Price on Goodyear F1's going up...

Anyone considering a set of Goodyear F1's might want to do it now. The price on them is going up to $159 each wholesale . I just purchased a set below the wholesale price because I got a quote a couple of weeks ago and decided to purchase yesterday.

The Goodyear facility in Baton Rouge that makes the F1's was on strike for 3 months, several smart wholesalers bought a load of them anticipating the strike. So there are a few wholesalers that still have them at the old price. Tirerack still has them for $132, but after shipping, mounting and balancing any savings is a wash.

I was able to get them for $160 including mounting, balancing and valve stems.

Just an FYI, if you are ref'ing to the F1 GS D3's, you should be aware that the Tirerack version and the Goodyear store version are not necessarily the same tire!

Also, watch for the NEW Eagle F1 coming soon... its supposed to be mad crazy...

the price you paid, Zin, sounds good.

Most of the prices I've seen have been north of $200, retail.

A bit beyond completely rediculous. Higher is the wrong direction.

Tire manufacturing is continually moving out of north america, due to increasing costs here compared to overseas. This trend will continue until tire manufacturing is no longer done here for the big companies.

Unfortunately, from what I understand, this will not contribute to lower prices for tires in the future; it seems that we are basically looking at higher prices across the board over the next few years.

This is good tire, but not worth this kinda of mula.

Sure it is, for an 18; not that it's a particularly good price, but this tire in an 18 is (225/40/18) worth that money. Now for a 17, I agree, there are a few better choices for that much money.

before you flame, let me preface this... I know this is not going to be an even comparison...

But 225/40-18 is a fairly common size. General Exclaim is less than a hundred dollars a tire. Toyo T1R is less than ~$150.

Isn't the Goodyear north of 170$ a tire retail, possibly close to 200$?

Why the price disparity? The goodyear is probably a noticeably better tire than the General (made by continental) of the same size. but at twice the price or more???

that is one of the things i have against Michelins, too. Good tires, but are they THAT much better than tires that are priced lower?

As cars come with increasingly large diameter wheels from the factory, I would think sales volume would be driving prices down. And if manufacturing is going overseas, why would the price not go down? why else go overseas?

If they are just pocketing the margin, rather than competitively pricing their product, as well as outsourcing jobs, then I really have no problem buying a tire that is priced lower, even if it is fractionally less capable than the lower price indicates.

are people really paying nearly $1K to replace a set of four high-perf tires, with tax, shipping, and mounting service? (200$ tires are 800$ for the set, possibly plus sales tax on that.)

I used to work for Goodyear/Dunlop.

The answer is.... they will charge whatever people are willing to pay.

The F1's have been rated the #1 tire in its class by many magazines and trials...

So people want them... supply and demand thus applies.

They won't drop the price as long as they sell at that price.

75% of the tire market are people that want the cheapest black round things that fit their car.

15% will simply replace with exactly whatever the car came with.

the 10% (and that is a generous number) that know and care about tire quality have already accepted they will pay a premium for quality tires, so at that point many choose to go all out and get the best stuff.

There is tons more to know about the tire market , manufacturing, the games they play, etc... Goodyear does have some of the best tires out there, even if their service stores are not always the best :-(

Like I said earlier.. wait until the new F1 is relieased this summer,... its amazing.

Let me say this.. think about all of Goodyear's proprietary technologies.... and combine them all into one tire.

:-)

can't say much more.

Tire manufacturing is continually moving out of north america, due to increasing costs here compared to overseas. This trend will continue until tire manufacturing is no longer done here for the big companies.

Mine, purchased last month for $140 balanced and mounted (215/45/17) were made in China.

Just an FYI, if you are ref'ing to the F1 GS D3's, you should be aware that the Tirerack version and the Goodyear store version are not necessarily the same tire!

 

Also, watch for the NEW Eagle F1 coming soon... its supposed to be mad crazy...

Interesting, what is the difference between the F1 GS D3 that Tirerack sells, and the F1 GS D3 that I bought from my local Goodyear dealer?

BTW: The price I got was on 215/45/17's

Got a chance to drive on them today just a bit, very nice tire. Didn't really push them as they need a couple of hundred miles to break in.

They got mounted on a set of 17"x7.5" Rota Tarmac II's from SubyDude.

The Goodyear facility in Baton Rouge that makes the F1's was on strike for 3 months

what do you mean Baton Rouge mine have "Made in Germany" on the side wall. bosco

what do you mean Baton Rouge mine have "Made in Germany" on the side wall. bosco

Mine as well... When I was talking with the Manager at my local Goodyear dealer, that's what I thought he said -- Baton Rouge.

which tires are better than the F1s, regardless of price for summer/rain?

any specific info on new F1s and any links?

