FocusCanada Forums

i'm thinking of purchasing a set to replace my kumho mx. i've read that the toyo ra1 is a great r comp to use on the street because it is very consistent even after repeated heat cycles, and just like the kumho is great in the rain when close to full tread.. seems like it is a great choice for a r comp to use on the street

anyone have firsthand experience?

ill check with my friend on how good the tire is.

hes been working for Toyo in japan for the last 6 months and comes home on wed. he might be a little biased though :lol:

I know he was doing lots of testing on their performance tires. ill see what he says

ZX5focused,Feb 16 2008, 06:30 AM Wrote:ill check with my friend on how good the tire is.

hes been working for Toyo in japan for the last 6 months and comes home on wed.  he might be a little biased though :lol:

I know he was doing lots of testing on their performance tires. ill see what he says
[right][snapback]258201[/snapback][/right]

dude that would be fantastic. pls let me know!

did some reading up on the tire.. and the warnings I've found attached with the tire include.

Quote:Consumer Advisory and Safety Information:


The tread compound on the Proxes RA-1 is designed to operate under racing conditions.
To achieve optimum adhesion levels the tread must operate within a narrow temperature range.
This temperature range is very difficult to achieve under legal and normal street operating conditions.
The Proxes RA-1 tire starts with a tread depth of 8/32 of an inch which is approximately 2/3rds of the depth of a premium all season tire.
The combination of shallower tread and temperature sensitive tread compound requires the user to be fully aware of the performance limitations of the tire under normal legal street use.
The performance limitations are particularly evident during low ambient temperatures or during times of the year when the ambient temperatures fluctuate considerably as in the spring of fall periods.
Wet performance limitations are also evident on damp or wet roads when operating outside the optimum temperature envelope of the compound and when the tire is at less than full tread depth.
Winter or cold weather storage of the Proxes RA-1 is important. The tire should never be stored during the off season in temperatures lower than 0 degrees C. The tires should not be stored in an inflated condition. The optimum is completely deflated.
Do not store tires close to the source of ozone producing equipment or where electronic welding is taking place.
If tires are stored outside they should be covered to ensure that they are not in direct sunlight.

Quote:Best operating temperature 160 to 220 degrees F. Higher than 220 degrees F the tire performance will start to go off, although temperatures as high as 300 degrees F have been seen before blistering takes place.
Camber: Negative 2.5 degrees to negative 5 degrees acceptable. Anything less than 2.5 degrees or higher than 5 degrees negative will create some irregular wear.
Pressures: Front Wheel Drive start no less than 24psi. Rear Wheel Drive start no less than 18psi. Goal is 41 to 43psi hot.

thanks DP. i've read those too.. seems like its typical CYA legalese. i'm pretty sure yoko A032R and toyo RA1 are streetable r comps.. same with pilot sport cups.. just trying to get some first hand experience before i dive in

i'm pretty sure this is not a hawk blue type situation where putting on a 'full race' part will mess me up big time on the street

i originally wanted to try the yoko A032R since the were 'generally considered' to be a streetable r comp.. but i can't find em in my size anymore

check this out.. it talks about care and feeding of the RA1 plus use as a street tire

http://features.evolutionm.net/printpage.php?id=46

key reasons i'm considering this tire:
1 ) full 8/32" tread should mean ok in the rain
2 ) don't lose grip when constantly heat cycled / consistent grip throughout the life of the tire

i'm currently running kumho MX @91/tire.. was thinking of moving to RE01R at $119/tire then noticed that the RA1s were 170/tire.. so i was like.. hmmmm.. maybe i should give em a shot

RA1's are great. We run them on the Z at the track and when we went to targa. The 7 had them for Targa as well but now we have the 615 from Falken for the street. The RA1's are pricey. How many k do you put on in the summer. Could yet get a season out of them?

DRyanC

DRyanC,Feb 20 2008, 09:23 PM Wrote:RA1's are great. We run them on the Z at the track and when we went to targa. The 7 had them for Targa as well but now we have the 615 from Falken for the street. The RA1's are pricey. How many k do you put on in the summer. Could yet get a season out of them?

