By Toyo R888R DOT Competition Tires
In this article, we take a close-up look at the Toyo Proxes R888R DOT Competition tires which are going to be going on our 2020 C8 corvette for track duty. On the street we’re going to be running a separate set of tires the Toyo Proxes Sport will make a separate video about those, of course, you can buy all your Toyo Tires and over a million other top name brand products at Motoroso.com where you can reach us on live chat or call us toll-free at 833.MOTOROSO that’s 833.668.6767 we’re here to help with your project builds. Let’s dig in.
VIDEO: TOYO R888R DOT COMPETITION TIRES
When it comes to choosing tires there are literally thousands of different options and one thing is very clear not all tires are created equal; it’s actually really hard to make tires. It’s really important that these manufacturers use the best quality materials and the most advanced manufacturing processes. If you’re going to throw these on a $100,000 sports car, or if you’re going to go to the racetrack and ask for that maximum level of performance, you don’t want these tires to fall apart on you.
We’re not going to be able to make articles and videos about every single tire that’s out there but we hope you find this article helpful because we believe the Toyo R888R is one of the most stellar options for somebody looking for a tire that’s street legal that you can drive to the racetrack and drive back home, but while you’re at the track getting that race car level performance.
When it came to choosing the right tires to put on our C8 Corvette to get the best performance at the racetrack for all of this testing that we’re doing, slick tires would have been the best performance, but that is a whole different ball game. I like to be able to just drive to the track enjoy my day go fast and then go home in the same set of tires, not needing a support vehicle, spare wheels, and all that stuff; maybe one day. We think a lot of our customers want the same thing so the solution to that is a DOT competition tire.
Street Legal
Make no mistake that is a street-legal tire, but it’s not just a street tire that can perform at the racetrack. It’s a race tire that has a few cuts in it and has been legalized to be run on the street, so you can get to and from the track. However, we don’t recommend putting a lot of highway miles on tires like this. Not only are they not going to last very long and won’t perform the way you want them to at the racetrack, but they’re not really made for highway driving. They don’t have all the belts in them to stand up to the debris that can be on the street and they’re not going to help against flat protection, so they are a street-legal tire, but this is not your daily driver tire. If you’re looking for street tires consider something else like the Proxy Sport that we’re going to be putting on when we are driving this thing on the street. Moral the story, this is a race tire, we recommend using it that way.
One of the best reasons that you should use it that way is because the rubber that’s built into these tires is really made to perform at the track temperatures that you’re going to get to. Unless you’re a psychopath on the street, you’re never going to get to the kind of temperatures that a track is going to generate and that’s where these tires perform. On the street, you’re not only going to not get good life or be protected against flats, but these just aren’t going to perform as well as they should anyway.
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Toyo is recognized as one of the best tire manufacturers in the world especially in motorsports and off-road, and they really made a name for themselves with the original R888 tire which was recognized as a high-performance DOT competition tire and it won races across many different levels of racing. The R888R is an evolution of that technology, taking all the learnings from the R888 and taking it one step further, and here’s what we think you need to know.
Dry and Wet Performance
First off the R888R is focused on improving its dry performance by stepping up to this new way more aggressive tread pattern. It is a dry-wet tire so it has these very aggressive grooves that pull liquid away from the tire which helps it perform in the wet as well. Personally, I’m not trying to go out in the wet and drive fast–I’m just not trying to play that game–but it’s nice to know that if it gets gross outside, you’re not going to get stuck and slide up the road like you would on a race slick.
This is a 100 treadwear tire which means the tire is not going to last long, but it is going to hook up like crazy. The R888R features Toyo’s new R compound rubber which is softer, hooks up better, but it’s also designed to come up to temperature much more quickly than the previous generation of the tire. Sometimes it can heat up as fast as half of a lap which means you can get out on your track days and push even harder more quickly. It’s especially great for autocross and time attack events. Again, these are race tires so they do need to get up to that temperature to perform the way that they are designed, and that operating range is somewhere between 160 and 220 degrees which are temperatures that aren’t that easy to achieve on the street. If you’re going to do a lot of street performance driving, you should consider a different tire because this one’s really for the race track and autocross events.
Getting a Laser Thermometer
Speaking of tire temps, if you don’t have one, consider getting yourselves a little laser thermometer which we sell on Motoroso for under 40 bucks. This is just a handy little tool because as you point the little laser at the tire, you can understand the temperature of the tires to make sure that they’re getting up to temperature. You can also make sure they’re not going too far past that 220 degrees operating temperature where they’ll start to wear out really quickly. This is good information to have to help you optimize your track day and maximize the life of the tires.
Stiffer Sidewall
You’re also going to find a new stiffer sidewall in this tire which means that the street comfort is not going to be as high as other tires, but that’s not exactly a selling point. What this is going to give you is nice, quick, precise turn-in and extra cornering stability and that’s exactly what you want when you’re on the race track. That also means you must match the tire size to the right wheel width because this is not a tire that is going to stretch well.
Wide Range of Sizes
These tires also come in a massive range of sizes from 13 inches all the way up to 20 inches. It won’t be too surprising to see a 21-inch offering in the future, but what we are using is one of the fattest offerings that they have which is a 325/30/20. This is going on the rear of our C8 Corvette which comes stocked with a 305, and then up in the front, we’re going from a 245 stock to a 265/35/19 because it is a staggered set up on the Corvette.
ZR Speed Rated
The R888R tires are ZR speed-rated tires which means they can handle all the speed you can throw at them, and that is the highest level of speed rating. I’ve seen some people out there saying that this is a V-rated tire good up to 149 mph, but that is not the case. This is a ZR-rated tire. A Y-rated tire covers everything up to 186mph, and everything above 186 is ZR. So you’re not gonna have any problems because it’s very unlikely you’re driving a car that goes over 186, but this thing can handle it. That’s good because you’re gonna be going as fast as your car is capable of when you’ve got these tires on, and you don’t want them falling apart on you.
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Of course, you can buy these tires at Motoroso.com you can hit us up on live chat or you can call us toll-free at 1.833.MOTOROSO we’re here to help you pick tires and plan all of your mods out we’ve got over a million top name brand products. Thanks for reading.
