Holger B

I was on Toyo's website, so I e-mailed them a question and they replied:

Message/Question
-----------------------------------------
When are you going to make RA-1's in 235/40-18 & 295/30-18 sizes?



Currently there are no plans to increase and update the size offerings for the RA1. There are possible plans of introducing a new product in the future that would eventually replace the RA1 from the product line. No official notifications have been provided but timeline-wise, might be an approximate year 2007 debut.

Tak, Consumer Relations

DanH

What type of tyre is the RA-1? Anyone in the US using R888s?

GrantG

Dan - RA-1 is a street-legal track tire that I really love. Very forgiving behaviour - very progressive and communicative at the limit. It is also the longest-lasting track tire. We don't have the 888 in the States yet...

Holger B

I'm happy with MPSC's, but I've heard a lot of very good things about RA-1's and they're super popular at the track. It's always nice to have alternatives, so I figured there was no harm in letting them know they could be selling a lot more of these if they offered them in more sizes. Maybe they'll wise up when they come out with the new version next year.

DanH

So does the R888 supercede the RA-1? I know they are really pushing the 888s in Europe, and severly undercutting the incumbents. They are about 55% of the cost of MPSCs here! Toyo isn't that established here though, and until recently I had assumed they were some korean crap brand.

GrantG

It's possible that the 888 is meant to replace the RA-1 - not really sure. There is another tire by Nitto, NT01, I think it's called (or something similar) that is supposed to be identical to the RA-1 in compound but has a slightly different tread.,

mooty

i have been told by some that N01 is same cmpound as RA1 (6/32 vs 8/32 tread depth respectively). however, i have also been told by some that the compound on N01 is slightly harder, i plan to try some N01 soon to compared against my RA1 (these are not used on GT3, but my lowly gayman). N01 doesn't have GT3 sizes either.

Tso GT3

Mooty,

Sorry for the OT. Are you going to mod your Cayman S to 3.8L?

mooty

no, i only mod safety and suspension on all my cars.
when i can really drive and beat the time of our norcal spec miata champ with my 3.4L, THEN i will reward myself.

Blacksport350

After running into the same dead end with Toyo a month ago, I went to Yokahama AD07 for the street and will use their track tire in place of the MPSC for the track as it is a good substitute for the RA1.

vegasgolf98

I like the Nitto better than the RA-1, to me it felt closer to the MPSC.

Mr. C4

When I lived in Dubai, I was sponsored by Toyo and I have been fed with info directly from the Japanese engineers and according to them, the R888 and RA-1 has the exact compound and the difference lies in the pattern. I ran R888 on the front and RA-1 in the rear on my GT3 as the correct sizes were not available in neither pattern and it worked fine. The RA-1 is very communicative as previously mentioned and break traction progressively and not as "snappy" as other R compunds I have driven. I would dare to say that I felt that the R888 (if available in correct rear size) would have had better traction than the RA-1 and this is all down to a larger contact patch compared to the RA-1. The combo R888 front and RA-1 rear was a nice combination to improve the otherwise understeering GT3. Toyo R compound tires are generally a bit wider (+1 size) than others with the same size so undersize will only affect the sidewall height.

Ciao,

Johannes

multi21

Great Info... Thank you!!

Alan C.

I ran RA1's at Putnam Park and was less than one second off a set of sticker Hoosiers. In an eduro the RA1's came out on top as the Hoosiers died way before the 90 minute time frame while the RA1's were still holding up. This was on a 993 D class car. I had similar experiences with the 996.

Seth Thomas

Have you tried 245/40/18 and 305/30/18 in the RA1s? These fit on my car with the stock wheels no problem. I get them shaved as it really helps the tire last longer and grip better.