2003silvercorvette

so i was looking at getting some new tires for road racing/ weekend street use and was wondering what people think about the toyo ra1 and r888 tires. i am currently running mich pilot sport cup tires and was looking to try something new.

gkmccready

I like my R888s. I can drive them to the events and back and they survive. And they stick much better than the Supercars.

I ran RA1s for street/track/autox on a previous car and they also worked very well.

I'm not sure what other options there really are for a streetable DOT-R tire.

2003silvercorvette

so r888s would be okay for weekend driving and some track events, or are the ra1s better, i dont want to drop allot on tires that wont last lol

gkmccready

Define "last". :-) Neither are going to give you 20,000 miles on the street plus track time. On a 2800# RX7 I was probably getting at most 5000 miles and maybe 100 autox runs with RA1s.

The R888s and RA1s should wear similarly so I'm not expecting a lot of miles out of the R888s on the Corvette.

2003silvercorvette

probly 2 to 3 road course events a year and just weekend driving

wallyman424

well, the ra1's and r888's have the same wear rating (100), so i'd expect similar longevity.

2003silvercorvette

anyonr know why for the r888s they have 99y for 275/35/18 and 101y for the 305/35/18 ?

TOYO Proxes R888 305 35ZR18 101Y
TOYO Proxes R888 275 35ZR18 99Y RD

gkmccready

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete....jsp?techid=35

Load rating. The bigger tire can handle more weight.

How many miles are you hoping to get from the tire? You may be better off looking at the non-R Kumho that everybody raves about if you want a bunch of street miles (even if they're only on the weekend). :-)

2003silvercorvette

well thats the thing i am not sure how many miles. I guess like 8000 miles plus 2 or 3 trips to the road course. i am leaning towards the r888's right now

mgarfias

I'm at 6-8k miles (not sure exactly how many), with a few track days on my RA1s

Just don't drive them in the rain and you'll be fine.

Edit: I'm a bit past 1/2 through the tread.

2003silvercorvette

nicee, just what i wanted to hear

Jason

Anyone heard a price on the R888s? How do they compare to Hoosier R6's and Kumho 710's?

2003silvercorvette

well for the ones i was looking at its 340.00 a tire for the 275's and 373.00 for the 305's.

Jason

Damn. They'd better last a long time.

2003silvercorvette

haha ya, i am still looking for a better price, gonna call a few shops monday.

gkmccready

Call John or Chip at CCW (http://www.ccwheel.com/). They seem to have them for a good price.

http://www.aimtire.com/ at Infineon also carries the Toyos.

talon95

How bad do they throw rocks on the street? That's the biggest problem IMO with driving on any R compound tire. Tends to sandblast your fenders.

MySR71

According to GRM, the RA1 and R888 have the same rubber compound. The R888 has a different construction and tread pattern.

gkmccready

I haven't put many street miles on them yet, so I can't really say. If you pick sizes that tuck in I doubt it'll be an issue. I have 295s on an 18x11 up front so they stick out, I suspect I'll end up throwing some sand/rocks down the side. Such is life.

mgarfias

I've had good luck buying from Frisby Tire - they're an easy google find. When I bought from them, they had the cheapest price.