R888 Reports/Opinions?

#1

Open question to anyone who has run on the new tires. Can you report back your findings/opinions?

Did you run full depth or shaved?
Are they good out of the box, or do you have to run them in a heat cycle or two?

#2

We have run them on our SpecE30 and my BMWCCA IP car. They wer unshaved but start at the “enduro” shave of 6/32’s anyway. Compared to teh RA1’s they are very predictable and do not squirm as full depth RA1’s do.

IMO the tires are much better than the RA1’s. I think the sidewalls are stiffer so playing with camber and pressures will be required…

On my “heavy” E36 M3 they worked great and I am now running them on my DD in the rain with no issues… :slight_smile:

#3

Looks like they were a second faster than the RA1’s from the results of VIR.

#4

From our experience we will NOT be running full depth r888’s again. Shaved was the way to go. Optimal pressures ended up within a pound or two of the Ra1’s. YMMV.

Also, the full tread r888’s were just as good in the heavy rain as the Ra1’s, neither are optimal but are better than the shaved.

JP

#5

Has anyone heard when the 14" R888 will be available? I’ve been holding out, but I may have to just go with some RA1s.

Everywhere I’ve seen says Q1, but I’m betting it will be LATE Q1 at the earliest.

Matt

#6

JP,

Do you remember whether you ran with more pressure or less pressure with R888 than RA-1s?

#7

Slightly less.

#8

Anyone do temp readings from the tires?

#9

Where are you getting them from and what’s the average price? Appalaccian (sp?) looks like the place to go.

#10

App tire and Vilven.

#11

I know the answer already, but could we use the full thread RA1’s for rain for a little longer? I only used them once and looks like a waste to toss them.

#12

I might buy your RA1’s, email me at dan@peakracer.com

#13

I found a “shaver” for my full-thread RA1’s, I’ll use them as much as possible.
I got a message from Appalaccian saying I shouldn’t shave the R888’s, has anybody heard/read this before?

#14

How much is Appalaccian selling the 888s for? And do they ship?

#15

www.racetire.com and they do ship. Prices are on their website.

I get mine from Gran Turismo, a local place here in Atlanta, but if you’re buying long-distance, Appalachian is great.

#16

jblack wrote:

http://www.racetire.com/products/toyo_r888.htm

For 15" $135/$145

#17

I’m looking for a set of used RA1’s - shaved or not for use in HPDE. Please let me know if you want to sell 'em. (Sorry for the hijack).
B)

#18

NOT_MPOWER wrote:

[quote]I’m looking for a set of used RA1’s - shaved or not for use in HPDE. Please let me know if you want to sell 'em. (Sorry for the hijack).
B)[/quote]
I will let you know, but I think I found a “shaver” for my full-thread RA1’s.
I got an interesting message from Appalaccian, which I consider an expert on racing tyres. they are no recommending shaving the new Toyos. Here is the message I got.

[quote]Victor, we are getting reports that when the R888 is shaved it does notrepeat very well. After a few heat cycles, the lap times drop off a greatdeal, but the tread depth is still fine. We will shave if a customerdesires it, but feel its only fair to give a warning abot what others haveexperienced. There was a price increase from Toyo on Monday which took the205/50-15 up to $137 per tire unshaved and $147 per tire shaved
Thanks, RodneyAppalachian Race Tire[/quote]

#19

BETO wrote:

yep, they told me that too…i wish i hadn’t listened to them…

also their shave job was less than stellar (compared to what i’ve seen from vilven) on the one set that we got shaved…i’ll pay slightly more and stick with vilven in the future…

#20

MikeD wrote:

i thought skeen was running RA1’s when he set the lap record?

we didn’t do any back to back testing between ra1’s and 888’s so it’s hard to say how much faster (if any) they are…