that the normal setup (which is good BTW). Taking the normal components, and just installing shorter springs can cause pre-mature tire wear. Sometimes you just can;t adjust the camber/caster enough to overcome the ride-height. Diagonal scuffing and cupping across the face on rear tires signals problems with toe. Diagonal tread wear or cupping on rear tires is caused when the direction the vehicle's wheels are heading is not in line with the geometric center line of the vehicle. When this condition occurs, front-wheel steering can be affected and lead to tire slip or loss of traction or control. (Note: The wear pattern that develops on rear tires from improper toe will vary depending on tread design. Wear patterns from rear-wheel misalignment may resemble cupping on tires with highway tread design and diagonal scuffing on tires with an all season tread pattern.)"


Good luck.

 

Again, I now have 20K+ on my Eagle F1's (not the all season) and they are wearing uniformly. No cupping, or scalloping or uneven wear of any kind. I am completely happy with them.

 

All good points. Remember that in the "real world" the dealer and the manufacturer are two seperate entities. When checking and/or adjusting the alignment on these cars, a toe spreader bar must be used by the alignment specialist. Just because you've gone to the the Mercedes dealer, does not mean that they have a toe spreader bar. Ask to see it. It looks like a four to five foot long tube with cone shaped ends. If the dealership is as "high end" as they make out and you've explained the vehicle's/tire's history they should be understanding. If not, then go elsewhere. Also, don't forget to get an alignment summary that includes the manufacturer's specified range, and before & after settings. Have them explain the alignment summary to you. Check the tire pressures once the vehicle has been stationary for about 3 hours. If you have to drive 2 miles or more to get to a location with an air hose, then add 4psi to the cold tire inflation pressure recommendation listed on the driver's door jamb placard. Then, once home and having given the tires a chance to cool down (3 hours), verify the correct cold tire inflation pressure. Verify tire pressures at least every month. Make sure that the location(s) where you have service performed verify the proper pressure. A professional technician will set tires properly. Even a mechanic who's been in the business for years may have bad habits regarding setting tire pressures to the manufacturer's specification. These tires are expensive in any make & model. You don't have to take care of them, but if you want them to last, then these steps are worth it. One other note; "high spirited" driving can contribute to "scalloping". When the steering wheel is turned the suspension tilts the front wheels in the direction of the turn. The wheel/tire assembly rotates forward but the tilt & turn of the tire from the centerline causes slip angles to develop which deflects tread segments "sideways" increasing cornering force but contributing to uneven treadwear like scalloping. When I find "the right road" I too indulge in performance driving, but most of the time I drive sensibly enough that the vehicle longevity as well as the tires will last. Everything is a comprimise.

 

Now that I have 26K on the tires I am seeing severe "cupping" of the inside edges of the front tires. I suppose 26k is acceptable for these UHP tires but I would like to have had more. The cupping had not shown up until the last month or so. Anyone else with cupping or scalloping F1s?