Alternative to Toyo R888's
Discussion
Green George said:
Hankook RS2's (from Camskill) are very good.
Hmm. I thought they were very average on my elise. They are just an alternative to Yoko A539s/Paradas etc IMO, just a cheap tyre which resists wear on track well enough. Not very good feel at all though. 888 is a completely different tyre.HTH.
p1doc said:
there is the new toyo variant toyo r1r i think halfway between t1r and 888 but just new on market
martin
I quite fancy the R1-R's .martin
They are not available in my size for the rears yet and I was quoted £710.00 for when they are!
Surely there is something near to the triple 8's at a more reasonable price.
Or is it a case of you get what you pay for?
HCM
I have been fascinated by tyres recently but am on a smaller budget. For 15" from camskill you can get proxes t1r for £30 or so.
mytyres references tyretest.com and i was very surprised to find that Yokohama S Drives have a better grip rating than T1R's and in both dry and wet catagories!
I cant find the V70 or 700 from Kumho on there but they have rave reviews.
Also, to contradict everything above, there is no substitute for 'knowing' by driving. I think my yoko s drives are quite soft and grippy but cant judge against the t1r as I havnt had a set yet! Also, I have seen varying feedback for S Drives as well.
FOr dry grip 888's seem to be the choice. For me, the choice is easy- T1R at the size I want are almost half price of most other things, so I can't make any other decision!
mytyres references tyretest.com and i was very surprised to find that Yokohama S Drives have a better grip rating than T1R's and in both dry and wet catagories!
I cant find the V70 or 700 from Kumho on there but they have rave reviews.
Also, to contradict everything above, there is no substitute for 'knowing' by driving. I think my yoko s drives are quite soft and grippy but cant judge against the t1r as I havnt had a set yet! Also, I have seen varying feedback for S Drives as well.
FOr dry grip 888's seem to be the choice. For me, the choice is easy- T1R at the size I want are almost half price of most other things, so I can't make any other decision!
Wh00sher said:
Another vote for Kumho V70`s from me.
I`ve tried 888`s, A048`s, DZ02`s and V70, I prefer the V70`s.
Another vote for the Kumho v70a. They look coolI`ve tried 888`s, A048`s, DZ02`s and V70, I prefer the V70`s.
Never tried the DZ02's, how did you find them Wh00sher? From what I've read they're meant to be a better tyre than the V70, why didn't you like them?
jon- said:
Never tried the DZ02's, how did you find them Wh00sher? From what I've read they're meant to be a better tyre than the V70, why didn't you like them?
A summary of my experiences with various tyres this year...After hearing many positive things about A048`s, I decided to take the plunge, buy a new set and see what they are like for myself. I`ve only run 888 as track tyres before and know what they feel like in most conditions now. I have a good idea of what life to expect out of a set and how they perform when hot or cold.
Had a set of A048`s fitted in Medium 195/50/15 in March 2009, Heat cycled them at Silverstone in May and decided to try them out at Cadwell in June.
First time I turned into Charlies, the steering felt MUCH heavier than before, I immediately commented on it to my passenger. Over the next few laps, once they warmed up, I could feel the sidewallls were much harder. The car usually has a strange `bounce` when cornering under load, its the tyre wall flexing and I can always feel it. I`m used to it and its not a problem, but the A048`s don`t do that and it makes the turn in feel much sharper, but required more steering effort.
The A048`s didn`t overheat and grip wise seemed as good as the 888`s.
From first impressions, if they cost the same as 888`s, I`d got for the Yokohamas.
I also tried a part worn set of the DZ02`s. I`d put them somewhere between the 888`s and A048`s. Definately can feel the sidewall flexing, more than the A048`s but not as much as the 888`s.
Grip wise they seemed good, but these have had a few more heat cycles than the others and didn`t seem quite as progressive, once the grip started to go, it fell off much quicker than the other 2, however, I only did a couple of dry sessions with them, I need to do more laps to really get a feel for them and get them fully warmed up.
like most things, these views are subjective so what I prefer, on my car with my driving style may be totally unsuitable for you.
I also tried out a set of Kumho V70`s . I`d bought a used set that had been heat cycled several times, in 205/50/15. Hard compound.
My initial thoughts (these may be partly due to the tyres been old and cycled several times.)
They take longer to warm up than the 888`s, Direzzas or A048`s.
The squeal more than the 888`s, Direzzas or A048`s
The grip feels to be slightly less, but the GPS traces don`t really back this up. Perhaps I`m driving them the same as the others, but using more of the available grip ?
The 205/50 work well after some minor arch tweaking.
They are wearing FAR FAR better than any other `R` tyre I`ve used before.
Sidewalls seem to be somewhere between the 888`s and the A048`s. Probably not quite as stiff as the A048`s, but close.
I am definately buying a set of these for my next track tyres instead of 888`s or A048`s. They are what I was hoping the A048`s would be, similar grip to the Toyo`s but longer life, I find the A048`s better than the Toyos, but the life is dissapointing.
The only thing I`m undecided on is should I go for 205/50 or 195/50, the price difference is negligible and which compound. The Hard compound may not be perfect for UK tracks, the Hard does seem to take a while to heat up on my Golf, on heavier / more powerful cars, that may not be an issue, but the Medium would probably be better in my case for shorter sessions and would offer more grip too. The 205 section means taller gearing, so I lose on acceleration a bit, but has the benefit of a wider profile to hopefully help tyre temps.
Overall, I like them, a LOT. I managed around 70 laps out of my A048`s before they were pretty much worn out. I did over 100 laps (at similar pace) on the part worn Kumho`s and they still had life left
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