Anyone else remember the Goodyear Aquatread?

"Frank Grimes" (FrankGrimes) 02/28/2014 at 10:46 • Filed to: None

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14

I wasnt old enough to own a car at the time but it made me want to buy Aquatread tires for some reason, probably for the same reasons I still remember the tires I remember seeing them in the stores and thinking thats a weird looking tire.

Here is an old school article about the new tires and a focus group that was used.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1992-09-13/tra…

I love this line.

" The tire, said Landers, ``was talking to the customer. That is what I saw through the mirror.``

Sweeeet. Talking tires! The future is now!

Apparently this new tires technology was so revolutionary and cromulent that they made shoes as well.

I need these for driving my miata!

The Opponaut formerly known as MattP123 > Frank Grimes 02/28/2014 at 10:49

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I remember them. I thought they were cool. But likewise I was too young to need them. I'm sure there's a reason the design hasn't caught on, though.

t_s > Frank Grimes 02/28/2014 at 10:50

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I remember Goodyear Eagle F1s, the coolest tyre design ever. Especially the second generation. I loved them, noisy bastards though...

505Turbeaux > Frank Grimes 02/28/2014 at 10:51

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I had a set on an Audi Coupe GT. Great in the rain, like really great. OK in the dry, crap in the snow. Unless you lived in Seattle or a rainforest they werent useful. The tech that was developed from this lived on though for a while and made todays tires better

Sir Halffast > The Opponaut formerly known as MattP123 02/28/2014 at 10:55

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Before the Aquatreads, most tires had relatively uniform, blocky tread patterns. You can see vestiges of the design in many all-season tires today, what with the grooving patterns which are designed to push water out the side of the tread so that the contact patch is relatively dry. But as 505Turbeaux said, they were designed for the wet and worked best in the wet. Since they weren't particularly great under other conditions, they eventually went by the wayside.

UKGTR335 > t_s 02/28/2014 at 11:14

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Goodyear F1 GSD3? Had a set on my mkIV GTI. So much overkill, but that car stuck to the road like glue.

t_s > UKGTR335 02/28/2014 at 11:16

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Ha! The EXACT same car I ran them on! (I also had a set on my Alfa 145, but they were ruined by 18 months sitting in a garage.)

UKGTR335 > t_s 02/28/2014 at 11:33

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Nice ride.

My old car:

t_s > UKGTR335 02/28/2014 at 11:40

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Many fond memories, it was my first car after getting my license. I took the GTI badge off and put a 1.4 one on. Modified it a bit, taught me everything I needed to know about torquesteer, understeer and lift-off oversteer. Those were good times.

You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much > Frank Grimes 02/28/2014 at 12:08

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I had a set of those. They were terrible.

desertdog5051 > Frank Grimes 02/28/2014 at 12:50

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They went away because they didn't sell well in the Pacific northwest. The only place it rains enough to justify owning them. :)

bob and john > UKGTR335 02/28/2014 at 22:00

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care to elaborate? my dad is looking to replace the summer tires on his A3 TDI this year, and asked me to take a look artound for a decent tire. id prefer grip>noise>price>longevity
he would like noise>price>longevity>grip

crowmolly > t_s 03/03/2014 at 14:39

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No shit, I owe my life to a set of 245/50 F1 GS tires. They held during an evasive maneuver upon discovering somebody parked in the middle of an interstate after a blind curve.

UKGTR335 > bob and john 03/03/2014 at 16:44

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The price and performance level is excessive for a GTI (and therefore probably for an A3 TDI too). Both cars would be fine with something a little cheaper and a little less extreme performance wise. They were great tires on the GTI and would grip like none other, particularly great in the rain, so I'm not saying they weren't worth the money. But I probably could have saved a few bucks and been fine with a lesser tire. If you don't mind spending some extra money though, I definitely recommend them.

WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAnowbacktoGTI > Frank Grimes 08/21/2020 at 10:30

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I REMEMBER!

Well, I didn’t until you told me, but I do now. I was in the same boat, as I w as a youngster when the ads came out.