brillo

the 225/45/18's are 3lb lighter than stock and a perfect replacement, the miata folks rave about toyo T1-S's, seems like a good replacement tire.

They are not cheap, but they look to have a good treadwear life.

So anyone have them yet?

DPE

iTrader: (1)

Got a set on one of ours, headed down to Hallett for a track day, and wouldn't you know it he hit something in the road and fatally punctured one of them. Brand new $160 tire, dead. Not to mention we can't report back as to how they do on track.

But he's got a new one on there now, so we'll try to get out for a spirited drive in the near future and see how they do. Also, he got them in 245/40 rather than the 225/45. Just FYI. We'll try and report back to this thread once we can contribute something more to it.

ILIV48

Hi Brillo,

I have been running them now for 8000km. Below is a review I did on them in the Aus forum:

"As most know I recently upgraded to Enkei Lightweight 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 - Australian Dollars

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 have now done over 8000km and a track day with the tyres still looking pretty much the way they did new. Very little change in tread depth.

My initial thoughts on them for track use was not as positive as I could not get my rx8 to keep up with the 2 other 8's there that day. My first blame was the tyres but after thinking about how I was driving it was my brakes (The day before I was told my pads needed replacing so I found myself taking it easier in the braking areas and not just jumping on them late like normal). I was slower into corners which in turn had me getting on the throttle earlier out of them and punishing the poor rear tyres, hence causing them to break traction more as I was just dumping the power on instead of feeding it on. I was though carrying more speed through the long back straight sweeper than before so that indicates a positive for them. For a proper track impression I'll have to wait though until the next day with the new pads!"

I hope that helps Brillo. All I can say is for the road I love these tyres, they are sensational considering a set of Pilot Sports or PZero Nero's were quoted at over $650 per tyre. Thats getting towards double what I paid for the T1-R's.

Sorry for the long post. :o

brillo

No thats great, exactly what I wanted to hear.

Wet is an issue in Houston, so I'm glad to hear you like them in the wet.

Great writeup.

ZoomZoomH

iTrader: (1)

saw the T1-R fitted on Greg's (crossbow) 6, they look awesome, and he says it did great when he took it onto the track.

definitely looking into these when it's time to replace the OEM Dunlops on my 8...

crossbow

I have the tires as well allan. They take a good # of miles to really wear in. They have alot of tread squirm at full tread...I'd say it'll take about 2000-3000 miles for them to really wear in some.

They are quieter then standard T1-S's, with better turn in feel. They still feel like they have less grip then my old T1-S's...but I was coming from almost bare tread T1-S's to full tread T1-R's.

The one thing about T1-R's is they seem to give alot of feedback REALLY early. They definitely tell you your about to do something really stupid before it happens.

ILIV48 is spot on about the wet performance...these things are unbelievable. It can be POURING down raining, and you don't even notice it. They never feel floaty, or un confident in the rain...and everyone behind you gets obliterated by the water flying outta the tread. Its fantastic. Gives you alot of confidence in wet conditions (which can be dangerous though).

It should be noted...these are NOT the best DRY traction street tire. These are quite possibly the best "rounded" of the high performance "street" tires. Something like the RT-615 Azenis or Shaved Hankook Z212's would be better in the dry then the T1-R, but don't have the longevity, or the wet traction.

I'm currently running 245/40/17 on 17x8's on the 6...which looks rediculously awesome cause the damn things are so fat.