Toyo R1R vs Bridgestone RE-11?
 

Hey guys, I'm looking to get replacement tires for the stockers soon and I've been going back and forth between the Toyo R1R or the Bridgestone Potenza RE-11 tires. I am doing mainly spirited daily driving/canyon runs and an occassional trackday every now and again. I live in Seattle so moderate to sometimes heavy rain will be a consideration, but I do take public transit a lot, leaving the 8 and my Ducati in the garage for dry days; I just want the wet performance for if I do decide to take the 8 out in the rain.

Given these parameters, which would you recommend? One last consideration is that I am not a high mileage kind of driver so tread wear, while still a consideration, takes a backseat to performance. I tried searching, but didn't come across much in the way of RE-11 opinions/reviews. Thanks in advance for any and all feedback!

Don't get the RE-11 unless you AutoX and can compete for contingency money. They are just too pricy. The new Kumho XS is a great canyon run/track day tire that has similar dry grip to the R1R and the RE-11.

Although if your looking for a good rain tire as well, the XS is not for you. The R1R is much better in the rain then the others listed.

Also check out the Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Specs.

My FC buddy has almost 4K miles on his set of XS and is an avid autox/canyon carver. Halfway through tread with minor camber wear. ~9K miles for a REALLY GOOD set of tires is very good

FYI i have R1R's in 265/35 and I can still break them loose

So is that a knock against their dry grip?

I'm not knocking anything, just giving you a heads up... I haven't used any other tire on the 8 yet so I can't offer any comparative information/advice

I appreciate the heads up, just trying to clarify if what you are saying is that the dry grip is lacking in your opinion. And if so, could you elaborate a bit? (i.e. What are you doing to break them loose? Under what conditions, etc.)

I have 265/35/18 Toyo R1R's also. If you are breaking them loose on the street, you are driving very recklessly.

Nonsense aside, I would probably suggest the Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Specs over the other tires listed above for daily driving. If you don't mind sacrificing a bit of ultimate grip for better street manners and longer tread life, I run T1R's on the street and they have more grip then I would ever use on a public road.

Toyo T1R. Excellent for spirited street and occasional track days. They're very good in the rain for your locale as well.

TOYO T1R's all the way.

They handle 500whp+ from my engine without issues, they last longer than most sticky tires and they handle the turns great. I used to brake loose from a roll in 3rd ans sometimes even in 4th and now it only does it in second and the rest of the time it lays it down. I could not be happier...

I do use 275-35-19 though which is taller than most will use but this is due to my power band which is a little abrupt.

Chris

story of my life

accelerating from 30-70 on a 40mph sharp radius on-ramp

making a 90* turn in an intersection from a dead stop with ~50%-75% throttle

Hmm. Can't really argue that much with someone who is putting 500 whp through the tires. Thanks for the input.

^Yeah except breaking loose from a straight line roll is much different from the rear end comming out around a corner...

Agreed. I still appreciate all the input from all parties regarding all aspects of the tires in question.

Ill be picking up some Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Specs myself after seeing some local guys autox on them all year and still have lots of tread left.

If you quit being a cave monster come out to some of the Seattle things we do there is lots of information/experience from us.

Hahaha, fair enough. PM when the next meet is happening. BTW, diggin' your car in your sig, wanna check it out in person.

The R1R is going to have more dry grip than a T1R. Same thing with the RE-11. The T1R isn't the same class of tire.

You're right, the R1R is an Extreme Performance Summer tire, which is way overkill given the OP's original insight, hence the T1R recommendations.

Considering he runs canyons and trackdays, what exactly about the R1R is overkill? Seems like the Extreme Performance category is perfectly suited for his needs.

Now there is talk about the R1R having heat issues, and that might manifest itself on a track day, so I'd go with the RE-11. However, the T1R will overheat just as fast if not faster than the R1R.

Are you sure?

No I'm not sure, I'm just making a judgment based on tire performance rating. I'm willing to bet the RE-11 is more temperature stable than the T1R though, just an informed guess.

I've been autocrossing R1-Rs for most of the season, and they are a great tire. However, from a performance standpoint, the RE-11, XS, AD08 are all equal or slightly (to the point it does not matter for non-competitive driving) better. At least in the dry. XS is out for you because of wet performance, as others have said.

The R1-Rs do have a reputation of overheating. This does not surprise me as sometimes my quickest run is my first, and I did overheat them the other day with 8 back-to-back runs in 90 minutes. At an autocross I can spray between runs to manage the tire temp, but you can't do that during a 20 minute track session.

