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R888 vs

H

han0355

Registered Member
Joined
6 October 2011
Messages
66
Location
Bellevue, WA
Hi folks

I'm about to pull my trigger on another set of R-compound tires (or slicks), and swap my current tires (z1 star spec) to my new coming Advan RS for dd.

I've had NT01's and loved them. However, I've heard R888's are much faster? is that true, and worth the extra bucks? I'm also considering Hoosier R6's, but have got no idea how longs does slicks really last (some say around 5 track days, $1200 sounds a bit pricy for 5 track days.)


So basically it's NT01 vs R888 vs R6. Can you guys give me some suggestions?
Thanks!
 
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han0355 said:
Hi folks

I'm about to pull my trigger on another set of R-compound tires (or slicks), and swap my current tires (z1 star spec) to my new coming Advan RS for dd.

I've had NT01's and loved them. However, I've heard R888's are much faster? is that true, and worth the extra bucks? I'm also considering Hoosier R6's, but have got no idea how longs does slicks really last (some say around 5 track days, $1200 sounds a bit pricy for 5 track days.)


So basically it's NT01 vs R888 vs R6. Can you guys give me some suggestions?
Thanks!
Click to expand...

NT01s get my vote. Cheaper than R888s and just as fast. Hoosiers are going to be faster but they heat cycle out before they wear out. NT01s and R888s are good until they cord.
 
I hear nothing but great things about R888's from the GTR forum. Great track tire, mild street tire.
 
It's not exactly apples-apples but Spec Miata had the Toyo RA1 as the spec tire. It was switched to the Toyo R888 - drivers complained that it didn't have the same feel, didn't last as long, and wasn't that much faster. The Spec series then went back to the RA1. (This is all from memory and hearsay. I've never personally run the R888.)

Relevance? I've had both Nitto NT01 and RA1. They are nearly identical in lap times, feel, and in my experience (again, sorry, but it's on a Miata), the NT01 seemed to last a wee bit longer.

If it were me, I'd go RA1 or NT01 before I'd go R888, especially if you're not doing competition, just track days/HPDE. If you're looking for the absolute fastest lap times, go with the Hoosiers.

Given all the qualifications in my response, please take these comments with a grain of salt.
 
I absolutely HATE R-888 and would never buy them again. I had one set on my NSX because it was the only R-comp that would fit the front wheel on the OEM 16/17 set up. They lasted about two track days, squeal like little school girls, and don't grip near as good as NT-01. They also heat cycle out, but NT-01 and RA-1 don't -- they are good until they cord.

I got a bigger set of wheels 17 x 8.5 front and 18 x 10 rear, with NT-01 on the NSX and I am much happier.

By the way, the Spec Miata guys hated the R-888 when it was the spec tire. It's true they went back to RA-1 for a couple of years. Now they allow Hoosiers. So much for a cheap series to race.
 
888's aren't even in the same court as R6's but the trade off is life. Have you looked into RA-1's?
 
itrsteve said:
888's aren't even in the same court as R6's but the trade off is life. Have you looked into RA-1's?
Click to expand...

To OP: Do you trailer your car to the track or drive it on the highway? If you drive it to the track, do not buy R6, you are just wasting heat cycles on them on the highway. I have driven RA-1 and NT-01 back and forth to the track for years with no problems. Toyo was going to phase out RA-1 when they brought in R-888, but so many drivers (incuding SM) didn't like R-888, so Toyo kept making RA-1.

I actually use full-tread RA-1 on my Evo IX that is my daily driver and I do not track it. Best street tires in the world. I got 35,000 miles out of one set.

Not sure what sizes of RA-1 are readily available now. The problem with RA-1 as a track tire is that they come with 8/32" tread depth and need to be shaved or the squirm a lot when new and wear out faster (counter-intuitive but true). It's a hassle to get them shaved but Tire Rack will do it for $25 per tire I think. NT-01 comes with 6/32" tread depth, and big tread blocks, so they don't need to be shaved.

What size are your wheels? The ONLY good thing about R-888 is that they come in more sizes than NT-01. NT-01 definitely my favorite treaded R-comp.

I raced a Miata on Hankook Ventus Z214 C51 and C71, which are about like Hoosier R6 and A6, respectively. Great tires, but I would not put them on a car that I drove to the track.

