New Toyo R888 V old Toyo RA1

[DB6]

The Ra1 has been discontinued after 5 years production ( I have a set on my car), the replacement is the R888, any feedback on the new tire, it looks radically diff, but they claim better performance across the board.

[shiva]

I used to run ra-1 on my turbo miata. But after a day on an old airport concrete track I finished them.

 

since middle of summer I run the new R888.

 

So far so good. I really like them, They grip a little more I think and seams to take a lot more of a beating before "overheating".

 

The gradual "wet" thread are gone and replace with a full thread pattern. We'll see how it goes.

 

Oh one more thing about them... they squeal a LOT less than the RA-1.

 

Ra-1 were probably at 8/10th when starting squealing... with the R888 you're more at 9/10th if they even squeal. Depends on the surface a lot more.

 

You'll enjoy them. I know I did!

[DB6]

Hi Shiva,

Thanks for the input.

I spoke to a tech at Toyo ( I know they are biassed) but the one thing that concermed me was the wet handling, (it's jist a street car but I live in Oregon and drive the car a lot so I often get wet roads), the R888 looks like a slick that someone cut a few groves in whereas the RA1 looks like it would be a better wet tire, BUT ....according to Toyo the R888 outperfroms the RA1 including wet weather traction, he did day the only negative feed back so far was that there was more road noise that the RA1, probably noy a problem in the 7,lol.

Regards

David

[scannon]

I found that the R-888 is a better rain tire than the RA-1. It is OK in light rain but if there is standing water, it will aquaplane you right off the road.

 

Reportably, it gets much worse as the grooves wear off.

 

Skip

[slngsht]

I found that the R-888 is a better rain tire than the RA-1. It is OK in light rain but if there is standing water, it will aquaplane you right off the road.

 

Reportably, it gets much worse as the grooves wear off.

 

Skip

 

I haven't had the R888 yet, but it's really surprising that it would be better than RA-1 in the wet. RA-1 has decent grooves in it. R888 looks alot closer to what the Nitto 555 RII's look like, and I know first hand how bad those are in the rain.

[gjslutz]

I have the R888s, wet is fine, but as said above look out for standing water. They come up to temp very quick. They have a good feel up to the limit with plenty of warning.

[DB6]

Slingshot,

Those were my thougts exactly, but from what I hear (Oregon wet weather users on 3 dif cars I asked ) said they actually do out perform the old RA1 in the wet (and are better all round too), guess looks can be deceiving as to my old school thinking the RA1 with all it's groves and chunky pattern looks like the better all rounder, partic in the wet, where as the R888, look like a dry weather slick thats barely road legal.The only point they made (which is the same as the members points raised here about standing water in a torrent) then the old style comes out better.

Regards to all.

David

 

[Kitcat]

Posters on other forums have said RA1's kept getting better, all the way til they corded. That has been my experience on the 2 sets I have run.

 

R888's are said to be more susceptible to multiple heat cycles, reaching their maximum grip 1/2 thru their tread life and falling off after that. I have no experience with them (yet) so at this point it's all hearsay.

 

Mike

[gjslutz]

My R888's are my driving tires as well as A/X, I can drive them to the event. I have RT-615's for a rain tire and will be using them if I go any place that could have hard rain. I just ordered another set of Team Dynamics for my V710 slicks that just have been sitting. I got them delivered for $539 from: http://www.good-win-racing.com/Mazda-Performance-Parts/Miata/Wheels-Tires/Wheels.html I like the 13.6 pound weight & price. I'm starting to think I'm collecting wheels & tires.

[JohnCh]

I recently switched from the Toyo T1-S to the R-888. The biggest surprise for me was that they grip better in cold temperatures (mid-upper 40’s) even before they get any heat into them than the T1-S in the same conditions. Prior to the T1-S I had AO32Rs and those did not stick well at all when the temps dropped. Given that I use the car all year round, good cold temp grip is important to me.

 

Regarding noise, the R888 certainly isn’t quiet, but it’s fine in a se7en where the other noises drown it out to a faint whine.

 

-John

[Keith]

First off, I'd double-check with Toyo that the RA1 has been discontinued. I've been hearing those rumors for over a year but that didn't prevent me from buying a set of RA1s a couple of months ago. Maybe it's time for me to check with Toyo again on that, I've certainly learned not to trust the internets on this topic.

 

I had to choose between the RA1 and the R888 for the Targa Newfoundland. Standing water was a strong possibility, and the RA1's always been the tire to beat. After talking to those who have run both tires (the R888 has been available overseas for some time) and talking to Toyo, I decided to go with the RA1. The tread depth was important to me (we had a minimum tread depth requirement at all times) but so were some comments from previous users. It appeared from all sources that the RA1 did have an edge in wet braking, IIRC.

 

There's quite a difference between wet pavement and standing water, of course.

 

A number of cars were running the R888s, and I'm going to poll them to see what they think. On my Seven, my next set of tires will be either the R888 or the NT01, we're running the latter on the turbo Westfield right now.

[Keith]

I just called Toyo USA. The RA1 has not been discontinued in the US (despite what you read on the internets) and there are no immediate plans to do so.