I put on some new Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 in a 215/40-17 size on my stock S-lites over the holiday. I currently have them at 36psi cold. Because of the lower sidewall, I thought that I should run a higher pressure. Does anyone have any experience at setting pressures on these tires? Thanks in advance, Mike

 

i ran 36f 34r on the street. at the track i warmed them up and ran 40 all around. really great tires!

phil.

 

But you can go too far. I put a LOT of wear on them during the Dragon. So as a result of that, I took the pressures up to autocross levels for a track day event. I.E. 44 psi. On the skidpad with the sprinklers going the car stuck to a AMAZING level. Even surprised the instructor. But I had the pressure so high the car went to oversteer first! At steady throttle. Took em down to 40 front 38 back for rest of track events per instructor. Stock suspension, other than wheels.

These tires redouble the already great handling of the MINI, and with better ride than the runflats too! My car will see nothing but F1's for it's livespan.

I'm sure you're aware, but for others that might read this thread be aware F1 GS-D3 is a 'summer' and rain ONLY tire. Not rated for snow. This is due tread pattern and compound. I even had trouble getting out of a wet grass field. If you get winter weather where you live you need to park it, or get winter tires, or best yet a winter wheel tire combo.

 

You all are pumping me up for spring when I'll mount up my new F1's on my x-lites (205-50-16)!

Is the factory recommendation of 35 psi too low for these tires due to the softer sidewall?

mb

 

I guess I am lucky, because I will not drive this MCS in the snow! At least not here in the Bay Area of CA. We will get rain though and I am looking forward to using the superior performance of these F1s in the rain! Thanks for the ideas. I think that I may drop the rear a little bit. I turned in a bit hard this AM on the way to work and the back end tried to step out of line. Not bad, but a little unnerving anyway. Maybe I have the rear bar set a little too stiff too? It worked great at this setting with the stock springs & tires. Just for reference, I also have H-Sport springs, 22mm Ireland Eng. hollow rear bar, IE lower rear links and IE adjustable front camber plates. I had the alignment set to -2 degrees front camber, 1/16" toe out front, -1 degree rear camber, 0 toe rear. Mike

 

I ran mine (205/50R16) at around 34 front and 37 rear cold. I'm surprised to see people running higher front pressures than rear. But, whatever makes you happy. In any case, I'd aim for hot pressures of around 40-41 and even all around when I was at the track, which I usually got with 34/37 cold. And, the Bridgestone Pole Position S03's are better, but more expensive.

 

Higher front psi reduces understeer.

 

Huh...

 

I've settled in at 40 front 38 rear for street too, but thats in 215 /45 -17's. Even at that they are a MUCH better ride than the 16 inch run flats.

 

Relative to the rear tires, more psi up front will reduce slip angles up front and create stronger sidewalls. This works up to a point, afterwhich there is just too much psi and reduced tire contact patch size and more importantly, shape, mean less grip. Too much psi results in a longer more narrow contact patch.

More...

If you follow Plus Sizing concepts, a wider tire does not posses a larger footprint. Rather, the contact patch shrinks longitudinally - front to back, and increases in width. The total contact patch surface area is always the same - all else equal. I wider tire has better levereage, more side to side mechanical keying.

 

I guess I missed the revolution. A few years ago, the majority of people seemed to be running a little higher pressure in the rear tires. Now, it looks like that may have shifted to more people using higher front pressures. I've just stuck with one setting primarily as I get used to driving the car. And, my hot pressures on the track would wind up even all around.

Perhaps next season I'll experiment more with tire pressures to see if I can tell a difference.

The way I see it is that there's some magic pressure that is "optimal", and going either higher or lower than that will have to reduce "grip". So, it's not as simple as saying "more pressure=less grip" or the other way around.

 

i run 34 in the summer (above 50F) and 36psi in the winter (dry days only).

 

It's not a revolution, it's an idea that's been around for at least as long as me and I'm old. The idea is of particular interest to front wheel drivers.

The optimal psi changes based upon the venue - street or track, suspension set-up, and, tire selection. So in one way you are correct, it is not so simple. However, my generalization about a particular psi threshold being too much is quite valid as you will find out thru experimentation. sometimes you have to exceed the limits in order to identify them.

for me, 36 psi front and rear cold all season is fine for the street. Hot temps end up 2-3 psi higher. 34psi all around worked out to a very nice 40psi at the track. All of the tire was being used and the temps on the outside and inside averged the temp of the center...except for the driver's front...at LRP specifically. That shoulder was a little warmer, the inside a little cooler.

 

Can anyone give a bit of input on this tire, while we're talkin about it?
I think car&driver just rated it #1 on their test list.
I was gonna go w/ the Toyo T1R.

 

I've tried both on an M3 (same size same wheels), and I can tell you that the T1R's are ALOT better then the F1's... you guys should give them a try.