mikymu

I will be getting a set of Toyo RA1 for next year and found couple tire store that still sell them. They get them directly from Toyo but they told me these RA1 are made in 2007 - so they are two years old. He went on saying Toyo are phasing out the RA1 and these are the last one made and they won't be as fast as freshing made tire since they been sitting around for 2 years in the warehouse??

Well, I contacted Toyo directly and the person I spoke with refuted both statements. First, Toyo is not phasing out RA1 ... and these tires have 5 years warranty and they are just as good or fast as the ones that came off the oven yesterday.

So, who is right

911/Q45

No heat cycles, should be good for several years.

mikymu

Yup - no heat cycle. it was stored in the Toyo warehouse. Wonder why the tire shop said it won't be as "fast" as the one freshly made?

mobonic

Did you get them at a discount?

Because They wanted to sell you more!

I heard from the inside that Toyo will be phasing out the R888 and reintroducing the RA1, since sales of the R888 are not as good as the RA1's were.

I think the should sell both.

RonCT

There's news via google that goes into the re-introduction of the RA1. Unfortunately, not in any sizes we use. Shave them to 5/32, heat cycle them, wait 24 hours, and enjoy!

mikymu

Yup, the two years old RA1 is heavily diso****ed. I have not pay for them yet. I need to find out more and make sure they will perform well. I don't want to spend money on track tire that does not work even if it cost 50% less

Interesting .... I heard Toyo been making the RA1 for the past month and the newly made one will be released next month. Are you sure it won't come with the 245/48/18 and 305/35/18 size??

340Elise

As long as they have been kept warm in the warehouse, then it should not be a problem. R Compounds can get damaged at temps below freezing, maybe even higher cold temps than that (forget what the minimum temp is). If you were buying them from a private individual who may have stored them in an unheated garage in a cold climate than I would be concerned.

As for RA-1, I have heard that the Miata spec racers have been complaining about the R888's and want the RA-1's back (as have others). But supposedly they will reintroduce the RA-1's, but probably not in our sizes. I think the complaints were more geared towards the increased wear of the R888's without much, if any, performance gain. End result, RA-1's are cheaper for racers. I haved not tried RA-1's, but besides lasting longer, they supposedly have very consistant performance throughout the the life of the tire if they are properly cared for.

mikymu

I hope these tires are not stored in Alaska next to Sarah Palin's back yard lol

Speedoflight just dug up these information ... does not look good for GT3

from AIM:

TOYO announces a CONTINUATION of the ORIGINAL RA-1 product line in SPECIFIED SIZES.
These sizes are:
205/55-14: Avail now
205/50-15: Avail in January
235/40-17: Avail now
225/45-15: Avail now

>>>>PRODUCTION TO BEGIN JANUARY 2010<<<
205/60-13,
225/50-15, Avail in mid-January
225/50-16 (NO KNOWN production date)
245/45-16,
255/50-16,
235/40-17, 255/40-17, 275/40-17,
275/35-18.

These sizes are geared to cover the entire line of Spec Classes in NASA and the SCCA where TOYO is the required tire.

mooty

if RA1 ever make GT3 sizes, i am going to stock them as if i am a dealer ;-)
R888 is POS. wooden tires could go faster. did i say R888 is POS?
but then it was the introduction of such a ****ty tire that drove me to hoosiers and buying a trailer and tow vehicle. that's how bad R888 is....

mdrums

I have seen lately and have used in the past the RA1 in:
245-40-18
305-35-18

These sizes will work for the GT3 and are the same overall outside diameter and the stock sized 19's on the GT3 and the Carrera S.

I have been thinking of going back to the RA1 or getting R888's in 255-35-18 and 315-30-18 thus gearing down my Carrera S and having less side wall flex. I am very confused at what to do.

I know and have heard from other like Mooty says that they HATE the R888 but I have not found that it is a bad tire and I actually like it.

mooty

RA1 i run 245/305
R888 255/315
RA1 is as fast as R888, and very easy to care for. and is consistent from lap 1 to end of race.
you can slide it all day, it will still work.
you can run it to the cord.

R888, is fast for few laps, then greasy, i slow down to cool it off, then fast again.
i tend to slide the rear a bit too much due to my poor driving, but with RA1 the tire likes me. R888 doesn't like me so much. i dont like tires that doesn't like me ;-) i pay for tires, not the other way around. just my opinion.

less guess work with RA1, i KNOW it will be fast all the way to cord.
R888, i can heat cycle them out way before cord.
for a BSR race, i put on a set of nicely shaved 4HC R888. 2nd lap in the race, going T1 at TH.... "f***k, car aint turning. i am pushing..... and this is lap two... i am so dead..... luckily my wild driving and my very WIDE BSR, defended it's line whew...."

i didn't know that set of fairly new tires performed that way, while if those were shaved 4HC RA1 i would know for sure that they will be fast.

Bob Rouleau

I also agree that the R888 sucks. I hated them.

iLLM3

AGREED. I thought they were good, until I wore them down to 50% where the "sweet spot" should just be startd with the RA1's... I was sliding around the track at VIR, slapped on some R6's with some heat cycles in them already so not even new, and picked up 6+ seconds LOL.. R888's are good street tires though for my GT2, they hook well.

cwlred911

I have used RA1s (225/50/15 on 7s and 8s) on a 2,100 lb 911 for 6 years, mainly for DEs. Once I found the correct tire pressure, the RA1s were great. They were consistent for the whole run session after 1 warm up lap. You can run them til they are corded. Great in the wet with fuller tread remaining.

I switched to 888s (225/50/15 and 235/45/15). After 1 season, I was still trying to find the sweet spot for pressure. The 888s were very sensitive to pressure, what worked previous days may not work for other days. After half a session, they became greasy. Lots of tire wall flex (may have something to do with a wider tire, 235 vs 225). They wear a lot faster than the RA1s. And the 888s were noisy, esp. when threshold braking. I agreed with Mooty, the 888s suck.

mooty

^ i dont bother warming up RA1, i go full bored on out lap and the next lap is ALWAYS my fastest lap ;-)

R888 on BSR, i can run consistent and identical laps at 44psi hot and 34 psi hot and anywhere in b/n. but the wear pattern differs depending on pressure. i am not the type that fiddles with these data. so i give up. i like SIMPLE things. one pressure and just drive.