R888 Tyres - Astonishing Value for Money
Discussion
X8 GTR has done 10 trackdays + road miles on the Toyos and I reckon by swapping left to right there is another 8 or 10 left in them!! To my amazement there is still 4mm on the fronts.
It would be a good experiment to do a back to back test against the V70A as I feel the overall grip is maybe less with the R888. The typical R888 slight swirminess when they get hot is present. However, for me the overwhelming advantage of the R888 is to be freed from the constant worry of running tyres with less than legal tread depth.
It would be a good experiment to do a back to back test against the V70A as I feel the overall grip is maybe less with the R888. The typical R888 slight swirminess when they get hot is present. However, for me the overwhelming advantage of the R888 is to be freed from the constant worry of running tyres with less than legal tread depth.
No clearance issues on track, although may just catch a smidge crashing around the back roads - just get shot of most the wheel arch return on the front clip and reinforce with glass fibre.
Canards fitted for mega hot Brands Wednesday and Goodwood yesterday. I think there is a improvement in stability through Fordwater but it probably takes a better driver than me to assess that properly. The canards look the absolute t1ts and get lots of admiring comment (although thats not really my scene)
Sorry lousy snap....
Canards fitted for mega hot Brands Wednesday and Goodwood yesterday. I think there is a improvement in stability through Fordwater but it probably takes a better driver than me to assess that properly. The canards look the absolute t1ts and get lots of admiring comment (although thats not really my scene)
Sorry lousy snap....In the garage next to me at Brands I met a delightful chap called Des with this Sport with thunderous soundtrack. Des had a fantastic day going out all the time.
He was running 315 V70A and when he came in the tyres were almost superglue sticky. The V70A didn't appear to melt quite as much as 888's. Des reported ZERO understeer and reckoned he could just chuck it in as hard as he liked.
He was running 315 V70A and when he came in the tyres were almost superglue sticky. The V70A didn't appear to melt quite as much as 888's. Des reported ZERO understeer and reckoned he could just chuck it in as hard as he liked.
andygtt said:
I saw you going round Brands but you disapeared before we could come and say hello... I did the evening in my M3... must admit it was good to see 2 ultimas out on track
Apologies for not saying hello. That blazing sun was just way too hot in the GTR after lunch and I started to make the occasional mistake, so decided to run away when the luck was with me.I am running R888 on the new car and they really are excellent - although there are a couple of negatives. There is always availability problems with these and I have been scouring Europe for some more rears. Toyo and Camskill are not anticipating stock until into 2011. An obvious statement but they don't like standing water. Silly o'clock Wednesday morning with frost damp required proper caution on roundabouts but is not as scary as you might think. Rumour has it that R888s will be dropped soon as they cannot comply with new EU tyre noise regulation.
I'm guessing it would be difficult for the factory to recommend the R888 for standard fitment as safety in bad weather conditions is dependant on the driver having a sensible and experienced head on.
It will be interesting to do a back to back test soon against the V70A. My guess is that the Kumho is the better and more grippy tyre but their shallow tread depth rules them out for road use for me.
My limited experience:
Goodyear old type F1 and Michelin Pilots:- Hard compunds, rears spin up easily
Fioranos:- Excellent all round road tyre - tread pattern punches through puddles well
V70A:- Good grip, heavier steering, short legal road life, aquaplanes
R888:- Long life, grip, good compromise road/trackday, don't be a hooligan in the wet
I'm guessing it would be difficult for the factory to recommend the R888 for standard fitment as safety in bad weather conditions is dependant on the driver having a sensible and experienced head on.
It will be interesting to do a back to back test soon against the V70A. My guess is that the Kumho is the better and more grippy tyre but their shallow tread depth rules them out for road use for me.
My limited experience:
Goodyear old type F1 and Michelin Pilots:- Hard compunds, rears spin up easily
Fioranos:- Excellent all round road tyre - tread pattern punches through puddles well
V70A:- Good grip, heavier steering, short legal road life, aquaplanes
R888:- Long life, grip, good compromise road/trackday, don't be a hooligan in the wet
Just a little update on the R888s..
