toyo T888's

[Simon13]

Will these wipe the pants off high performance road rubber like the T1-r's and goodyear eagle F1's etc?

I'm guessing these tyres mean it's cage and bucket seat harness time?

[maxfield]

R888s

Heard great things about these tyres!

But heard they heat up quick and rub off.

If you can afford got michelin pilot cups.

Wouldn't say bucket seat and harness time your holding on to the steering wheel. Worry about your passangers

[Jhonno]

R888s are supposed to be v good from what ive heard.. Not sure bout wet tho. Cups might be a better bet if you can get em in the right size....

[Dan318-is]

Si,

if you mean r888, its up there with the yokie prada for a dry tyre. They are also a very very soft compound which means they will not last long. As for the wet, like dan says be my guest; they will be pretty useless and the pattern looks like it will do 3/5 of fuck all when it comes to channelling water. What have you get them in mind for?

[northloop]

Any of the semi slick style 'R' rated tyres will wipe the pants off of road tyres.

R888's
Yoko AO48's - AO32's
Dunlop DO1J
Dunlop SP sport RACE

But the best of the bunch is the Michelin Pilot Cup Sport, but that is reflected in the price.

It is of course worth noting that these tyres come with around 5mm of tread from new, are soft, wear quicker than road tyres and can be dangerous in the wet. If you are using them as track day rubber, buy a second set of wheels and fit them when you arrive and change them back at the end of the day. That way you minimise wear and have both wet and dry tyres with you.

[JimmyC]

R888s is the control tyre in PBMW, we used them for all of last year

Feedback is very good in the dry, wear is pretty good, and they are good in the wet but not too great in standing water

All the cars running in the PBMW race at Mallory had r888s on and I doubt you'd be out in that much water

Big benefit is they are CHEAP compared to the 48's not sure about the others

They need around 4 degrees camber on the front to get them to perform and up to heat

If your looking at buying some give Mike Stokes motorsport a call, speak to Mike and tell him I sent you ;)

[Simon13]

My thoughts were exactly as Gary said get a second set and use them for mainly the Nurburgring and maybe the odd track day here.

i've found the toyo's for £90 a tyre delivered

the others all seem to be £120 plus and i can't find pilot cup sports even on michelins website

[schuey]

MY mate just put some on,205/50/15's 4 tyres fitted and full 4 wheel alignment done for £250,grip is unreal in the dry,whilst out playing we managed 1.2g on the brakes according to the racelogic box!

[Theo]

Was that mates rates Schuey? If not, please spill the beans where you can get them that cheap!

[stoneyV6]

I saw the PBMWs race at mallory and noticed they stayed on r888s even though it was like a monsoon all day and was very impressed with there speed in the wet.

i thought they might have been allowed a different tyre in such bad conditions but they seemed to manage ok might give the r888s a try when the A048s need changing.

[m3ben05]

They are great tyres and surprisingly good in the wet!

if your putting them on a 2nd set of wheels, why not get a set of slicks? I have a set from a btcc car that did 10 laps on them. They still have loads of life left and i got them for £200 - just an idea

[Theo]

You can't use slicks on Nurburgring as it's still subject to german road laws

[m3ben05]

Oh yea, forgot you were talking about public days sorry

[Kos]

i'm pretty sure you can not use slicks on a road car on a track day here in the uk.

[m3ben05]

Depends on who organises the day, some are definately ok with it. This set will only be used at spa and the ring (not public days)

[stoneyV6]

you can use slicks on most trackdays but only if you have a cage fitted normally.

so i use A048s on my clio as it does not have a cage and second hand slicks on the BMW £15 each corner.

[paulg390]

You can't use slicks on Nurburgring as it's still subject to german road laws

STREWTH !!! We nearly went with a set this weekend coming but decided to take 888s instead in case our road tyres got a puncture... that would have been a HUGE mistake then..

[manu6]

I use them , and in Dijon , wet and cold , just perfect , tyre pression 2.2 front and rear .

Also in Alés , Bresse and Dijon again , very hot , pression 2.5 front and rear , again just perfect , for sure not in the same level as a real slicks , but , in my 325 , only with a H&R Coil Covers , is possible to give a very hard time to the 911 brigade .

For the price , at least here in Switzerland , half of the price of the Michelin Cup , for track day level , no doubt , I already ordred a new set .

[Davenotouring]

Are they REALLY that much better than Goodyear Eagle F1s? I'm gonna HAVE to try them.

[schuey]

Was that mates rates Schuey? If not, please spill the beans where you can get them that cheap!

Not really mates rates,it was a spot in Malton(north yorks) I am just off to meet him in the pub as its his birthday so I will find out the details....

[manu6]

Im my opinion they much better than any road tyre .

Very often in track days the people are using the same pression as in a real slicks , wich again in my opinion and experience is a huge mistake , they became very hot and less good . With the same pression as the road tyres , the are really good .

http://www.toyo.com.au/Pit%20Lane.htm

[northloop]

If you want to do back to back laps on the ring and are pushing on then the R888's are not ideal, especially in hot weather.

[Francisco]

R888's are great tyres and although not ultimately as fast as Michelins on the dry they're a lot better on the wet making a better all rounder at almost half price.

More, the R888's contemplates the fact that most cars won't be running the required -3º plus negative camber needed for the track so they stiffened the carcass even more making it generally better than Mich's on less "cambered" cars.

[schuey]

Was that mates rates Schuey? If not, please spill the beans where you can get them that cheap!

Not really mates rates,it was a spot in Malton(north yorks) I am just off to meet him in the pub as its his birthday so I will find out the details....

