This is a new R compound from Toyo, the Proxes R888. I saw an ad in Evo magazine and found this link on the Toyo Japan site.

http://www.toyojapan.com/new_t....html



Anyone heard anything about NA availability?

 

That wouldn't be DOT legal, would it?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by turbohappy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">That wouldn't be DOT legal, would it?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Probably not yet, but no reason it couldnt be. Looks similar to the Yok A048's.

 

I thought it had to have a circumferential groove or something similar to pass DOT?

EDIT: Guess I'm wrong, the Yokos you mentioned don't either.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by turbohappy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I thought it had to have a circumferential groove or something similar to pass DOT?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Hoosiers RS304/AS304's are DOT legal.

 

They have two circumferential grooves. There may be something in the rules about continuous tread grooves but I'm not certain. Every DOT tire I can think of has at least one continuous line of tread around its whole circumference, and that one doesn't.

EDIT: Nope, no rule about circumferential grooves as the Pirelli Corsa and A048 both have interupted tread grooves. I wonder what the tread rule is specifically, it's obviously full of unintended consequences.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by .RJ &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Hoosiers RS304/AS304's are DOT legal.</TD></TR></TABLE>
yes, and they also have 2 circumference grooves....


I believe the rule has something to do with measurable tread depth spots all the way around the tread, which is appears as those toyos have

 

A048

 

It also looks a lot like the Dunlop D01J's.

I'm just waiting to get my hands on the new RE-55S's!

 

How do any of these tires stack up to what is common in North America, price wise, and grip/durability?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by pmachan &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">How do any of these tires stack up to what is common in North America, price wise, and grip/durability?
</TD></TR></TABLE>

JDM &gt; ALL, didn't you know that?

 

Seems like the available sizes are not very ideal for us Honda racers. Only 205/50 and 195/55 for 15".

 

And nothing at all in 14" sizes...

 

hey all,

Toyo race dealer here. Glad someone else saw this. I've seen this for the past year. We are going to ask the VP of Toyo this weekend if they plan on bringing this out to the U.S. along with the new T1R.

As for pricing. Here is a little insight. The Japanese are much smarter businessmen when it comes to tires. They all keep their prices up and don't let some Wal-Mart idea cause a huge price war like in the U.S. That is why you can buy a Falken for $68 in the U.S. and the same tire costs $115 in Japan. So, if and when Toyo and Dunlop bring their new tires they will be priced for the U.S. market. Meaning poor tire dealers like myself can't make much money on them.

I'll let you know what I find out. In the meantime check out frisbyracetire.com for RA1 prices. We keep them all in stock.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by swift-speed &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">They all keep their prices up and don't let some Wal-Mart idea cause a huge price war like in the U.S. That is why you can buy a Falken for $68 in the U.S. and the same tire costs $115 in Japan. So, if and when Toyo and Dunlop bring their new tires they will be priced for the U.S. market. Meaning poor tire dealers like myself can't make much money on them. </TD></TR></TABLE>
Meaning a tire dealer can operate off of whatever profit there is in a $68 tire but would rather make almost $50 extra profit per tire?

Christian, who thinks capitalism is cool, especially when it means low prices for me

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by swift-speed &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Meaning poor tire dealers like myself can't make much money on them. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Unless of course you buy them in the US with a dealer discount, and re-import them into Japan where you can sell them retail for twice what you paid...

 

While we await with baited breath the response from Toyo in Japan, does anyone have any input on the new Yoko 048's? I saw a guy running them for the first time last weekend but I wasn't able to get his input on how they compare to anything else.

 

Looks sexy... I'm looking forward to the RA-1 upgrade. And, it doesn't seem like you'll need to shave these for max performance (or maybe you do) I heard TOYO made slicks iin the past, I wonder...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by D.CACO &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Looks sexy... I'm looking forward to the RA-1 upgrade. And, it doesn't seem like you'll need to shave these for max performance (or maybe you do) I heard TOYO made slicks iin the past, I wonder...</TD></TR></TABLE>

That tire will still have to be shaved. Those grooves are deep!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by descartesfool &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">While we await with baited breath the response from Toyo in Japan, does anyone have any input on the new Yoko 048's? I saw a guy running them for the first time last weekend but I wasn't able to get his input on how they compare to anything else.</TD></TR></TABLE>

When I was at a track event in China, most race cars there were running A048. But there's ONE Elise race car used the new Hoosier. The owner does business in the US so he shipped a set back to try out.

According to him, the Hoosier is grippier than the A048R that he had been using. He prefers the Hoosier over the A048 --- but remember tho money is not an object for him. How nice.

 

The A048 is trickling in. I'm expecting the Full size range to be anounced at SEMA. We are the wholesale distributor for the A048 that are used for Spec Racers. These tires are 185/60-13 and 205/60-13. They need to be shaved to be fast. We shave them down to 4/32 and they are .5 faster than non shaved. You must heat cycle these tires or they will be burned off in a weekend.

The only thing that compares to the Hoosier is the Goodyear D.O.T. GSCS. Just they don't have lost of sizes. If Avon gets the new Tech R ready for Road Racing and not just autocross, those will compete with the Hoosier also. But as usual, to go fast and have ultimate grip means you give up life of the tire. Nothing compares to the RA1 at this point.

Here is a neat example. We supply the tires to a Radical school, the cars are supposed to run radial Avon slicks. They cost $260 for the rears and $200 for fronts. Medium compound. We ran a test with the Avons against the Toyo RA on the cars. Their was only 1 sec differece between the slick and a shaved RA1. The thing that makes this a credible test is the drivers are just normal guys, no pros. Pretty interesting I think.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by swift-speed &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> Nothing compares to the RA1 at this point. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Michelin Sport Cups are fast. I just switched over to Hoosier R3S03's and have run them for a 1 day and then a 3 day session at Mosport. My Sport Cups were just as fast as the Hoosiers and lasted much, much longer. Lap times were within about 1/10 second, and I changed the alignment to -3.0 front and -1.8 rear for the Hoosiers, and monitored tire temps (44-45 psi hot front, 41-42 psi hot or the rear) and got nice even temps and a lot of nice even wear on the Hoosiers. But that is the problem: a lot of wear and no speed gain for me in my ITR. Sport Cups cost about $205 each vs. $179 for the Hoosiers in 225/50/15 and 25/45/15 respectively, but my experience shows Sport Cups last three times as long as the Hoosiers. I have 1 gone and 7 to go in the Hoosiers, but there is not much left in 3 of those 7. Expensive way to not go much faster. Guys at the track were telling me I was lucky to have the R3S03's as they had been running through the R3S04's at an alarming rate and they wished they could still buy the old ones. I think I will begoing back to the Sport Cups once all my Hoosiers are turned into worn out slicks. Then again, something better may come along;-)

 

Ok, here's the word on the Toyo R888 from this weekend. The comunication between Japan and U.S. toyo is pretty bad. Toyo U.S. knows nothing about these tires. So, to find out they are going to bring some over run some tests. That is all we know at this time. So, if you want them for yourselves, you will just have to import them from Japan or Europe.