One other possibility -- Hankook RS3. They are street tires, but everybody in the S2000 challenge that uses them says they are as close as an R-comp as you can get with a street tire. Haven't tried them myself.
 
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If I am not mistaken, Hoosiers with 225/40/17 are the only ones that will fit without rubbing the front fender or the fender liner; especially if you have at least 2 degrees of camber. My RA1s rubbed but not the Hoosiers.
 
Hrant said:
If I am not mistaken, Hoosiers with 225/40/17 are the only ones that will fit without rubbing the front fender or the fender liner; especially if you have at least 2 degrees of camber. My RA1s rubbed but not the Hoosiers.
Click to expand...

My track set-up is Enkei RPF-1 silver, front 17" x 8.5" +45 and rear 18" x 10" +38 (I'm not 100% sure of those offsets). I run NT-01 235/40/17 front, and 275/35/18 rear. The fronts do rub a little bit at full wheel lock, but you don't turn the wheel that much on a road course -- it doesn't bother me or cause any real problems. It gets better as the tread starts to wear down.
 
Richard EVO said:
My track set-up is Enkei RPF-1 silver, front 17" x 8.5" +45 and rear 18" x 10" +38 (I'm not 100% sure of those offsets). I run NT-01 235/40/17 front, and 275/35/18 rear. The fronts do rub a little bit at full wheel lock, but you don't turn the wheel that much on a road course -- it doesn't bother me or cause any real problems. It gets better as the tread starts to wear down.
Click to expand...


Unless you have not lowered your car or have a pretty stiff suspension for track, if you are running 235/40/17 tires on the fronts your tire will most likely rub the outside corner edge of the fender as well - check your liner there.
 
What I'm saying is what little rubbing I get at full wheel lock is not a problem. It's not enough to damage the tires. If the liners inside the wheel wells get marred a little bit, I don't care.
 
I actually liked the R888s I ran on my MR2 for a while. Not as grippy outright as an NT-01, but MUCH better in the wet if you see yourself driving in those conditions. I never felt the NT-01 was very predictable. I haven't driven anything hard on an RA-1 so maybe I don't know what I'm missing, but I wouldn't exactly call the 888 "numb".
 
Richard EVO said:
I actually use full-tread RA-1 on my Evo IX that is my daily driver and I do not track it. Best street tires in the world. I got 35,000 miles out of one set.
Click to expand...

Glad to see other people running R comps on street driven cars :)

I haven't used R888s, but I have NT-01s, and they are fantastic. I will probably put them on all of my performance cars.
 
phryxis said:
Well, at least for me, I only take that car out when I'm going to DRIVE it, or go to the track.
Click to expand...

I'll give you the argument of driving them to the track since you can't exactly fit an extra set of wheels and tires in the car. But any civilized driving in public doesn't warrant the grip of R-comps (even if they're the shittiest ones available). I guess it's not all too different from running an extreme performance street tire (re-11, star spec, xs, etc) but it just seems a hair silly to me.
 
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itrsteve said:
I'll give you the argument of driving them to the track since you can't exactly fit an extra set of wheels and tires in the car. But any civilized driving in public doesn't warrant the grip of R-comps (even if they're the shittiest ones available). I guess it's not all too different from running an extreme performance street tire (re-11, star spec, xs, etc) but it just seems a hair silly to me.
Click to expand...

It is pretty silly, I won't deny that. But since the R comps are mounted on my only set of nice wheels, I'd rather just keep them on there.

Perhaps once I become more of a baller, I'll be able to afford 2 sets of Volks for street and track.
 
I've used the Nitto's, RA-1's and I'm currently on my second set of R888's. Here's what I know and experienced.

Factor X, world class race car and record setter of track times uses the Nitto's on their cars. The Toyo's are typically reserved for rainy days. I loved the RA-1's. The break on them is very gradual and I liked that. However, due to a SNAFU, I had to get R888's instead and I'm now on my second set. I'm not sure about the squeal comment as I break my tires loose all the time and I have nary a peep from them. For me, I'll probably stick with the R888's until I find something better.

However, what you should get from all of this is that they are all very good and competent tires. I don't think you can go wrong with any of them and so you'll just have to figure in cost, life span and overall performance to see which is the best for you. But rest assured, whichever you choose, I don't think anyone will be able to substantially say you made a bad choice.
 

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