Doe any of the racers here have any experience with the new R888s, either shaved or full tread? I'm posting this on several boards to which I belong in order to see if I should stay with Toyos (I have been using RA1s) or change to another brand. Thanks.
Toyo R888s
1 - 3 of 3 Posts
Re: Toyo R888s (John2x240)
I've raced on both, although I've had significantly more seat-time driving on RA-1s. Frankly, I don't find the R888s to be as much better as they are hyped to be. Yes, they are excellent, and I won't go so far as to say they're overrated, but I simply don't find the difference between the two to be significant. The biggest difference I've noticed about the R888s is that they break away a little more progressively, which can be a good or bad thing depending on your style and/or setup. They are also significantly noisier, but that's not really a concern for most.
I will say they are better, but the two things I pointed out are their biggest differences I've found. In terms of characteristics, both are very similar. I wanna say R888 compound feels slightly softer, but that is not evidenced in wear as I've found no real difference in life-span. They do, however, heat up quicker and cool off a little slower than the RA-1s.
I wouldn't change to another brand...the Toyos are about as good as it gets for R-comps (at least with any sort of tread...I'm a big fan of R6s). I have MPSCs on one car from the factory and was forced to run them on another due to sizing and they are simply not as good as either of the Toyos all around.
I guess I could formulate more of an in-depth evaluation of the R888s over time as I've only been through one set vs. countless sets of RA-1s. If you're getting new tires, though, I would definitely go with the R888s.
I've raced on both, although I've had significantly more seat-time driving on RA-1s. Frankly, I don't find the R888s to be as much better as they are hyped to be. Yes, they are excellent, and I won't go so far as to say they're overrated, but I simply don't find the difference between the two to be significant. The biggest difference I've noticed about the R888s is that they break away a little more progressively, which can be a good or bad thing depending on your style and/or setup. They are also significantly noisier, but that's not really a concern for most.
I will say they are better, but the two things I pointed out are their biggest differences I've found. In terms of characteristics, both are very similar. I wanna say R888 compound feels slightly softer, but that is not evidenced in wear as I've found no real difference in life-span. They do, however, heat up quicker and cool off a little slower than the RA-1s.
I wouldn't change to another brand...the Toyos are about as good as it gets for R-comps (at least with any sort of tread...I'm a big fan of R6s). I have MPSCs on one car from the factory and was forced to run them on another due to sizing and they are simply not as good as either of the Toyos all around.
I guess I could formulate more of an in-depth evaluation of the R888s over time as I've only been through one set vs. countless sets of RA-1s. If you're getting new tires, though, I would definitely go with the R888s.
Re: Toyo R888s (HPTJoe)
Thanks for the comments. Do you run full tread or shaved? For the RA1s I run full tread for wets and shaved about 3/32 for dries and it's for my FB RX7 with the G-Force tri-link and panhard rear suspension instead of the stock off-set watt's link and out-of plane upper control arms. The car is now pretty "tossable" in tighter corners and the snap oversteer is gone. I've heard that the R888s don't last as long as the RA1s, plus which I find the RA1s don't go "off" suddenly when your getting close to the heat cycle limit compared to other tires, so you get a bit more life out of them. BTW, my race weight with fluids and me on board is about 2200 lbs (and I think I can get another 100 lbs or so of that, or at least I'm gonna try) so that could make a difference. Any other comments would be welcome.
![]()
Thanks for the comments. Do you run full tread or shaved? For the RA1s I run full tread for wets and shaved about 3/32 for dries and it's for my FB RX7 with the G-Force tri-link and panhard rear suspension instead of the stock off-set watt's link and out-of plane upper control arms. The car is now pretty "tossable" in tighter corners and the snap oversteer is gone. I've heard that the R888s don't last as long as the RA1s, plus which I find the RA1s don't go "off" suddenly when your getting close to the heat cycle limit compared to other tires, so you get a bit more life out of them. BTW, my race weight with fluids and me on board is about 2200 lbs (and I think I can get another 100 lbs or so of that, or at least I'm gonna try) so that could make a difference. Any other comments would be welcome.
1 - 3 of 3 Posts
Join the discussion
