Supercharged111

I've never used this compound, but rumor has it that it cycles out faster than the RA1. Will these things turn to bricks in a couple months of DD action and suck? Or is a shjtty R888 still better than a good NT05? Reason I ask is my car needs tires, and I can get enough contingency money (unless my POS car keeps breaking on the contingency races) from racing the Camaro to pay for some tires on my Z06, so I intend to do just that. I'll have more than enough tires for next year from this year's earnings, so I figure I can use some of next year's earnings to get tires for the Z.

C5Natie

I dd r888's and the fronts have lasted me a year and a half. I do a couple a track days a year and I hit the canyons every week. The tires still feel great and soft to the touch. Once they warm up they feel great. I did heat cycle them when new so idk if that helped.

naschmitz

I've run both the R888 and the NT01 on the street. Supposedly these are the same compound as Toyo and Nitto are the same company. Both pretty bad in standing water. R888s roar pretty loudly and seem to be more expensive.

Supercharged111

Yeah, I wasn't expecting much in the way of wet performance. Main concern being if they cycle out and turn to crap. Good to know they're loud though. One less surprise.

z06801

I run the Nt-01s all summer long on my DD. (Modded 996tt) I don't think it seems to effect them much when they get back to the track.

SquatchMachining

I have ran both the NT01 and the R888. I can assure you, that of the two, the R888 is a stickier tire, I don't believe for a second that they are the same compound.


As far as using them for a DD, that is what I did. Had them for long distance drives and car shows, basically any time I didn't need the 345 drag radials on it. Ran them on a 1100hp twin turbo car, 335's in the rear, 275's on the front, got 3 years out of them and about 12,000 miles. In my opinion they got stickier with age, sounds funny but its true... I live in a cooler climate where they would be in the garage in negative temps for weeks at a time in the winter as well, so when people say that temp extremes can damage them, I am not buying it. Just a good overall tire.


The NT01 however, was a hard turd and I would never run that tire again.


Ive had the R888's in the rain as well, I didn't think they did that bad. I never felt unsafe.

z06801

Never ran the r888s just took everyone's word that they where the same compound. I'll have to give them a try. Do you have laptime comparisons to show as to why they're more sticky? I wish I could get 12k out of any tires on the turbo

wtb-z

My experience:

The R888 and NT01 feel like totally different tires, not just different compounds. I agree that a new R888 is faster than a new NT01, but an old R888 will be much slower than a old NT01.

R888 as a street tire - bad MPG, loud, but otherwise seems ok in SoCal where it never rains. Even after they are worn out and junk on the track (like 3 seconds per lap slower on a short track kind of worn out) they feel pretty good on the street.

JLZ06TR

How long should the R888 last before they heat cycle too much? is this a valid concern if used on the street? I'm considering these too, but I dont daily drive the car, just weekends and bi-monthly autox event.

RC000E

I absolutely loved R888's for street/track. As stated, they can be sketchy in standing water for sure, but they are predictable overall. I found you can wear them pretty far as well and still extract a good bit of grip. I'm not sure about daily, but for weekend/fun driving definitely. I'd just want a little more wet traction for a daily personally. Keep in mind though, I had them when I lived in Pa...where the weather sucks all but 3 months out of the year. Winter sucks, then spring until June it rains, then it's nice for 3 months, and repeat. In GA or CA though, I'd daily them just due to the lack of frequent rain.

Supercharged111

As soon as El Nino quits being El Nino, rain won't be much of a concern to me either. Supposed to go through next Spring, so about the time I get them hopefully this state will have dried back out.

LFZ

I have been DDing the R888s...other than the howling....they are great tires for street and track. I probably wouldn't run them in cold temps though....