DRyanC
[right][snapback]258432[/snapback][/right]

i know Kumho MX and Falken RT215 are pretty long wearing tires, but i've typically taken off around 3/32" of tread every 20k miles.

I drive about 23k street miles per year and go to 1-2 lapping days and 2-3 autoX per year.. nothing ridiculous.. i can keep summer tires on all yr in SF.

i think i *should* be able to get 1 season out of RA1s .. i've got a quote for $170/tire for 225/50/16 size for the RA1s is that a decent price based on what you've seen

alright, my theory is this:

on the street you will never be able to use those tires to there potential..

they will wear really fast when you pull out of your drive way don't get em warm and stop at the store.. let your tire cool for another hr and then when you leave wear some more... R compounds wear faster on the street because they rarely get to optimum temp... and a cold Soft tire wears un-even and chunks off instead of a nice warm wear down,,,

so I say go with a cheaper tire for the street and keep the R's for what the R stands for...

ZED_not_zee,Feb 21 2008, 04:49 AM Wrote:alright,  my theory is this:

on the street you will never be able to use those tires to there potential..

they will wear really fast when you pull out of your drive way don't get em warm and stop at the store.. let your tire cool for another hr and then when you leave wear some more...  R compounds wear faster on the street because they rarely get to optimum temp...  and a cold Soft tire wears un-even and  chunks off instead of a nice warm wear down,,,

so I say go with a cheaper tire for the street and keep the R's for what the R stands for...
[right][snapback]258465[/snapback][/right]

so you've uses RA1s as a daily driven street tire and what you described happend to them?

naz,Feb 21 2008, 12:36 AM Wrote:

ZED_not_zee,Feb 21 2008, 04:49 AM Wrote:alright,  my theory is this:

on the street you will never be able to use those tires to there potential..

they will wear really fast when you pull out of your drive way don't get em warm and stop at the store.. let your tire cool for another hr and then when you leave wear some more...  R compounds wear faster on the street because they rarely get to optimum temp...  and a cold Soft tire wears un-even and  chunks off instead of a nice warm wear down,,,

so I say go with a cheaper tire for the street and keep the R's for what the R stands for...
[right][snapback]258465[/snapback][/right]

so you've uses RA1s as a daily driven street tire and what you described happend to them?
[right][snapback]258469[/snapback][/right]

How about this (if my 2 cents counts at all as an enthusiast but not as a racer):

Stick with good, sticky shoes but skip r-compound stuff unless you're going to have several consecutive months with dedicated track days / weekends at least a couple times a month. I've been reading up on R-comps and they do need heat to wear/drive properly. You probably know some or all of this already.

Of course, your ace in the hole is that you live in Cali and you'll make much better use of them for more of the year than I ever could... and likely better than folks in Toronto as well.

I agree the R compound would probably be to much for the street. Unless you don't care if you get 2000k or 15,000 out of them. I'd have a look at the 615 from Falken. A friend of mine has them on his STi and can easily get a season out of them and thats also with a track day and a hand full of auto-X.

If moneys no the problem I'd go two sets. Ra1s for fun and 615 for daily.

I've never been a fan of the A032R, I liked the old 008R from Yoko.

What about the R888 from Toyo are they hear yet?

DRyanC

DRyanC,Feb 21 2008, 01:27 PM Wrote:I agree the R compound would probably be to much for the street. Unless you don't care if you get 2000k or 15,000 out of them. I'd have a look at the 615 from Falken. A friend of mine has them on his STi and can easily get a season out of them and thats also with a track day and a hand full of auto-X.

If moneys no the problem I'd go two sets. Ra1s for fun and 615 for daily.

I've never been a fan of the A032R, I liked the old 008R from Yoko.

What about the R888 from Toyo are they hear yet?

DRyanC
[right][snapback]258481[/snapback][/right]

i used to use the 215s but when i needed tires i went with kumho mx b/c i feel they are less heat sensitive. i thought the 215s were awesome when they were near ambient temps but i feel like they got greasy as the day wore one. the kumhos give up a bit in outright grip but i find them to be much less temperature dependent.. i didn't want to take a chance with the 615s being the same way.

the other tire i was thinking about are the bridgestone RE-01R. everyone seems to think they are an awesome ST* autoX tire.

