Toyo R888 tires

[SLOroadster]

I ran two days at Sears Point 2 weekends ago on the R888s. They weren't bad, but I think they were slower than the Hankook Z214s that I've run in the past. With ambient air temps of 106, the track temps were scorching, the tires were hot. The R888s seem to have a wider slip angle than the Z214s. It seems like I had to use a larger steering input than I remember needing for the Hankooks. That said, before I broke a valve spring (I haven't touched the head in 11 years), I was running between 2:00 and 2:02 laps with a passenger, and was being held up in corners by Porsches, BMWs and the like. I got into it with a supercharged NSX in one session, he was way faster than I was in a straight line (no surprise there) but through the corners I would pull away. After 5 or so laps of this, I missed a shift (not a big miss, just didn't get into gear quickly) slowed down and he went around me. At that point he ran away from me till turn 2 where I caught him and was glued to his bumper till we got out onto the drag strip, where he will inch away till the braking zone of 7 where I would catch him and be glued to his bumper till the exit of 10 where he would accelerate away from me. A couple laps like that and I got stuck behind a slower car and couldn't catch him. He was running 1:58s

I'm not sure that I like the tires, yet I'm not sure I don't like them. I'm hoping they will last heat cycle wise till I cord them. I don't know that I'll get the car fixed in time to take it out again this year (Too many other projects going on.) I will say the Hankooks seemed to be faster, however it might be that the cars in the group as a whole were faster than I've run with in the past.

Will

[troyt]

My impression is the Toyo 888s really aren't race tires, just hi-performance street tires. They definitely take longer to warm up, the deep treads flex and slip more creating that greater slip angle/steering input you noticed. I've run on a few sets as spec tires, inexpensive race rain tires, practice tires, enduro tires, etc. They are a good deal for those purposes. I recommend them to our rookie drivers still learning their car as they are a consistent 90% tire for many weekends. The Hankook Z214s more closely compare to the Toyo RRs or shaved RA1s, or the Kumho V710s, in wear and perfomance. If you're looking for all out speed on DOTs, the Hoosier R7s are the king. They cost the most and degrade the fastest, but absolutely fantastic that first weekend.

[SLOroadster]

I had the Z214s in the C71 compound and they were awesome, until I heat cycled them out. It was my understanding that the R888 was the same rubber compound as the RA1, just a different carcass under it. Finding a 225/50/14 tire is getting hard, the R888s and Z214s seem to be the only choices these days.

At this point since I don't see any real races on the horizon, the R888s are fine for doing track days. I'll run them till I cord them.

Will