TYRE TEST - GOODYEAR EAGLE F1 ASYMMETRIC 2

Choosing the right tyre for your high performance car can make an enormous difference. But which tyre? Andy Enright checks out Goodyear's Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2

As any automotive engineer knows, the biggest gains in performance for any sporting car are to be found not beneath the bonnet, but beneath the wheels. Yet choosing the right rubber for any powerful car can be a bewildering process. Goodyear's latest Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2 tyre claims to simplify the process a good deal.

To appreciate the kind of difference that such a tyre can make, let's assume you've a dream two-car garage. On one side, sits a classic Lamborghini Miura, by any standards an awesome supercar. With a massive 285bhp/tonne power to weight ratio, this Italian would manage to hit 100mph from a standstill in 15.6 seconds. On the other side of this mythical garage, let's assume you've something still exciting but a little more accessible - say a Porsche Cayman S. The Stuttgart coupe would be good for a mere 237bhp/tonne, yet fit a data logger to this car and you'll find that even with the traction control switched off, it would take comfortably less than 12 seconds to breach 100mph.

Yes, there have been advances in engine tractability and the Porsche is a little slipperier through the air than the venerable Lambo, but the lion's share of that yawning gulf between the two cars comes down to tyres. Whereas the Lamborghini's torque would rapidly overwhelm its Pirelli Cinturatos, requiring power to be fed carefully, the Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2 tyres fitted to the Porsche just grip and go.

That two mid-engined, rear wheel drive cars can produce such massively diffe...