[right][snapback]258465[/snapback][/right]
[/quote]

so you've uses RA1s as a daily driven street tire and what you described happend to them?
[right][snapback]258469[/snapback][/right]
[/quote]


well it's a theory... not all R compounds are = but I did drive my s13 Silvia on R comps for about a week in Vancouver... and destroyed them,,, then I flipped the car and took the extra cash I made for a trip to California (thank you fast n the furious for doubling the value of my car in a weekend)... where there were lot's rich kids running R comps on there FC RX7's and buying a new set of tires every week.. Like I said I haven't daily driven those exact tires... buut there's a lot of proof in the mistakes of others,

Honestly I love the rt 615 I used the first and second generation.

befor that toyo proxie FZ4 and T1S's

and befor that yokohama parada specs

Winter tires:

bliizacks, blizack REVO 10's

and this year by far my fave yokohama icegard 10's

tires are my favorite mod.. they can change the entire car.. cheaply or expensively.. to gain or to lose.. a great science!

and yea thats 5 sets on one car in eight yrs,, but I destroyed one set over a pot hole... one set got flat spoted (both toyos)

ZED_not_zee,Feb 22 2008, 03:34 AM Wrote:well it's a theory... not all R compounds are = but I did drive my s13 Silvia on R comps for about a week in Vancouver... and destroyed them,,,

.....

Like I said I haven't daily driven those exact tires... buut there's a lot of proof in the mistakes of others,
[right][snapback]258559[/snapback][/right]

damn it. i think i might just have to pony up and try it. its so tempting.

thanks for your feedback on the RT615s

naz,Feb 22 2008, 02:14 PM Wrote:

ZED_not_zee,Feb 22 2008, 03:34 AM Wrote:well it's a theory... not all R compounds are = but I did drive my s13 Silvia on R comps for about a week in Vancouver... and destroyed them,,,

.....

Like I said I haven't daily driven those exact tires... buut there's a lot of proof in the mistakes of others,
[right][snapback]258559[/snapback][/right]

damn it. i think i might just have to pony up and try it. its so tempting.

thanks for your feedback on the RT615s
[right][snapback]258604[/snapback][/right]

I and lots of others swear by the 615's... I Have a fresh set for summer on order..

but I have to admit.. I have also ordered a new test set of these though

There VERY cheap and have good reviews...


http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?ti...tireModel=HTR+Z

there less than $300 out the door for a set of 205 50 R 15's (I paid around 250 )

My stress test is going to be three lapping days and three auto crosses and 2500 K on the street NO HEAT CYCLE just like any normal person who would put a set of tires on and go...

ZED_not_zee,Feb 26 2008, 03:00 AM Wrote:I and lots of others swear by the 615's... I Have a fresh set for summer on order..

but I have to admit.. I have also ordered a new test set of these though
[right][snapback]258783[/snapback][/right]

hmm good looking out.. let me know how you like those sumitomos. $61 a pop for the 225/50/16 size damn. could that be the new cheapo tire? (i miss my teg and 195/60/14 RT215 for $225/set)

we will find out.. any one with a set of stocj 15" rims for sale? I feel no need for aftermarket wheels

Dude, you don't really want to run RA1 on the street.

Yes, they CAN be used on the street, as in, to get to the track and back. But you don't want to be running them daily for no good reason.

Yes, they have some tread depth. In light rain, they are FANTASTIC. Better grip than any other tire EVAR as long as the rubber is making contact with the road. Problem is, if you have any buildup, puddles, etc. they will hydroplane, even at full depth. Sure, they've got tread depth, but they don't have much tread, nowhere for the water to go.

Second, yes, they can take some heat cycling. But not THAT much. 50 heat cycles is ok. 1000, not so much. You'll be riding around on expensive, quick wearing rubber on the street, and have hard "heat cycled "rubber on the track.

And lets be real, they will wear FAST on the street. 5000km ish.

These are not a one tire setup. The are dedicated race tires. If you can't have dedicated rims, choose a street tire.

As for the rest of it, I find RA-1's age like a fine wine.... Yeah ok, they get harder and a little slower, but they're always faster than any street tire, and the older they get, the longer they seem to last, and they will NEVER overheat like a street tire on track, unless you're a complete idiot.