R888 in IT7

[dickita15]

I am not looking to start a political fire storm about spec tires but I would like to learn about the Toyo R888 on a 1st gen Rx7 and those of you running in the SE Div would seem to have some knowledge.
I am curious as to how the R888s hold up.
How many cycles can you run them before they start to go off?
Do they have drop off toward the end of a race?
I assume most people have them shaved, is there a consensus at to the best starting tread depth?
Do you need to heat cycle them like Hoosiers to get decent life out of them?
Any other thoughts?

[Andy Bettencourt]

Dick - the guys are down at Sebring right now and like the tire on the new SM's we built this winter. Word is no drop off during a race and it needs less camber than the RA-1 according to the pyrometer.

[ddewhurst]

Dick, do a search on the SM site for R888 feed back.

[tnord]

Dick - the guys are down at Sebring right now and like the tire on the new SM's we built this winter. Word is no drop off during a race and it needs less camber than the RA-1 according to the pyrometer.

i've heard they're noticeably faster wearing from one of the fast guys at sebring.

[quadzjr]

Dick - the guys are down at Sebring right now and like the tire on the new SM's we built this winter. Word is no drop off during a race and it needs less camber than the RA-1 according to the pyrometer.

Thats interesting.. The Toyo Rep at the PRI show said that the R888 requires a bit more camber than the setup for an RA-1.

[andrew240z]

We have noticed less camber is working better on the BMW's. They dont last as long as the RA-1 and they do seem to drop off as well....

[dickita15]

So nobody has any experience with these tires on an IT7 car? I would really like some idea of how many cycles you can get on these tires before they start to drop off.
In the old days of SM Toyo’s had a reputation for having very long life in terms of number of races you could be competitive. I am really curious if this is the case with the R888’s

[andrew240z]

stick with the Ra1s as long as you can. they are a better tire

[ddewhurst]

^ + 1, who wants to argue with Andy.....

Dick, a racing friend went to Palm Beach/Moroso for the double National. R888 4/32 shave were totally wasted after a test day & two Nationals. He then went on to Sebring with a new set of 3/32 for the single National. IIRC he set on the front row, the 3/32 were much better at Sebring than the 4/32 were at Palm Beach. 2/32's are faster & better yet for those with $$$$. Minimal cycles but then the front 3rd of the field has minimal interest in cycles.

In short from his experience & what I read on the SM site the R888 is a mistake for the last 2/3 rd's of the field. Shave to 2/32, fastest for a couple cycles, then buy some more new tires. Great for the rich guys, sucks for the last 2/3 rd's of the field. If you can get some new RA1"s, get them now.

[dickita15]

Thanks guys, that was the information I was looking for, even if it is not what I want to hear. Now that we have IT7 up here we and we have a small but growing core group it has become pretty obvious that tire bills are the biggest part of our budget. $800 for purple crack every two or three weekends. If we could find a tire that held up like the old Toyo’s did it could make for a lot more bang for the buck. Our hope was not an official spec tire but a gentlemen’s agreement among the regulars, the five or six guys that are at most every race and in the points. That way a tourist that shows up once in a while on old Hoosiers could still race with us.

[mustanghammer]

Several of us in Midiv IT7 run the V710's - 215x50x13. We are getting 8-10 heat cycles from them with good grip until the tread is completely gone. Not exactly the life I would like to have but I find that I can start with a set of 4 at the beginning of a season and then purchase additional tires in pairs as I go. I have 8 wheels so I do allot of rotating during a weekend to get the most life.

From a driving perspective, I find that they can be driven hard with allot of slip angle. They are not twitchy and frankly they remind me of the Bias Ply slicks I used to autocross on.

[NORRIS]

I'm not a Mazda guy.

But, I ran a set of 888's on my e-36 325 And found they need much LESS camber, they were a little quicker than the RA1 but wore out in two weekends!

[TomL]

I'm not sure about the Florida guys, but I think I'm the only one who has tried R888s on an IT7 in the northern half of SEDiv. I've only run them a couple times, so I can't comment on wear and maintaining speed over the long term yet. My main observations so far are that they are, over the first 4 cycles, about the same speed as fairly-well used RA1s (approx 20 cycles), but faster than new RA1s. (I have seen a weird pattern where my new RA1s are always slower than ones with 10 or even 20 cycles. After 3 or 4 cycles they are about even with the older ones. This showed up even with RA1s shaved to 2/32s.) So, overall, I'm reasonably sure the 888s are at least as fast as the RA1s, at least to start off.

And the 888s do seem to like a bit less camber. With the same camber as I've settled on for the RA1s, the 888s give a noticeably larger inside to outside temperature difference - 20-25 degrees for the 888s vs about 10 for the RA1s. I haven't optimized the camber for the 888s yet, but I'm sure they will like less than the RA1s. But then I run a ridiculous amount of camber on the RA1s to begin with.