Goodbye R888! Welcome back RA1!

#1

received my issue of Grassroots Motorsports in the mail yesterday and it sounds like NASA is switching back to the RA1 because the R888 wasn’t as reliable and fast.

I did testing in a spec miata on the RA1 and BFGroodrich race rubber in 2006-2007 so i know the feel of the RA1 and i was building a spec miata last year to race in and bought a set of R888’s and i was worried about the setup and feel of it, but then later on in my build i lost interest in spec miata and a childhood dream of turning a e30 into a race car came across so i sold the miata and the R888’s skeptical at first because i might need them for the spec e30 series. so now im building a e30 and im almost finished finish and just ordered race rims and looking for a good tire dealer for the RA1’s.

#2

Old news to us. Most of us are happy the RA-1 is back. Those with a big inventory of R888’s are not.

Phil’s Tire Service is the preferred vendor on the eastern part of the US. I price shopped quite a bit and you’ll be hard pressed to beat his price.

#3

ok ill check that out thank you!

#4

alright Im on a tight budget will it be smart to get a full tread or shaved tread set of tires. I was going to go with shaved and put a few heat cycles on it.

#5

Anyone looking to sell their R888’s contact me.

Drive-gear.com
"we rent spec e30’s"

#6

I don’t buy shaved. I’m a total noob, so what’s the point? I’m not going to be a contender, so the difference in lap times having shaved tires isn’t going to matter. Salvaging the budget for now is more important. Once I can see Cobetto’s taillights I’ll start buying shaved tires.

#7

with some tires, the tall tread blocks will be stressed a lot and the rubber will chunk off at the edges. Shaving them to a lower height makes the tire last longer overall. I haven’t seen this chunking behavior with full tread RA1’s though.
bruce

ddavidv wrote:

#8

I’ve seen full tread RA-1’s chunk on my brother’s SE-R. He only got a couple events out of them, I will be getting mine shaved.

#9

im planning on getting a set of shaved 4/32nd’s what do you guys think?

#10

RSchwyn wrote:

I think shaved is the way to go for everybody. Counter-intuitively, the tires will wear better if you start shaved (no chunking, less tread squirm).

The 888 has a 6/32 mold depth, so 4/32nds is a good place to start. You may want to wait a few weeks as more guys end their seasons in Spec Miata. I am planning to get a couple sets of 4-6 heat cycle 888s after the SARRC Invitational. I hear they can be had for $300/set.

Personally, I prefer the 888 for sprint races and short qualifying. RA1s are good for 45 minute races in the summer heat.

#11

ddavidv wrote:

[quote]Old news to us. Most of us are happy the RA-1 is back. Those with a big inventory of R888’s are not.

Phil’s Tire Service is the preferred vendor on the eastern part of the US. I price shopped quite a bit and you’ll be hard pressed to beat his price.[/quote]

I’ve managed to use-up my R888s right here at the end of the season.

But don’t forget that the R888 is legal for the first few events of 2010. I think it’s the first three weekends of each individual NASA Region but confirm this with NASA National if you need to “run-out” some old R888s.

Carter

#12

sounds like a good plan! i could really use some $300 sets for when i do some HPDE’s. could you hook me up?

#13

Anyone in the Richmond, VA area interested in a set of 888s with some life (possibly 2)? They’re in pretty decent shape so dont expect to make the deal of the century.

PM me…

#14

no takers?

#15

I’d be up for that deal of the century.

#16

allenr wrote:

I dunno. It might have been your warning that the buyer wouldn’t get a deal…

…even though you are selling used race tires with an unknown number of heat cycles at the end of the season. I’m just sayin’.

#17
#18

All i’m saying is they’re not crap tires so dont expect a crap tire price. It’s actually a good deal because you get nearly new performance for a big discount. I have exact records of heat cycles and wear. Again, if you are going to be in the richmond area and you are interested in buying good used tires, let me know and I’ll give you the details.

#19

Robert I sent you a message…