Are Toyo's R888's the best?
Are Toyo's R888's the best?
Author
Discussion

robm3

Original Poster:

4,930 posts

251 months

Wednesday 8th April 2009
quotequote all
Going to get some more trackday orientated tyres for my GTR as the Pirelli Corsas are getting old now.
Most likely going to get R888's just due to the amount of publicity they seem to get but also wondering if there was anything else worth considering?
Cost is not a big concern but do need to perform in the wet (as I like rainy trackdays).

Thanks in advance...

Davey S2

13,389 posts

278 months

Wednesday 8th April 2009
quotequote all
I had Yokohama AO48's on my old S2 exige and they were seriously good. Very good in the wet as well but like all cut slicks didnt like standing water. They also come in different compounds.

gti-ted

1,029 posts

233 months

Wednesday 8th April 2009
quotequote all
A048's are the kings. Toyo saw a niche in the market for a cheap track tyre and have done very well from it but they are not as good as Yokie or Dunlop IMHO...

Edited by gti-ted on Thursday 9th April 17:29

robm3

Original Poster:

4,930 posts

251 months

Wednesday 8th April 2009
quotequote all
Have you both tried the Ao48's back to back with the R888's?

the atomic punk

51 posts

216 months

Wednesday 8th April 2009
quotequote all
Probably depends massively on the car and possibly the driver. R888s are the best thing for me on my Atom, significantly better than AO48s, particularly in damp and wet conditions. They are also cheaper and I find them longer lasting. However, the Ariel factory don't like them as much as the Yokos - as I say a personal thing to some extent.

They have got to be worth a try - after all what can you lose?

jleroux

1,511 posts

284 months

Wednesday 8th April 2009
quotequote all
R888's offer value for money but they are certainly not the best tyre (in my experience). clearly it depends on the car to some extent - I suspect they work better on 800-1100kg cars than they do on lighter or heavier ones.

Jonny
BaT

projectpug

79 posts

213 months

Wednesday 8th April 2009
quotequote all
Agree they work great on a 750kg 205 gti however i tried a set on a clio cup and didn't think they were as good (overheated too quikly). The cup also went through them very quickly where the pug is very frugal with them.


raceboy

13,700 posts

304 months

Wednesday 8th April 2009
quotequote all
I've just phoned my local Toyo dealer for a price on some R888's and I got told a line about Toyo not supplying 'ordinary' tyre dealers anymore with R888's, you have to buy them from a motorsport specialist but they can still fit them for you, at a cost. Anyone else heard this or should I try another local Toyo man?

westbang

11 posts

216 months

Wednesday 8th April 2009
quotequote all
Tried R888 and AO48s on my Westfield and both are exelent A0s are more expensive for little improvement in grip or tyre wear. Try "tiretraders.com" for a delivery only price

jleroux

1,511 posts

284 months

Wednesday 8th April 2009
quotequote all
that's right raceboy - R888's are being pulled from the high-street and are now only available via the motorsport dealers such as camskill and track-club.

Jonny
BaT

fergus

6,430 posts

299 months

Wednesday 8th April 2009
quotequote all
jleroux said:
R888's are being pulled from the high-street and are now only available via the motorsport dealers such as camskill and track-club
Get them through a race series and you'll often pay around 50-70% of the retail price (subsidised via Toyo - depends what size wheels you run though!!!)

dubkiller

1,166 posts

229 months

Wednesday 8th April 2009
quotequote all
i think they are great. great wear and value for money.
did the ring and spa last week, + the road miles and one airfeild day, and the rears are now just about shagged , (ive now got the tyre cutter out to get a few more days out of them). grip levels are below the best in the market, but not by much. for my wheels they give there best for about four laps, then tail off.

Big 968 Dave

278 posts

265 months

Wednesday 8th April 2009
quotequote all
I think it depends how hard you drive on track...
Personally ive found they [Toyo R888,s ] go off , ie heat up too much + become "slipery" . I prefur to use the Dunlop D01J tyre or now the Dunlop DZ03G...Far better in my opinion...

shawn 968cs

220 posts

227 months

Thursday 9th April 2009
quotequote all
After 3 /4 times trying to balance my Toyo R888's, eventually found they had gone out of shape!!strangely on both tyres it's where the toyo logo is.
The vibration increased over time.
Only the fronts!! which are a different size to the backs.
Only done one track day in the wet (Foolishly I believed the weather forecast! astonised by the level of grip in the wet, however be very carefull when standing water happens as it quickly aquaplanes)and about c.a. 6/700 miles on the road.
I was after AO48's but there was a shortage when I was after them.
Tyres are being sent off for investigation, hopefully get a favourable response from Toyo.rolleyes

LaurenceFrost

691 posts

276 months

Friday 10th April 2009
quotequote all
the atomic punk said:
Probably depends massively on the car and possibly the driver.
What he said ^^^

In my experience, R888s work well on anything up to about 1 tonne, anything over tends to work them to hard with the extra weight, and a medium compound A048 tends to work better.

You certainly won't be let down by R888's but there are plenty of other semi-slicks that could work better on the car.

I think you would get through R888s very quickly on a GTR and personally would give A048s a go first in a medium compound.

robm3

Original Poster:

4,930 posts

251 months

Friday 10th April 2009
quotequote all
Thanks for the info, some further google research needed on the other suggestions I think.

Can anyone reccomend a decent online Tyre shop?


darronwall

1,730 posts

220 months

Friday 10th April 2009
quotequote all
camskill,i found them cheapest by far,toyos are great, the only bad thing is the wear rate

mr-roadrunner

38 posts

219 months

Saturday 11th April 2009
quotequote all
I found 888's are good value for money. As for using them on cars over 1200kg's at the track i have no problems on my R34 GTR.
But a helpful tip if you can fill them with NITROGEN it's better for controlling the temps and keeps them from going off.

kusee pee

1,021 posts

227 months

Saturday 11th April 2009
quotequote all
Has anyone tried the Federal SS595RS track tyre? Looks good value (and they do them in my size, unlike the Hankook). Anyone used them compared to 888s?

dxb335d

2,905 posts

219 months

Saturday 11th April 2009
quotequote all
Been in a Z3M with them on. Grip was superb. That weighs a hell of a lot over 1000kg.