My latest car has done 1000 gentle running in miles of which there were 40 - 50 gentle bedding in laps of Brands. Camber carefully adjusted to give even temperatures and scuffing accross the tyre. I don't know if the detail will show on screeen but on the fronts the wear is so low that the witness of the central moulding line is still visible.
There seems to be something "just right" about these tyres on Ultimas. In a previous life with EVOs the fronts would start to melt maybe within 4 hard laps. I am sure a sunny day at Combe will get some get some rubber worms coming off the tread but they do seem to have a really easy time on Ults
As an aside I recently did a thumbnail test on the P Zero and was a bit shocked as to how hard the compound is.
Testing on slicks will be a even more interesting....
My latest car has done 1000 gentle running in miles of which there were 40 - 50 gentle bedding in laps of Brands. Camber carefully adjusted to give even temperatures and scuffing accross the tyre. I don't know if the detail will show on screeen but on the fronts the wear is so low that the witness of the central moulding line is still visible.
There seems to be something "just right" about these tyres on Ultimas. In a previous life with EVOs the fronts would start to melt maybe within 4 hard laps. I am sure a sunny day at Combe will get some get some rubber worms coming off the tread but they do seem to have a really easy time on Ults
As an aside I recently did a thumbnail test on the P Zero and was a bit shocked as to how hard the compound is.
Testing on slicks will be a even more interesting....
Hmmm - confused. 
..Fitting narrower front tyres to an Ultima seems quite bizarre. As we have all discovered the turn-in on these cars is limited by front grip which causes understeer. Reducing the front contact patch will increase the understeer - not nice - OK for gaying down to the pub but useless if you want to do any serious driving.
I put 255/35 on X8 GTR and aside from grinding the front return lip off, there was no issues. Perhaps all bodies are not equal.. For track use I definitely could have done with more front end grip and was going to fit the 285/30 fronts with some aero but didn't get around to it. I reckon if road legality is not an issue the V70A is more grippy. For track use slicks are the answer.
An easy solution to your clearance issue would be to get the nice man from Image to wizz you up a different front rim to set the tyre a tad more towards the inside of the car. I believe he is the only bloke in the UK to still be spinning his own rims. Not expensive.
..Fitting narrower front tyres to an Ultima seems quite bizarre. As we have all discovered the turn-in on these cars is limited by front grip which causes understeer. Reducing the front contact patch will increase the understeer - not nice - OK for gaying down to the pub but useless if you want to do any serious driving.I put 255/35 on X8 GTR and aside from grinding the front return lip off, there was no issues. Perhaps all bodies are not equal.. For track use I definitely could have done with more front end grip and was going to fit the 285/30 fronts with some aero but didn't get around to it. I reckon if road legality is not an issue the V70A is more grippy. For track use slicks are the answer.
An easy solution to your clearance issue would be to get the nice man from Image to wizz you up a different front rim to set the tyre a tad more towards the inside of the car. I believe he is the only bloke in the UK to still be spinning his own rims. Not expensive.
V8Dom said:
mm hadnt thought of the wheel off set...
do you have an idea of costs or know the best way to do it?
I thought the smaller contact patch could be offset with the winglets im getting soon..
Dom
Hi Dom,do you have an idea of costs or know the best way to do it?
I thought the smaller contact patch could be offset with the winglets im getting soon..
Dom
I couldn't detect any diffence with 2 dive planes on a standard car. Didn't expect much at Brands but had hoped for something through Fordwater at Goodwood. I reckon that without a big splitter, flat floor etc. probably not much use. However, 4 dive planes, big splitter, flat floor, 285 fronts etc is good.
The 255's can do with another 1/2" in rim width and together with spacing the wheel towards the centre of the car can only be a good thing as it has the obvious advantage of setting the brakes deeper in the wheel. http://www.toyo.co.uk/productdetail.php?identity=p...
If you are near Image perhaps it would be worth popping in and having a chat. I think it was about £200 a corner.
Stuart
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