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Help, again.
I am trying to buy some 14" R888s for fit my BBS rims and am told that there is no 14" R888 made. Is this bs? I am being quoted $159/ea plus balance, valve stems,m ounting & all the other crap for 15". Is this as good as it gets?
Thanks,
Stuart
http://marktg.toyotires.com/file/30029.pdf
Looks like no 14s at this point. I think it’s still in the phase-in period, so they might be on the way. I’m not sure.
As for price, that’s probably about right; you might get another 10-15 off that. The cheapest we had the RA-1s (without a discount) was 134/tire and the R888 is supposed to be a bit more.
However, shaving the R888 will not be AS important as it was on the RA-1.
I’ve read somewhere that the 14’s will be released at some point in the first quarter.
If you already have 14" wheels, and no 15s, you might as well just buy RA-1s until the R888 comes out.
I’ve asked Carter to clarify this, because the latest rules don’t allow us to use RA1s after June 1 (old rules said we could use RA1s if the R888 wasn’t available).
I have gotten RA1s for $129 (+tax) mounted/balanced (not shaved) from a local place in Boulder, CO so the deals should be out there.
bruce
Thanks for the responses. Hundred dollar bills grow wings around this stuff, don’t they?
Stuart
155MPH wrote:
[quote]However, shaving the R888 will not be AS important as it was on the RA-1.
[/quote]
Why would shaving the R888 be less important then shaving the RA1?
Much larger tread blocks = much less tread squirm.
Shaved will still be faster, but it won’t be imparative to shave the R888’s as it was with the RA-1’s.
All I know is that rain races with the R888 are going to be sketchy even if the tires are at full tread depth.
FYI, Spec Miata is staying with the RA1 for 2008
[quote]HELLO ALL, The TOYO RA-1 remains the spec tire for 2008 in all Spec Miata classes.
TOYO will continue building the complete line of fast moving RA-1’s in 2008 and quite possibly beyond. The gang over at TOYO are totally committed to providing you with the best ‘spec tires’ on the planet.
The fate of the RA-1 line has not officially been decided as of this time. TOYO may decide to continue the line well into the future or not.
FYI: My company, A.I.M. has been selling TOYO
RA-1’s since 1992. We provide trackside support for the SCCA and NASA in the San Francisco area.
Currently we are testing the R-888 on a couple of Nor-Cal Miata’s to better educate ourselves on what the R-888 needs to post fast, consistant lap times. It’s only for our own information. And YES, they are quicker ON MIATA’S if shaved rather than at full tread depth of 6/32. On the larger, more powerful cars this does not seem to be the case.
The tire has a different construction as well as tread pattern and therefore will require different camber/pressure settings to obtain the greatest performance from the tire. One cannot expect to simply change tires on a SM car with a zillion combined developement miles/race miles from a hundred different race tracks and a thousand different drivers to a different tire/construction without making some adjustments to the car. i.e. Most of the SM cars have been dialed in to perform their best on RA-1 tires!
Testing in the rain will begin shortly, so that we can better educate ourselves on their potential.
Thanks to Brad Rampleberg for using our tires to capture the 2008 SCCA SM Championship. [/quote]
Ok, this is starting to piss me off.
I had a line on a great deal on 2 sets of RA-1s. I was thinking I could use them this season. No more. As I have yet to get my license, and it may be at or after the newly announced tire switch “cutoff” that I will have it, I gotta pay full fare on R888s.
Given all of my other build costs, saving on rubber was a welcome idea.
What is the impetus behind this? Is this being done at Toyo Tire’s insistence?
MikeD wrote:
RA1’s suck in the rain too…imo, in heavy rain, full tread RA1’s aren’t much better than shaved ones…RA1 tread design doesnt seem to move water all that effectively so in heavy rain you will still aqua-plane a lot (anyone remember the 3hr vir enduro last year?) and the rubber compound is too hard to be very effective in the rain (especially when it’s cold and raining)…
my guess is that 888’s will probably suck as rain tires, just like the RA1’s 
DaveCN wrote:
[quote]Ok, this is starting to piss me off.
I had a line on a great deal on 2 sets of RA-1s. I was thinking I could use them this season. No more. As I have yet to get my license, and it may be at or after the newly announced tire switch “cutoff” that I will have it, I gotta pay full fare on R888s.
Given all of my other build costs, saving on rubber was a welcome idea.
What is the impetus behind this? Is this being done at Toyo Tire’s insistence?[/quote]
Dave, I’d be happy to help with that RA1 deal. I’ll buy them. Can you email me? Thx, -Scott
dmwhite wrote:
[quote] RA1’s suck in the rain too…imo, in heavy rain, full tread RA1’s aren’t much better than shaved ones…RA1 tread design doesnt seem to move water all that effectively so in heavy rain you will still aqua-plane a lot (anyone remember the 3hr vir enduro last year?) and the rubber compound is too hard to be very effective in the rain (especially when it’s cold and raining)…
my guess is that 888’s will probably suck as rain tires, just like the RA1’s ;)[/quote]
Yeah David, I remember that race all too well… 
dmwhite wrote:
Dave,
Thanks for keeping my car from getting the armco green stripes 
There were a couple of slides that I thought I would not be leaving without some damage.
-Steve
stevekappy wrote:
[quote]dmwhite wrote:
Dave,
Thanks for keeping my car from getting the armco green stripes
There were a couple of slides that I thought I would not be leaving without some damage.
-Steve[/quote]
Steve,
That’s a customized paint job known as Virginia International Racing Green. Not very popular, I’m afraid. :S
