ILIV48

As most know I recently upgraded to 19inch rims. After much thought, research and advice from my wheel shop I decided on the new Toyo Proxes T1-R's 245/35 ZR19 93Y.

Cost $380.00 per corner


Ride Comfort:

The ride comfort on these tyres is far superior to the OEM Bridgestones. I feel less imperfections in the road as the tyres cope better at soaking up small bumps. Also am experiencing less rattles on the inside while driving. Considering this is a 19inch lower profile tyre I amazed at just how much better the car rides.


Tyre Noise:

Much quieter at cruising speeds over the OEM Bridgestone.


Dry road grip:

In the initial 1500km the T1-R's were a little slippery, but I was expecting this from my research. These tyres need this many km's to wear themselves in. After 2500km the grip levels compared to the Bridgestones is eye opening. Doing a U-turn around an off camber roundabout near home on the Bridgestones I could not get the car over 60 before the DSC would kick in as the car would start to feel very light and start to drift laterally. With the toyo's I have been up to 75 without any hint of DSC intervention. I feel there is still plenty to go but loose my nerve at this speed it feels too fast for this roudabout.

In off the line acceleration the tyres bite a lot more and I find it a lot harder to get them to loose traction. They require a lot more revs off the line before they spin.


Wet road trip:

I find the wet weather performance of these tyres out of this world. In the wet they just do not let go. Even accelerating hard they just refuse to break traction.

On Sunday night some friends and I went for a late night drive up to Lake Mountain. Being after midnight and cold the roads were getting pretty damp. The other cars in the group included 1 Integra type-R DC2, 1 Integra type-R DC5, New Golf GTI, 3 Toyota Corolla Sportivo's and a R34 skyline (rear wheel drive one). I watched both Type-R's loose it on corners in front of me on the way up, and the whole time over the CB's listened to all of them having problems with keeping their cars from sliding. On the way back they gave me the front as I was the only one not suffering any slip. After coming out the Lilydale end of the Black Spur I had to wait a few minutes for them to catch as they just could not hold my speed through the twists. In that entire drive my DSC did not kick in once so the tyres were really holding the road.

If you are after wet road performance I think these tyre's are virtually unbeatable. They truly excell when the roads turn to rivers.

The one negative about them in the wet is the side of the car becomes a lot more dirty compared to when I was on the Bridgestones. The Toyo's are pumping out so much water from the road through the outside of the tyre it covers the side of the car in dirt & grime. My friends behind me on Sunday night complained over the CB the amount of spray my car through up behind compared to everyone alse.


Tram Lining:

Much reduced. On bad roads near work where tram lining was hell with the bridgestones with the T1-R's it is only slightly noticeable while moving. Under breaking it becomes a little more pronounced but again not as bad as the Bridgestones.


Wear Rating:

The wear rating on these tyre's is 280, making it nearly double that of the Bridgestones.


Overall Verdict:

For road use so far these tyres have surpassed my expectations. It's the first tyre to ever do so. As far as wear rate I am just ging to have to wait to see. And on July 19 we will see how they like the track!

Choppy

Great review of the tyres!

Richard Paul

iTrader: (5)

Do they make these to fit the stock rims? Your one hell of a salesman.

army_rx8

hehe too bad i already got t1-s's on my car..but they were a lot less...but i woudl exspect that since the t1-r's are supposed to be the uber t1-s's aren't they?

ILIV48

Yes you can get them in 245/40 18's which are perfect for the stock rims. Not sure if they are available in the states yet. If not it will be soon


Yeah... these are the next generation of the T1-S. Toyo claims to have vastly improved the dry, wet and comfort levels of the design. So far I would have to agree.

I am very keen now to see just how well they will perform being punished on the track. See if they can hold up to lap after lap of abuse. I am told for casual track day use they are good. We'll see!

Revolver

Fantastic to get such clear and detailed feedback ILV48, thanks a lot!!

RXXX8

going to track with 19s will it handle?

ILIV48

It should. All up my 19" Enkei's and T1-R's are just over 1kg per corner lighter than the OEM alloys & Bridgestones.

The overall rolloing diameter is also slightly smaller so I do not expect the 19's to provide any negative effects on the cars track performance. If anything with the lighter weight and slight reduction in rolling diameter I should see and increase in performance :D

Hymee

iTrader: (1)

Post of the day, "Livey"

Straight to the top of the class

Cheers,
Hymee.

RXP33D

Great review ILIV48!

So is 280 wear rating manufacturers claim or tested?
Will they actually double the life of the bridgestones given the same treatment
of abuse?
Cheers. Tuan.

timbo

Good review. Interesting your comments on 'tramlining' as I notice it more on my 245's (and expected to)

What tyre pressure are you running?

takahashi

Great stuff Stuart...

Let see what it will do on 19th July hey

Kas

got them today boys!

fantastic ride, i was actually going to start a new thread to tell you all. They ride differently not as harsh. They are a comfort sports tyre.

Only prob for me now is my cars too low to get an alignment - ringing around like mad.

ILIV48

At present I am running 38PSI. While I was researching tyres I did read an article on the development of the new T1-R and reducing tramlining was stated by Toyo as being one area they were looking at needing to improve for this new design. I did a lot of reading/researching.

In my research I also heard a lot of talk about a new range of Hancook high performance road tyres coming at the end of the year. What I was hearing is that these will be brilliant and will set a new standard, but I could not wait so maybe next set I'll try them!



Don't know how the rating system works. I'll just have to wait to see. I was told though that I should see 40K-50K out of them with my driving style. As I only got 25K from the Bridgestones and they had no tread left I would be very happy with 40-50K. Although a couple of good track days will probably reduce that :D