Got size 225/45-17 for my S4 a little while ago and since there is not much feedback on them, here's mine:
I've only had my car less then a year and it came w/ Goodridge KDW2 tires that were fairly new so these are the only tires I can copare with. The GY tires seem stiffer probably in part, due to the sidwall material. This makes them a little louder over rough surfaces. I haven't been able to push my car too hard due to some other issues but the overall handling and feel are equivelant to the KDW2 as far as I can tell. My guess is the KDW2 should be grippier on dry roads when the tires are both new but the new tread on the F-1 A/S seem as good as the slightly worn tread on the KDW2. I think if you push the car hard, the F-1 A/S may give you a less confident feel like they may break away but it's hard to say yet. Road noise in general is less in the GY (other then what was mentioned before).
I had a chance to test them in the rain this week and they worked SUPERBLY. First big test came as I went to exit the freeway. Two exit lanes, left lane free, right lane congested with a few cars. I choose the free left lane and cruise at normal speed, then the vette bringing up the rear in the right lane decides to cut right in front of me. I hit the brakes and instinctivley give him a hand gesture in appreciation for his courteous driving skills. He didn't seem amused and abruptly slammed his brakes, hoping that I would have to buy him another new car that he doesn't know how to drive. I hit my brakes and stop quickly behind him and then he speeds up so I follow and he does it again. Again my brakes and tires stop me with complete confidence. After the second stop, I quickly pull up to the right lane (which is now clear) and he tries to cut me off again but pusses out since I was already right next to him and goes the other way. Not sure what model vette it was but it was pretty new so I'm impressed my brakes and tires were up to par with it. Later, in heavy rain, my right tires were in a puddle that formed on the right part of the lane. They hydroplaned a bit but remained stable and the grip on the left side felt very solid. Pulled right out of the puddle with and was in complete control the whole time. Overall, in the rain, the the GY gave a very confident and comfortable feel where I was able to drive pretty much like it was dry out.
I'll be in the mountains as soon as it snows so I'll give a review on that later.
I choose my tires purley on performance and these tires had better numbers then it's competition based on a recent Tirerack test. That and the fact that you can get them for less then most comparable tires make them a no-brainer to at least give a try if you want All-season tires. If you buy tires based on comfort or noise, these are probably not the best for you. The stiffness might bother you but to me, it just means more feedback from the road, which is something I like.

After you stated "I choose my tires purley on performance" I was thinking the exact same thing... you were even comparing it to a summer-only tire, the KDW2 and I didn't see a mention of snow driving either. It begs the question "why buy all seasons?"


We Mid-Westerners throw around the word 'heck' pretty lightly, perhaps it was taken too strongly.

performance within a range of usability that the individual needs. It's pretty clear that summer tires should PERFORM better then All-Season tires in many cases but All-Season tires PERFORM better then summer tires in the snow in pretty much all cases. According to your review of the tires, the Goodyear F-1 All-Seasons outperformed the other tires it was tested against and since those other tires were also in my consideration, it further helped me to decide on the Goodyears. If you don't think people can choose an all-season tire based on performance, why do you test them?
And to address the rest of your post, I explained that the KDW2's are the only other tires I had on the car so they are the only tires I can compare to. Why can't I compare two different types of tires anyway? It's like saying I can't compare a sweater and a jacket's ability to keep me warm on a cold day. Also, I said, "I'll be in the mountains as soon as it snows so I'll give a review on that later."
Aren't you the moderator here or something? It seems like you didn't read my whole post...

Damn, you guys are uptight or dense.

the key motivator. I think the F1-AS has some potential and i might consider it for a mud season tire personally. I already have 3 sets of tires/wheels depending on the season and what i am doing. But if these can handle a little snow and colder temp roads they might be nice once i take the summer tires off and before i put the 'q' rated snow tires on.

all-seasons in ALL SEASONS and I'll check them out. I have no need/space for a bunch of extra wheels and tires to maximize performance in every conceivable situation. I just need the best performance I can get from a tire that will work in all seasons. Is this such a hard concept to understand? To clarify more, I don't care about noise, wear, or looks like many people do so that's another reason I say I choose my tires based on performance.

I'm not sure if this part was deleted or not but this is what I said earlier:
<i>I can't do anything if you guys don't understand that you can choose things based on performance within a range of usability that the individual needs. It's pretty clear that summer tires should PERFORM better then All-Season tires in many cases but All-Season tires PERFORM better then summer tires in the snow in pretty much all cases. According to your review of the tires, the Goodyear F-1 All-Seasons outperformed the other tires it was tested against and since those other tires were also in my consideration, it further helped me to decide on the Goodyears. If you don't think people can choose an all-season tire based on performance, why do you test them?
And to address the rest of your post, I explained that the KDW2's are the only other tires I had on the car so they are the only tires I can compare to. Why can't I compare two different types of tires anyway? It's like saying I can't compare a sweater and a jacket's ability to keep me warm on a cold day. Also, I said, "I'll be in the mountains as soon as it snows so I'll give a review on that later."
Aren't you the moderator here or something? It seems like you didn't read my whole post...</i>

I do have two sets of wheels and tires, and I couldn't think of taking the performance hit of running all seasons in any season.

