Toyo Proxies - or Goodyear F1's

[JensenA]

I need 2 new rear tyres, and I've decided to go for Toyo's after 2 yrs of Goodyear F1's. It's not that I'm dissapointed in the Goodyears, but if I stick with them I'm never going to be able to compare them with anything am I, am I making a mistake?

[grovest]

I've run T1Rs on original 17 inch RL7 and 18 inch SP wheels and found them to be pretty good wet and dry so I'll stick my neck out and say you are unlikely to regret it. However, like you, I have nothing to compare them with on this car. If you were down my way you could try out the 17s as they are off the car at present. I'd be interested to hear what you think if you do go for them.

[_Neal_]

I had T1-Rs all round on my old Chimaera and Fiat Coupé 20v Turbo and they were very good wet and dry.

Other good option (at similar price to the Toyos) is the Falken FK-452s - I had them all round on my Cerb following recommendations by other owners on here, and I found them excellent.

[Dirty Boy]

_Neal_ said:

I had T1-Rs all round on my old Chimaera and Fiat Coupé 20v Turbo and they were very good wet and dry.

Other good option (at similar price to the Toyos) is the Falken FK-452s - I had them all round on my Cerb following recommendations by other owners on here, and I found them excellent.

There was a TVR meet at Snetterton in the summer, and I noticed a VAST majority had Falkens on.

I have T1Rs at the moment, they're fine in the dry - haven't got them wet yet

[Cooky]

Al, have heard rave reports on the F1's b ut not tried them meself.
Ran T1R's on the last LM trip. They were awesome, especialy when warmed up the on the track. Thatsaid they aren't the best in the wet although nowhere near as dangerous as SO3's (id rather eat the b'stones than ever put them back on a cerb) since then I've killed a couple of sets of T1'S, they were ok but not brill in the wet, and didn't last me too long.
Currently running a nice set of SO2's and although they don't grip like the toyo's in the dry, they more than make up for themselves in the wet.

the best 'allrounder' i ever had on the back were some form of Conti supercontact things. They were incredible...I mean hang in there on the twisties and keep yer foot rammed down kinda incredible, even to the point of see yer exit and stamp on the bastids. But alas I recall they only matched the 16inch saturns.

so stick with yer f1's for winter and grab yerself some R888's for summer.

[AlVal]

If looking for a semi-slick thats somewhere slightly more road-based , (better than a performance road tyre but not quite as track based as an 888) camskill reccommended I try hankook rs2 tyres - not a brand I'd normally consider, but they turned out to be very good, I'm impressed.

[BCA]

For road tyres, we're very very please with T1R's. Very good in the dry, good in the wet and amazingly durable.

[volospian]

I'd just like to say that the FK452's I have on at the moment are vastly superior to whatever crap was on there when I got it. I think the rears were Bridgestone RE050 and the fronts were Yokohama AVS sport, IIRC. They were awful anyway.

[jammy_basturd]

Does anyone have any experience of running the 888s in the wet (road, not track)?

[rpla102]

jammy_basturd said:

Does anyone have any experience of running the 888s in the wet (road, not track)?

Not strictly speaking TVR related but a friend of mine has recently done a series of tests on a wet weather testing ground (MIRA in Nuneaton) for a magazine. He tested Toyo T1-R vs 888's at 10mph 20mph 30mph etc to about 60mph hitting 7-10mm of standing water along a 70 meter path. The T1-R's performed well providing safe passage however the 888's provided no grip above 30 and were a bit of a drama! I understand that these conditions are freak but overal the 888's weren't good!
The car in question (for interest) is a 4wd Japanese pocket rocket.

Edited by rpla102 on Wednesday 12th November 10:52

[dean_ratpac]

jammy_basturd said:

Does anyone have any experience of running the 888s in the wet (road, not track)?

i've heard you've got more grip on ice

[Cooky]

dean_ratpac said:

jammy_basturd said:

Does anyone have any experience of running the 888s in the wet (road, not track)?

i've heard you've got more grip on ice

yep thats about the sum of them, however it makes the trip to france sooooo much more fun
not a lot of rainfall once you get there though and if you do make it past Rouen in one piece...........fook me they grip in the dry. Cerb + 888's + + Frog Roads (in the dry of course)

[DaveR]

I had a pair of the new Goodyear Asymmetric Eagle's put on the back of my beemer the other day (255/35 x 18 so same as the Cerb rear).

