Goodyear Eagle MS EMT

How It Works Ideally, an M+S tire has a narrow tread width with a long contact patch to cut through snow the way a knife cuts through butter. Super-wide Corvette tires are more like using the flat side of the knife, that doesn't work so well.
Toth continues, "Ideally an M+S tire has a narrow tread width with a long contact patch to cut through snow the way a knife cuts through butter. Super-wide Corvette tires are more like using the flat side of the knife that doesn't work so well. That places all the more emphasis on the tread design. What the Eagle M+S is all about is a soft compound and a very aggressive tread pattern. There's a lot of void area (space between the blocks or ribs of rubber that make contact with the pavement), the tread elements are highly bladed for mechanical bite, and the tread rubber is very soft and pliable to stay flexible in cold weather.


"With more void area, the contact rubber is more heavily loaded, which is how it bites down through the snow to get a grip against the pavement. But the combination of the heavy loading with the softer tread compound and the Corvette's ability to push its tires very hard means that there's bound to be more abrasion during dry-pavement use. Wear is just one of several factors we balance when selecting tread depth and compound.


"Over the years, the synergy between the Corvette and its tires has been phenomenal. As one technological front moves forward, it helps advance the other. We're especially proud of the fact that Goodyear has been the exclusive supplier of original equipment Corvette tires for more than 20 years. Goodyear introduced the GS-C design concurrently with ASR in 1992. The net benefits of the two technologies working together delivered better dry road performance with improved traction during inclement weather. The next major step is the new F1 EMT tires with Active Handling. Combine EMT, M+S, and Active Handling and you've got a sports car that doesn't have to make any excuses 12 months of the year in Minnesota."

What's Next?
In conjunction with its 100th anniversary as a tire and rubber manufacturing company, Goodyear recently introduced two major developments above and beyond the new Eagle M+S EMT tires for the Corvette. The first is extended-mobility (run-flat) capability for mainstream applications. According to Goodyear, the eight 14, 15 and 16-inch EMTs offered cover 75 percent of the cars on the road today.


A more remarkable announcement is the first use of steel cord for sidewall reinforcement plies in modern tires. Compared to the 2-ply polyester-cord design used in current carcass construction, a single ply of Goodyear's ultra-tensile steel delivers longer tread life, enhanced wet and dry traction, more precise handling and improved steering response.