I also had T1-Rs, and they are great on the street - a very fun tire, from a subjective standpoint, but lower in grip, and I don't think they would be a stellar track tire.

For combined street driving & track days, I'd look at the Bridgestone or Yoko AD08. Or, perhaps the Toyo RA-1 if you want a serious track-day tire that is steetable (but it will wear faster than any of the above). But it sounds like that might be overkill for you.

^^Cool. Thanks for all the insight!

Yeah, it looks like I should really be leaning towards the Toyo R1-R's. Or perhaps, even the T1-R's if I'm not going to be concentrating on trackdays and mostly canyon runs with the occasional trackday (I'm not a complete track junkie. Beginner's group fo' sho')?

Get the RE-11's FTW! These are the replacement to the RE01-R's which I currently have on my DD and they are amazing. Even in the rain, you don't have to worry about losing traction. They were better in the rain than my old all-season tires. :) Seriously though, I attended an autocross with these and they performed very well through 8 laps. A ton on Auto-X drivers use these, as well as the RE-11's. Bridgestone FTW! End of discussion! You won't be disappointed with RE-11's, I guarantee it.

^Yeah but AutoX and track days are completely different. What makes a good AutoX tire does not necessarily make a good track day tire. The RE-11 has amazing grip, but will get greesy after 20 minutes of lapping on a hot day.

The new NT05 is marketed more to track day enthusiasts, it will give you the grip you want, and will not over heat as easily.

Oh, and its also a good bit cheaper than the RE-11.

"I am doing mainly spirited daily driving/canyon runs and an occassional trackday every now and again. I live in Seattle so moderate to sometimes heavy rain will be a consideration."

I say again, T1R

Hoosier wets? :smoker:

http://www.tirerack.com/images/tires..._wet_ci2_l.jpg

Just kidding... I'd stay away from the R compounds unless you really get heavy into track days.

Canyon runs and track days are my main application. I found the non-Star Spec Sport Z1s to be slightly lacking and the T1Rs are a downgrade in performance compared to those tires.

T1R's, as a Summer Max-Ultra, are of course a "step down" from the Summer Extreme R1R's. I have no point of reference to the non-Star Spec Sport Z1's so will accept your T1R relative view on those.

But again, given the OP's cited intentions and climatic conditions, imho the T1R's are his best all around choice.

+1

Chris

This is ridiculous. It's all a matter of perspective - one man's canyon carvers are another man's all season radials. Both would be an excellent choice. The T1-Rs will be easier to slide around on and get that "fun" feeling without going insanley fast, but the R1-Rs will reward with killer grip levels on both the street & track. It just depends on how the OP gets his jollies.

these are getting dumb. Both the tires are excellent. The difference the tire will make will be .0xx seconds, the difference the driver will make will be xx.xx seconds.

the prudent student would know that you really cant use a 280 treadware tire to the fullest extent on the street.. this is in a cornering comment..

sure you can do it! but really you cant. if you push any of the tires mentioned above on the street you are fing stupid..

sure they are nice.. i have a set of star specs sitting in my garage right now.. they were fine on the street, but they never even got close to warm. i maybe taxed them to 30% on the street.

on the track that is a different story.. yummy.. as are the reo 1s that i am learning now..

spirited canyon driving will never heat a tire up enough to learn the edge.

as to chris and the straight line. well he needs all the grip he can get..

so if you are not soloing on track days.. or in the top 95 % in auto cross. or got a honking 500whp car. note, really if you are, you know what tires you should be on by now.

you might think again..

hey, but what do i know.. just putting a set of kumho spts back on my car.. they have 28k miles on them.. pretty sure i am not going to out drive them..

beers :beer:

^^^That is a very reasonable viewpoint and one that I can definitely get behind.

Just FYI, I've made the decision to run with the Toyo T1-R's. Good price, good grip levels for my driving. Both in the dry and in the wet (Seattle weather FTW!). If I start to do more trackdays or if I develop some sort of crazy death wish on the streets then I'll look into getting the R1-R's or the Star Specs or the RE-11's.

Thanks for all the input guys, really appreciate it.

to funny,

the t1r is the tire that will replace the spts that are going on my car now..

beers :beer:

A wise choice. ;)

btw: it takes ~500 miles to break in the T1R's and then they start gripping like crazy. Enjoy!