It's time to buy my track tires for the HPDE season, and I just got a mailer from Toyo offering $100 off a set of four R1Rs. So has anyone run them? I'm particularly interested in how they compare to the RA1s, which I've been using for the last few years.

While we're at it, any news on the brakepad front? I liked the PFC01s, but last I heard they're no longer available for the Track Brembos. I've been running the Hawk HTC 70, but don't like them much: they wear too fast.

Thanks.

 

The R1R's are going to be a new hot street tire, but not a replacement for the RA-1 since they are a 140 tread wear and not a 100 like the RA1. I believe you can use the $100 gift card on a set of the new R888's, which would be a slight upgrade from your RA1's.

As far as brake pads, I have been using Raybestos ST41's with good results and wear VERY well. I am switching to the new BHP's next weekend at the NASA event at VIR which are supposed to give similar if not better results than the 41's.

 

I just purchased some RA1s from Edge Racing at what appears to be a big discount: $162 ea. for 275/40-17....this is much cheaper than buying the R888 even with the $100 rebate. This is almost as cheap as the Falken RT 615

The R888 are likely a little faster, but for the price, I will still run the RA1 in HPDE events....until they run out of stock.

 

Okay, so anyone running the R888s? Comparisons to the RA1s?

 

On our time attack Subaru, we ran RA1's then switched to the R888's. The R888's we liked a lot more. They run really wide. So if you are short on space keep that in mind. Next weekend we will be running a STi and a EVO X on some R888's. We got some for the GTR, but they are just too small. So if we bring the GTR, it will be on stock tires.

The R1R we are running on our time attack MazdaSpeed3 next weekend at Buttonwillow. So we will know more about those in a couple weeks. What we have heard about the R1R is that they are super soft and unless you shave them, they will chunk. Also (and we did confirm this) the sidewalls are very soft.

 

I've heard from some of the Spec E30 guys that the cars running the R888's where a couple seconds faster, I believe a stiffer side wall, and better tread pattern.

I looked last week and the prices have come down some and are comparable to the NT01's.

 

Forgot info on brake pads.

On our TA STi, we were running the stock Brembo's and we tried stock pads (very bad), then we switched to the Ferrodo 2500. Those sucked pretty bad as well. Then we upgraded to some 355mm Stoptechs with PFC 01's. Those were ok, but they would lose their initial bite after a couple laps. We switched to the Pagid Black's. Couldn't be happier. They perform flawlessly lap after lap. No fade. Initial bite is constant so your brake points stay the same. So for a track pad, we will never use anything else given the choice.

 

I posted this in another thread. According to these posts, the RA1s are the ones you should buy if they're cheaper. More info/threads on rennlist if you're interested.

 

Thanks to all for the replies.

I bought a set of R888s yesterday. They were $5 more each than the RA1s, so I thought it was worth trying them out. We'll see how they work. First track day is April 4, although it's a FATT at which I'll be instructing, so it's not as easy to really focus on my driving.

The other down side is that, with only two days on the new pavement at SPR (one a FATT at which I instructed), I won't know how much of any improvement I see this year is due to the tires and how much is the track. It would have been nice to have a few more days on RA1s on the new asphalt. On the first day I beat my best time by about 1.5 seconds, without pushing really hard, and I could probably have found at least another second or so on the RA1s. But they were corded at the end of the year, and had to go.

So I'll let you know what I find. And if anyone else has any comments, I'm still interested in hearing them.

 

where did you get your set of R888's? and at $5 more than the RA-1's!! what size are you running? i got the mailer from NASA as well and wanted to take advantage of it while the gettin's good!

 

I got them at Radial Tire, Silver Spring, MD. I paid $195 each for 275/40-17s.

AFAIK, Radial does not do online or mail order sales. Sorry, n1ck! There are better prices available online, but I like dealing with Paul Moorcones, the owner of Radial. He's a racer himself, and buying them there I get free balancing and rotating for the life of the tires (usually one year!). I usually take advantage of that at least once or twice a year, and that more than makes up for the savings I'd get from finding a cheap price online, and paying for shipping and local mounting. The guys at Radial know how to handle my SSR alloy wheels.

 

great deal! i guess i gotta do more research thanks for the input.