The past week has provided plenty experience of handling in the wet, including hitting standing water (a lot deeper than 7mm).

I'm very impressed with them. The Dunlop 9000s they replaced were atrocious. Before those, I had the old Toyo-style 'V' pattern Eagle F1s (also currently on the front of my Cerb) and I'd say that the asymmetrics are an improvement over them too.

[dean_ratpac]

I'm also looking at these two. I've seen some other posts about that running directional up front and asymmetrical at the back also improves handling and grip? I also confirmed this with 'black circles'

Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD3 225/35 18's, – front
Goodyear Eagle Asymmetric 255/35 18's, – rear

Not cheap though for the Goodyear... twice the Falken's which i currently run

I would like to hear some thoughts on this, also running Asyms all round compared to the F1's (GSD3's) all round.

I'm not so bothered about wear, compared to the grip obtained in the wet (and dry).

Edited by dean_ratpac on Wednesday 12th November 14:45

[DaveR]

I'll be putting Asyms on the front, although not for some time on either car.

All that extra rubber on the outside edge just where you need it when you need something to lean on mid corner has to make sense...

[JensenA]

Thanks for all your comments Guys - I've finally decided to go for the Toyo's - although it was a close call with the Falken's - thanks for whoever recomended them. Tyres are a tricky call, unlike buying a suit, you can't just try on lots of them to see which is best, once you have them your stuck with them! I did a lot of research, and the Falkens and the Toyo's both kept coming near the top of the list. The clincher was when a a guy I know who prepares race cars said that a tyre that recieves rave reviews when fitted to a BMW, may not neccasarily be the right one for a TVR, and he strongly reccomended the Toyo's based on personal experience, so they've been ordered and will be fitted on Friday, I'll let you know what theyre like.

[TT Tim]

The Falkens are good for the money, but they don't seem to age very well, admittedly mine have ben through a lot of heat cycles, but they're pretty awful now but still have plenty of tread left on them.

I'm guessing they may be okay for regular road use, but for anything more than that, i.e. the odd track day, then best buy something better.

Tim

[Mr.Cerbera]

JensenA said:

.... and will be fitted on Friday, I'll let you know what theyre like.

Not to be a nonce but I'd go very carefully with new Toyos in the cold weather. It took me forever to 'bed 'em in' this last time round and they are now taking quite a while to warm up for reasonable grip but don't get me wrong. I think they're fantastic. They're very progressive when they let go AND return and they are astonishingly quiet AND they last beyond what would be reasonably expected.

[dean_ratpac]

TT Tim said:

The Falkens are good for the money, but they don't seem to age very well, admittedly mine have ben through a lot of heat cycles, but they're pretty awful now but still have plenty of tread left on them.

I'm guessing they may be okay for regular road use, but for anything more than that, i.e. the odd track day, then best buy something better.

Tim

i've found this with mine, they were great at the start, but now still have lots of tread, but seem to be not as much grip?

[JensenA]

I had the Toyo's fitted on Friday, I've only done about 90 miles on them and haven't fully 'rubbed' off the silicone, but my verdict....well I'm surprised, the Goodyear F1's were a tyre which I rated highly, and although the old ones were down to 2mm, and so admitidely past there best, the Toyo's are a big improvement. The F1's always caused the back end to 'tramp' under hard acceleration, but the Toyo's just give a squeal and hurl the car forward. They are much grippier under hard cornering, and inspire more confidence. They have altered the way the car reacts when cornering, I think they must have a more pliable sidewall, than the F1's. If I jiggle the steering at high speed from side to side, the car sort of does a split second bum shufffle before it settles again, which it didn't do on the F1's. So if anyone has F1's on and needs to replace the tyres soon, I would definitely reccommend changing to the Toyo Proxies.