Typically an all season tire that performs really well on dry pavement is one of the poorer all seasons in the snow. Newer rubber compound and multi-compounds help to reduce this, but it's still a major factor.

If I were forced to run an all season, I'd probably got with the Continental ContiExtremeContact, as it's performance in snow is pretty good considering it's a high performance all season.

I'll be interested to hear how the F1-AS does this winter from people who are running it. I'm guessing that laterally it may not do so well. The wide blocks on the side that make it perform well in cornering in warmer weather will work against you in snow.

Buy as many different tires as you feel like, I just need one set for now. And they perform great.
Why even read a review of all-season tires if you don't want to use them?
So an Elise is not a performance car since a 911 Turbo is faster? I can't evaluate the performance of K04's since GT28's can produce more power? Anyway, try thinking about things in terms of relativity or from a different point of view and you might notice that what works for you in your opinion might not be the best for someone else. I know it's hard to do since we're so used to forcing our beliefs onto other people. The moderator here felt he needed to delete my original post in response to your objections which is causing some of the confusion and miscommunication because some of my remarks were directed at content he deleted...

in snow, as I do know most all-seasons are only marginal at best. I would be much more interested in the snow performace if you could compare them against a snow tire, in that way we can see from your comparison how they perform against a tire made for snow, which I think could then be valuable.

tires so I'd be OK in the instances where there is some snow so I don't need chains. Like people are so adamant about, I think having dedicated tires is the way to go IF you absolutley have to have the maximum performance in every situation AND you are in an area where you wont need to swap wheels everyday (or literally every moment) to have the right set on. I live in SoCal and snowboard a lot but we don't get much snow on the roads and most the time, there is none. For me to do what these other guys are basically suggesting, I'd have to carry an extra set of tires around whenever I go to the mountains and drive on Summer tires on the way, then pull over and switch to winter tires when/if I reach snow. Pretty stupid when I can have one set that works in all conditions. Anyway, thanks for the constructive response and I will update as soon as I can.

FYI - Your first reply to Jprice was only deleted because it contained personal attacks and swearing that could be found offensive and aren't allowed by Audiworld. It was a bit over the top. When that reply is deleted, subsequent 're' replies disappear as well.

You can compare anything you'd like, but please post in a manner that is respectful to other members. Your more recent posts have been fine, except that the one calling members "uptight or dense" probably isn't helping anyone.

need A/S tires can be considered offensive? Just wondering if you want to keep your judgements consistent or not. For the record, my "attacks" are meant to weed out people who have useless posts and they were all in response to "attacks" on me that you did not delete. They were not meant to hurt anyone's feelings and I think anyone who feels they were is a bit "uptight". This is an internet forum where we're allowed to voice our opinions right?

i know they won't perform as well but i'm anxious to see if they will be "good enough" for those of us who live in areas where we get snow once or twice a month during the winter and may take the occasional trip to the mountains.

so far dry handling and road noise are much improved

"Just wondering if you want to keep your judgements consistent or not. For the record, my "attacks" are meant to weed out people who have useless posts and they were all in response to "attacks" on me that you did not delete. They were not meant to hurt anyone's feelings and I think anyone who feels they were is a bit "uptight". This is an internet forum where we're allowed to voice our opinions right?"


I can only recommend that administrators delete threads of posts that have obvious attacks or swearing in them. No one called you an idiot or directly insulted you, unlike your deleted posts which contained outright name calling of a long time knowledgeable (and well respected) member of this forum. The post also contained swearing.

Insulting members in an attempt to 'weed out' posts is not a great idea and is not generally tolerated in most online forums.

I was more surprised that you had gone from a KDW2 to the F1 A/S in looking for performance.

Makes more sense to me now that you mentioned you'll potentially be driving them in some snow.

I mentioned earlier, but I was just a little surprised (or confused) by your criteria for tire selection and the ultimate choice.

To put it in terms of your analogy...

The way I originally read it, it was like saying you had a Porsche 911 turbo, but just got a Toyota Camry because of it's great performance :-)

And for the record, I mentioned I was going to use the tires in the snow in the first place which is why I was puzzled by some of your responses.

seems like a smart-ass, I respond like a smart-ass. No harm intended and I actually prefer smart-asses in general as long as there is some good or useful content in the posts. That's why I thought someone was a bit "uptight" for deleting my post. The "dense" part came as a response to everyone talking s#!+ about me getting A/S tires w/o reading the part where I said I needed some snow capability.