I just got a call back from Tirerack and they told me all the new ones are being made in China!

 

And this is a bad thing? Or are you worried about the lead content?

 

Well, it's something people should know since there are previous reports about DS-G3's made in China that were inferior to the German made ones.

 

another reason why i only run bridgestone on my summers these days.

 

we only use cooper tires on our cooper s.

 

Goodyear has been struggling its no surprise that they are trying to cut costs. So long as they make sure the quality is decent its okay just don't buy a tire just because it says good year on it buy it because its a good tire. It seems like the only reason they are still alive is their name, I cant say I have been interested in any of their tires for the price. Maybe this move will help them be more competitive.

 

Only when I light them up....don't want to inhale that lead-smoke.

 

If that bothers you, don't shop at Wallmart then. Almost everything there is made in China.

 

You're missing the point. There is a previous thread that said the same model they made in Germany was actually different and superior.

 

Huh? It seems like the reviews for the DS-G3 F1 have been excellent, and either at the very top or near it for its' class.

 

Boooooo to China!

 

Hey! Some of us are Chinese! Chill!

 

dont take it personal.

my tire guy discouraged me from getting these tires. he said that the chinese made ones have poor quality control and the molds are not maintained as well as other locations in the world.

btw-my tire guy is chinese and so am i.

 

might as well break out some wood and whittle it yourself. It's everywhere. For what it's worth, some of the best laptops are Chinese, and almost every power supply used to make every semiconductor made in the world comes from there, no matter the company label on it. Fact is, if someone outsources manufacturing to China, competitors better or they will be out of business shortly....

Matt

 

Well, I just hope the previous problems they had with Chinese manufacturing have been resolved. I recently bought five- three of which were Chinese and two German. It turns out if I want a matching set, I need to return the German ones for Chinese! I'm going to do it though and hope for the best. Again, I actually have nothing about Chinese stuff, I just want the quality to be there (which reportedly in the past it has not).

 

The bottom line is that Goodyear chooses the level of quality they want. Whether they want to maintain quality or cut costs determines which suppliers they select. Every iPod is made in China. Apple sets their standards high and demand that their suppliers meet it.

Here's an interesting account about manufacturing in China.
Audio: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...oryId=15773915
Article: http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200707/shenzhen

 

Well for me i very satifed whit chinesse nexen 3000 215/40/17 i have track
these for few time now and they have suprise me quite a bit compare to the spupid runflat ...and for 100$ they are very chep compare to 400$ runflat...

 

bottom line is, it doesnt matter where is coming from, as long as the company is responsible for it and has high quality QC... in the end as long as QC is maintained it really doesnt matter

btw, i am chinese also and i quite take offense to people who are always knocking on the chinese

 

I had heard the same info on German built vs. Chinese built F1 GS-D3's. That info being that the ones from China were not equal to the German ones. However, I assumed that was a result of the load and speed rating both being lower which they were, vs being a manufacturing quality issue. No knock of the Chinese meant at all in my case. Many tires are made in different speed ratings and sold at different prices. This was the case here as far as I know.

We need to know are the same higher speed and load rated tires now being made in China too (the ones that used to cost about $139 and were made in Germany). Or is that tire gone and only the lower load and lower speed rated (about $79) tire being made?

Has anyone asked Alex @ Tirerack?

If the higher speed rated one is now made in China, I'll need to find a new test of that tire before it's time for me to replace my current ones. I hope they're the equal, I LOVE these tires.

 

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...8&postcount=16

 

Just don't lick the tires and you'll be ok.

 

I'm not booing Chinese people, silly. I'm booing the oppressive Communist Chinese government.

(This is the Tires forum, not Off-Topic Politics, so that's all I'll leave it at that.)

 

Thanks, but what I was wondering if he knew if the Chinese ones were of the same load & speed rating, and of the same quality as what used to be made only in Germany. I guessed he was the source of the initial info. If it's tirerack and MINI's then Alex is da man.

 

The Chinese versions of this particular tire are of a lower speed rating and feel like a different rubber (from a recent NAM poster who got a mixed shipment of the two by mistake - immediately rectified by Alex at the Tire Rack - Kudos to them). I think that the quote from the NAM poster was "they don't even look like the same tire" or something very close to that.

I've got the German versions and love 'em... they stick like glue on dry and wet... fairly slippery in the cold, but they are a warm weather, high-performance tire.... you can't have it all! :D

 

I purchased a set of 215-45/17 Eagle F1’s in July 2006. I bought them for two reasons. First, they were highly recommended as a “Great” tire even for performance applications. And second, TireRack had them on special at $88 and you got a $100 gift card from Goodyear on top of it. I couldn’t pass it up!

These were my first tires after the stock RS-As and I was going to use them for street and track days. On the street, I was impressed with the grip entering freeways but they always felt out of balance. However, on the track, they were absolutely miserable! They squeal loudly around every corner and had mediocre grip even when hot.

I went to the track with a MINI buddy this summer who also has Eagle F1’s. He loves his tires! Very little squealing and great grip. We compared our tires after a 20 min session. His felt very tacky and mine were very smooth…almost like his wear rating was 200 and mine was 300. Guess what!! His were German and mine are Chinese!!!!! There is a difference. The Chinese tires are clearly inferior to the Germans. At least for high performance applications.

Oh, remember I mentioned that they always felt out of balance? Slipped belt right from the beginning. Poor quality control.

Go ahead and buy these for the street if you want to. I personally think you can get a much better summer tire for less money. However, do not buy these for performance applications…they are JUNK!!! I blame Goodyear, not the Chinese.