No flames from me. I don't pretend to explain the business models of the tire companies. They are going to do what they are going to do.

So, as customers, we need to do our shopping and share notes, something I'm always trying to get people to do around here.

I don't think michelins are THAT much better than other manufacturers, although I can tell you that this may actually be the case in about 3 years (this is a teaser: don't ask, I can't tell you :) ). But there are a couple Michelins I'd buy, hands down.

The Pilot Sport PS2 is not one of them. Oh, it's a great tire, but the RE 050A pp is a better tire, according to tirerack, and it's cheaper. I have the non pp tire, and it is so goddamn good that I don't feel like I need a better tire, and I'm willing to pay what tirerack is asking for this tire, in both 225/45/17 and 225/45/18. Done. To save money, I'd take the Avon M Tech 500, another tire I've got experience with, it's not as good, but it is much cheaper. It's still better than 99% of other rubber out there.

Why do I not recommend the generals? Couple reasons:

1) I've not driven on them

2) I've run cheap rubber in the past, and I no longer do this. I've thrown out rubber in the past with half it's tread left because the tire is no longer worth owning: sucks in the wet, wont balance, is hard, is loud, etc. You dont save any money this way.

3) I dont feel the need to shop elsewhere anymore, like I said above, and if I did, there are several other tires I've got experience with that I'd run. I buy the toyo T1R for my miata, because that's the only real choice I've got, I like the contisport contact 2 and 3 - they're great too, and I'd consider the dunlop sport max, because I like dunlops, but I'm waiting for feedback.

Regarding the $1k thing, um yea, on my RX-8, I'm up to about $700 for a great set of rubber plus about $135 for mounting and balancing by an excellent technician.

I'm looking at saving maybe $150 or $200 if I go as cheap with everything as I possibly can. Over the span of 20k to 30k mi, is it worth it? JUST ONE extra rebalancing of the tires caused by assymetrical wear eats up half of that savings.

Is it worth it? No Way.

before you flame, let me preface this... I know this is not going to be an even comparison...

 

But 225/40-18 is a fairly common size. General Exclaim is less than a hundred dollars a tire. Toyo T1R is less than ~$150.

 

Isn't the Goodyear north of 170$ a tire retail, possibly close to 200$?

 

Why the price disparity? The goodyear is probably a noticeably better tire than the General (made by continental) of the same size. but at twice the price or more???

 

that is one of the things i have against Michelins, too. Good tires, but are they THAT much better than tires that are priced lower?

 

As cars come with increasingly large diameter wheels from the factory, I would think sales volume would be driving prices down. And if manufacturing is going overseas, why would the price not go down? why else go overseas?

 

If they are just pocketing the margin, rather than competitively pricing their product, as well as outsourcing jobs, then I really have no problem buying a tire that is priced lower, even if it is fractionally less capable than the lower price indicates.

 

are people really paying nearly $1K to replace a set of four high-perf tires, with tax, shipping, and mounting service? (200$ tires are 800$ for the set, possibly plus sales tax on that.)

Interesting, what is the difference between the F1 GS D3 that Tirerack sells, and the F1 GS D3 that I bought from my local Goodyear dealer?

 

BTW: The price I got was on 215/45/17's

 

Got a chance to drive on them today just a bit, very nice tire. Didn't really push them as they need a couple of hundred miles to break in.

 

They got mounted on a set of 17"x7.5" Rota Tarmac II's from SubyDude.

While I can't confirm this, the story goes that TireRack and other online stores are able to sell the UK version of the tire to US customers.

You'd think the same tire ships everywhere, right? well.. maybe not. The UK tire actually has slightly less tread depth when new. I'm not sure how much less, or why its different, It's just what I have been told.

also, "replacement" tires are NEVER EVER EVER as good as the OEM tires that go straight to car manufactures. Car manufactures have extreamely steep requirements on quality, deviation, tolerances, etc. Most replacement tires are all the tires that didn't make the OEM cut. So steep in fact that many tire manufactures don't even want to play nice with them any more because its too hard to please.

The Asian tire makers are definately putting lots of preasure on Goodyear and other manufactures. They can produce tires faster, cheaper, and quality is high because many of the factories over there are newly built with new equipment!

The game isn't over yet though... Goodyear and other manufactures have tons of patents, proprietary technologies, time proven testing methods and that irreplaceable thing called experience!

Goodyear for instance has been using Kevlar (silent armor tires) to reduce noise and reduce chance of punctures.. and Carbon Fiber (Response Edge) to strengthen sidewalls... and on and on and on...

I'm not really sure who is going to win the tire wars, and for consumer's sake I hope no one does and they all keep competing and inovating!