Ian taylor tyres,in malton-not mates rates as such but I don't know if had them on stock and needed to sell or not,but worth a call to see if he has some more,he supplies the porsche dealer next door with them.

[Theo]

Cheers Schuey, just had a look, could it be possible that it is Ian Brown Tyres, not Ian Taylor?

[Simon13]

If you want to do back to back laps on the ring and are pushing on then the R888's are not ideal, especially in hot weather.

Gary i sometimes do 2 consecutive laps, but it's usually quite hot when we are there so they sound like a good upgrade from a normal road tyre without going too mad. I like to let the car cool down a little, the toyo t1s i used this weekend were very good and i thought i got the pressures right at 28pis because i wasn't getting tyre screeching, but they did seem to go off though. The brakes remained strong this weekend every lap. I wasn't timing but i felt like i was going quicker by the end of the weekend than at the start and was definately being a harder on them than previous trips.

My main concern is if these sort of tyres raise the grip levels even higher than they were last weekend along with the fact i've learned the circut. That i am entering speeds in a fast road car with just a normal setbelt and helmet that really is a little too quick for the protection i have on offer. Or am i talking sh!te. The thought of even more grip than last weekend makes me wet my pants! I think the suspension set up i am using would cope with these tyres too, just my bottle might not be!

[Jon_Bmw]

Si thats partly one of the reasons we haven't got some part worn slicks or something like these r888's for the 200sx. You are going to be that much faster when you either get it wrong or the facking thing rolls over I think on a 100mph corner its concievable that you could get 125 with slicks, thats A LOT of extra speed to hit something.

I think before we put slicks on we would want to cage it and put a bucket and harness in it. Suddenly a £1500 car becomes £4k I'm sure there are plenty of people that use slicks without cages though, so its a risk people are happy to take I suppose.

[Kos]

[quote="stoneyV6"]you can use slicks on most trackdays but only if you have a cage fitted normally.

[quote]

thats what i've been told before from a few people, my previous statment stands, as for some oraginsers being ok with slicks on a "street" ...... some thing aint right then, maybe private events or gorup track hire but i still doubt it, they have to have the same safety regulations as per usual

[Theo]

I think on a 100mph corner its concievable that you could get 125 with slicks

I like the sound of that. 4x r888's or similar are most definitely on the shoppping list before the next trip, they should stop me from skidding so much as well! I hope.

[schuey]

Cheers Schuey, just had a look, could it be possible that it is Ian Brown Tyres, not Ian Taylor?

Thats very possible,I was pi$$ed when he told me!!

[Theo]

Haha, pretty sure it's Ian Brown, unless there are 2 Ians selling tyres in Maldon!

Thanks for the info, will call him soon when i'm feeling rich.

[handpaper]

Just noticed this thread!
I bought a set of R888s from camskill* a week ago, for use on my next 'Ring trip, 21st-24th June. I had my local tyre place fit them to a cheap set of 15" BBSs (every fitter in the place huddled around the fitting bay ogling them ). I left them on the car for c. 150 miles, to scrub them in and get a feel for them.
Grip? In the dry, awesome. Not a slip or squeak out of them, even taking a deliberately bad line just to see if they'd slide. On wet roads, at least as good as road tyres; I didn't push any further.
On top of that, though, the much stiffer sidewall (I use T1-Rs on the road) tightens everything up. Steering is so much more direct and precise that along with the extra grip it's like driving a big, comfy kart! It took an effort of will to put the 'road' wheels and tyres back on....

*Camskill advertise these tyres (in 205/50/15) on their website for £90.24 each, delivered. This is to keep Toyo happy.
Phone them for a pleasant surprise.

[paulg390]

Just done a trip to the Ring and Spa and have to say these R888s were amazing ! They handled wet and damp tracks tracks far, far better than any road tyre I've tried .... and seemed to last pretty well in the dry with loads of progressive grip... (although it wasn't that dry for that long !!)

[JCB]

i use the 888's on my track car (www.greenbmw.co.uk). the car is not road legal so i dont have the same considerations as many of you. They are very sticky when they get hot and seem to stay sticky for quiet a while even after cooling down between sessions but i do find they go off after about 10-12 hot laps. I do find the diewall flex more than i had before with kuhmos - however the kuhmos took ages to get hot and did give a lot of understeer. I was at oulton park yesterday and it was hot. the toyos did go off quickly so i thought i would give my slicks a go - never used them before....HUGE GRIN MOMENT - SLICKS ARE SOOOOO MUCH BETTER. Even cold they were as good as the toyos and the sterring response was better (stiffer sidewalls). once they were really sticky it was like driving a new car - never before have a pulled as much g-force to actually make myself feel dizzy on the shell oils hairpin . i suspect the huge forces going throught he car will no doubt take their toll on the suspension and i was quiet concerned about oil starvation/surge due to the increased lateral forces in the sump. but they were FUN !!!!. now i have a dilema - i cant carry slicks , wets and "intermediates" (888's) but the difference between the slicks and the wets (T1-R) will be huge. if there is a little bit of water i would prefer to use the 888's but i cant carry 8 spare wheels in my towcar (cant fit a tyre rack to trailer as will make it way too heavy). need to give it some thought...
in summary - 888s much better than other raod tyres but not as good as slicks. i have also heard that silverstone tyres are good as they have a stiffer sidewall than the 888's

i got my 888s in 15" for £50 a corner inc delivery then paid my local kwik fit £20 to fit all 4. got them from simply tyres - will post detaisl when i can find them !!

[Brian28]

I think the R888s are grippy enough. Photo courtesy of Dave Kirby, www.track-side.com