Toyo R888 Review - Daily + Track
 

What?
I recently picked up a set of Toyo R888 for about 1k shipped.

• F - 245/40/18
• R - 275/35/18

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Street Driving
Pros:

• Traction is other worldly.
• I can slow the rotation of the earth with braking.

Cons:

• Brakes locked up in the rain @ 40 mph.
• Treadwear = 100
• These tires are LOUD. It sounds like I'm always being followed by a fire engine who's siren is winding down.

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Track Driving

Notes: These tires like a LOT of pressure. When i say a lot, i mean they were rolling the sidewalls @ 40 psi HOT.

Upped to 45 psi HOT, and got better wear an less folding over.

These tires are still very capable of under-steer, with my "braking and turning at the same time". I am admittedly very hard on my front tires.

Repeat to self... Brake first THEN turn.

Cons:

• Fuel starvation is now more prevalent because i am achieving higher lateral G's.

Beware constant DD as these tyres will heat cycle out quickly under DD use. Once tey go hard, grip will be very poor

I gotta agree with bgtv, these are great tires just like the NT01's But they will heat cycle before they are worn out tread wise and they'll be like driving in the rain at the track, just sliding around. Definitely a good choice for a multi purpose tire though. Id recommend 2 sets of rims and tires in your future

Will either one of you guys elaborate on this?? Don't mean to hijack thread but I think it would good info to be shared here as it pertains to the R888

In your situation I probably would have opted for a set of Nitto NT01's. They are the same compound (both made by Toyo) but the Nitto does not need to be shaved.

Either way, the ability to drive to the track is so nice. I used to trailer a set of Hoosiers and swap them at the track. IMHO there is nothing worse than having to swap a set of hot and track dust encrusted wheels after a day of lapping.

If you mean by heat cycling out the easiest way to explain that is the tires are soft rubber, most sticky Hoosiers you can get 7 or more good days of running on them and getting them to full temperature, after these whatever days, all tires are different, the tire does not get sticky after getting hot, it just becomes hard and doesn't grip well

woah woah Rewind everyone...

I have 3 sets of wheels.

1. Summer
2. Winter
3. Track

I only put the R888 on for my commute this week. I wanted to warm the tires up a lil bit before hot lapping.

I'm not going to daily drive them permanent. :p

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In regards to your comment, I nearly purchased the Nitto NT-01 however they have issues with the tread separating / splitting at their seams.

yah really. they're both black and round = EXACTLY THE SAME! :mad:

I loved my R888 - I had a set of 275/40r18's square on Enkei PF01 rims. Had 3 HPDE days and countless autox days along with maybe 2-3k miles daily driving and still had some life left (maybe not heat cycles, but plenty of rubber). I have NT01's now and they've just finally been broken in. Grip is insane for a set of tires you can drive to the track/autox! Only thing I'd say is next time you should try to opt for a square setup. Otherwise awesome choice, enjoy!

Then I guess you chose wrong. Take a look at the post you cite as evidence (or proof) that Nitto NT-01's have tread splice issues. Did you even read it?

That article is about the tread splice issues of the (then) new Toyo full slick Road Race tire, a well known problem. That was an entirely new tire construction which was bound to have some teething pains. How does that even relate to the Nitto which has been around since the dinosaurs?

I believe he did read it in its entirety, however I don't think you did. Post #7 shows the NT-01 with the splicing issue. The whole thread talks about the NT-01 issues.

Do rs3's and re11 etc fall into the multiple heat category?

No, most your good street tires won't hear cycle out. Mainly slicks and road race tires.

I found my RS3's heat cycled out in 12 months of DD and eight track days. The rears were down to 3.5mm but had lost grip in DD - they were OK still for track tyres but took a minimum of one lap hard weaving to get them up to temp so they would "come in" and grip.

I covered maybe 22000 kms in the 12-14 months I had them on the car.

Good to know!!