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With Goodyear Tyres @ Sepang Race Track: AMGs, Tyre Technology and more

20th October 2023, 16:17 by Ananth Iyer

It's worth pausing for a moment and appreciating all the technology that works silently in the background enabling everything we do.

BHPian Chetan_Rao recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Intro & Brand History

Motion, in essence, depends on the ability to 'put the power down'.

It matters little whether you're Fred Flintstone furiously pumping your brawny legs under the Flintmobile, a commuter tootling along in a tiny road-legal contraption whose spec sheet in the 0-100 column merely says 'maybe, if rolling downhill with a tailwind', a racer sat on a starting grid waiting for the red lights to go out, a maverick chasing land speed records in a jet-powered thingamajig or a space explorer trying to crawl on the moon. You're getting nowhere until the Gods of traction bestow upon you, the almighty Contact Patch - a surface often barely larger than the size of a human palm, yet the difference between you shooting off into the distance in a blur or stuck spinning wheels in situ, bystanders wondering whether it's you or your ride whining louder.

Motion, the bedrock of all progress; past, present and future. From our first steps as toddlers, to changing the world, all driven by one common factor: motion.

To get somewhere, one must start somewhere. Akron, Ohio is as good a place as any, a bicycle tyre and horseshoe pads are as good a starting point as any. You take that humble beginning, spend a hundred and twenty-five years developing, evolving products and expertise across a broad range of applications across varied market segments, pioneer some technologies and become the provider of the almighty contact patch to enable mobility across the spectrum from bicycles to space explorers, it's fair to say you've crossed a few milestones and left some tread-marks in your wake.

We're talking of Goodyear, one of the world's biggest tyre brands.

Goodyear invited Team-BHP to join them in Malaysia to celebrate '125 Years In Motion'. A two-day event in Kuala Lumpur focused on the Asia Pacific region, spanning a showcase of the brand's history, their latest tech innovations driving the present and future of mobility, launch of their latest automotive tyre offerings for Asia Pacific and an opportunity to experience some of these products at the iconic Sepang International Circuit. The event was attended by nearly 300 customer representatives and 100 media members over its duration.

A thoughtfully classy touch, delivered right after we checked in on Day 0:

Goodyear tyres are sold in two distinct tyre markets - the replacement market and original equipment (OE) market. It has 9 manufacturing facilities in this region; 3 in China, 2 in India and 1 each in Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.

Day 1 Morning Session: Product Launch

Beginning the event, Goodyear unveiled four product lines for the Asia Pacific region

Eagle F1 Asymmetric 6 (Luxury Sports)
Wrangler Duratrac RT (Premium 4x4 Off-Road)
ElectricDrive (EV)
Assurance Maxguard (Mid Passenger)

Product launch with Greg Hanna (Vice President, Product Development & Quality, Asia Pacific), Nathaniel Madarang (President, Asia Pacific) and Pietro Saletta (Vice President, Consumer Tyres, Asia Pacific):

Eagle F1 Asymmetric 6

The latest iteration of Goodyear's high-performance Eagle F1 range is about better grip in both dry & wet conditions, improved handling and lower noise.

Eagle F1 Asymmetric 6 Profile:

Goodyear claim that their Dry Contact Plus Tech features an adaptive contact patch and optimized cavity shape to adapt to load variations. This helps tyre stability and steering precision even on a rough road at high speeds.

Eagle F1 Asymmetric 6 Description:

Goodyear's Wet Braking Pro Tech features a cap compound with a new resin system allowing the tyre to have more micro-contact and thus, improved wet braking and handling on wet roads.

A thinner sipe design on central ribs is claimed to offer lower noise generation, and the radial chamfered groove helps to further dampen noise frequencies. Additional innovations include a reduction in overall tyre weight and an aerodynamic sidewall shape to manage turbulence and airflow around the tyre and the side of the vehicle.

Eagle F1 Asymmetric 6 Brochure:

Wrangler Duratrac RT

Goodyear's new Rugged Terrain (RT) offering is aimed at providing a balance between All Terrain (AT) & Mud Terrain (MT) characteristics. 3-ply sidewall construction enhances sidewall damage protection, while reinforced tread compound offers improved chipping resistance.

Wrangler Duratrac RT Profile:

Solid tread blocks have more biting edges, claimed to improve grip across mud, snow and assorted rugged terrain. Deeper tread blocks combined with an aggressive shoulder design (DuraEdge Technology in Goodyear terms) provide improved protection against rocks and other sharp off-road hazards.

Wrangler Duratrac RT Description: