todinlaw

997-GT3 replaced old heat cyled Pirelli corsas with same size Toyo R888's 235/35/19 & 305/30/19 tires ran hot pressures of 34/36 and 36/38 front/rear (full rubber un shaved) and the Toyo's were consistently slower than the corsa's as per the traqmate. I was about two seconds slower on the toyo. (at Mid-Ohio)

I heat cycled them Friday ran them Saturday and Sunday, so I had about 4 or 5 HC on them and my car was loose. mainly loose coming in the the corner. I would get loose coming in to the apex, with light trailbraking.

at track out the tires griped well no snapping from the apex out under full power but I would just get out of shape coming into the apex. switched back the the old corsa and car became consistent again.

Is this going to get better after a few more HC ?

Veloce Raptor

Probably get better as you wear away some of that squirmy heat-prone tread IMO.







Professional Racing and Driving Coach

FTS

It got better for me about 2-3 seconds after 10 HC; frankly I really like the tires now, I have about 39 HC on them and performance drop hasn't been more than 0.5 to 1 sec after 30 HC, but that might very well be me between last season and this one.

mglobe

How much camber are you running?

mdrums

Todd, I get the same thing going into corners with new full tread R888's. I had this issue all this last weekend at Sebring. This is normal and it does get better.

I would like to try out a different tire next time around but I hear those Pirelli's are super expensive compared to the Toyo's.

mglobe

You might also try raising your pressures. I run 38/39 on my Toyos. Yes, it sounds like pretty high pressure, but try it and you may be pleasantly surprised.

todinlaw

-2.2 front (19 inch rims)
-2.1 rear
toe front 0
tor rear .16

I am basically running the track set up in the manual. tire wear is even on my last set of tires.

todinlaw

They are like 550.00 per rear tire at tire rack but hear is the thing If I took pictures of the tread and told you I had 85 heat cycles on them you would not believe it. I bet I have another two weekends on them and they still have decent consistent grip. I agree the price is to high.

I wish I could have figured out the Nitto tire sizes, for the 997 GT3 I know guys with the 996 can run them and like them.

I am hoping what I am being told is true that they will come in as they heat cycle, It was odd to me that the were loose on the way in to the apex but decent on the way out.

RonCT

This is sounding just like my 1st set of unshaved RA1s. They were terrible for about 4 DE Days until they wore down. Now I'm wondering if I just order my R888 shaved and avoid the trouble even though most say "buy your R888 unshaved".

roberga

having just moved from 996GT3 with PS2 MPSC I do like the Corsa. They are now my other than Hoosier tire.

va122

Thanks for the opinion on the corsas. I drove a Scuderia on them and was very impressed.

Per Toyo, the R88s need about 2lb less pressure then RA-1s thus 38ish. And they need to be shaved for best performance.

I personally hate them and love the RA-1s. The 88s are squirmy at full tread and slower then the RA-1s by 2 sec in my hands.

RonCT

Time to resurrect this thread... I just returned from Watkins Glen where I had 8 sessions over 2 days, about 30 minutes each. I wanted to try to scrub them in a little, so I put about 500 street miles on them (200 local, 300 to get to WGI).

Alignment is -2.3 camber front, -1.9 rear.

Pressures - these were rising like the tide all day, both days as I got used to the new car, alignment, and tires. Tried starting at 26/28 figuring I'd put 10 PSI into each minimum and just bleed off. Well, I was bleeding off both days and in the end, the rears had 15-16 PSI spike, fronts not so bad.

I found that both days once they got over 39 PSI, they started to let go. In the end I was trying to run 35/37 front / rear, but even that went up to 35/40 in my final session as I continued to get quicker and of course 1/2 to 2/3 through the last session, they started to get uncomfortable. My conclusion was 35/36 hot would be their sweet spot for me. 38 to 39 could work, but too close to the edge. 40+ was just not working - somewhat quick release of grip in the turns with power on.

Overall I was disappointed with the feel of the tires. While the turn-in was very crisp (had to adjust my steering inputs), the tires felt like they didn't have much (if any) flex to absorb some of the roughness in the pavement. The concrete patches at Watkins Glen were typically rough, but in this combination (Sport PASM - tried both normal and sport - and 19x8.5 / 19x11 Volks with 235/305 R888) the concrete felt so rough to the point that the tires (when hot, perhaps over 38) would skip and the car would be on the edge of sliding. Not a good feeling on the gas in the Esses. On the other hand, when I went from 19" Cups to 18" RA1s, the added flex in the tire helped on rough pavement.

So right now I'm not feeling the love of the R888, but then again, I only have 8 heat cycles on them and the first 4 really don't count for much as the tires were totally fresh and the car / alignment / tires were new to me.

Naturally, because I was at my 1st event at WGI with the new car, and this was my first time on R888, I didn't hook up any data - left the TraqMate out, didn't even use the pyrometer. In hind sight, I should have to get some baseline data. But I wanted to focus on not only the new car / setup, but also on my kids that were both participating in the DE (daughter's first event - just turned 18).

Photo: I like what I see in terms of the alignment. Doesn't look like the tire is rolling over at all - pretty square with the pavement. Just not a lot of sidewall there...

Any follow up thoughts?

early_grayce

Bob Rouleau has a GT3RS and wrote a great article in a recent issue of our regions newsletter describing his experience with both the Pzeros and the R888s. It isn't in our online archive yet, but maybe give him a shout and ask for a copy, or a summary.

RonCT

Thanks - I emailed Bob a link once I posted, hopefully he will post into this thread to add his excellent insight.

Bob Rouleau

Guys, I tried the 888's (18 inch) and I disliked them. When new the squirm was horrible. When worn down they were still no faster than the OEM Corsa System tires.

Toyo released a bulletin, hot pressures 32-35 lbs - a big change from their original high 30's low 4S.

I switched to the Pirelli Corsa (not the N rated system tire, the real R compound version) and wow, I have a new favorite - actually it was an old favorite but Pirelli stopped production when they re-tooled the plant. Now back in production in standard Porsche sizes, including 19 inch for the new cars. They are about 1 second a lap slower than the 'real' Michelin Cups in the dry but they are usable in the wet - like the old RA1. I can drive them to and from the track. Currently on sale super cheap because they are being replaced with a new model. Figure about $1,000 for a set of 19's to fit a GT3!!! Run them at 34F 36R hot.

Best,