The journalists' first ‘official' sight of the tire came Monday night when two skydivers delivered the tire from a helicopter to an audience of more than 50 members of the media.
After an interactive tour through a specially constructed tire exhibition, the media representatives put the tire through its paces on Tuesday during four demanding workshops at a track on the island off the west coast of Africa. Mounted on 40 Audi TT cars, the workshops showcased the Eagle F1 Asymmetric's capabilities in wet handling, dry handling, cornering and slalom.
And the verdict? Here are comments from some of the media:
Ian Kuah, freelance (UK)
"On the Goodyear tire I was able to go as quickly on the wet track as I was able to go on the dry on the Bridgestones! I was deliberately pushing hard and the car was nicely controlled on the Goodyears."
Dirk Vinken, freelance (Germany)
"I was pleased to see all the things Goodyear made available for us to see at this tire introduction. It was a very enjoyable and informative event. I am looking forward to trying this tire under extensive testing."
Roland Baumann, Autoreveue magazine (Luxembourg)
"There was a significant difference between the new tire and its competitior, especially on wet . . . interesting, considering the competitor won last year's ADAC test! Driving the Eagle F1 Asymmetric was fun!"
James Oberlein, First Car magazine (UK)
"The Goodyear felt safer, and once the car did begin to slide on the Goodyears it was much more controllable"
The journalists will continue to participate in the product launch throughout the remainder of this week before dealers from Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Nordic countries arrive next week. Almost 600 journalists, original equipment customers and dealers are scheduled to attend.
