What's happened to R888 prices? / alternatives?

Useful info Bill. What treadwear rating number does it have (just above Hankook @ 2 o'clock).

Also how much are they?

 

Toyos prices have risen again. Kumho are pushing Hard in the uk at the mo so they are out doing toyo.

Pradas "look" good but from my experience they ain't all that round a track. Those kumho ventis tyres look OK, i'll ask the boys to get some info

 

Treadwear 50
Traction AA
Temperature A
Price (in Luxembourg) around 115€ + VAT

 

Wow - 50!!

Which compound is that?

 

I can vouch for the Hankooks - used them last novemnber in a VLN race as track and air temp was so low we couldnt maintain temps in our slicks - lasted 4 hours and gave good lap times. Predictable to drive on aswell.

Bought at the ring thou and they werent cheap!

 

Sorry to ask you how much you paid, at Spa on last WE the Hankook German truck was on place, an the guy, without any question, offered me 30% off on his slicks (meaning 160 for 185/570R15, ipo 227) when he saw i was running Road/racing Hankooks.

And, which car did you drive on the Ring, with which dimensions?

Will you race there some more times? If you need somebody, I'm the one ( more than 2500 laps industry testing + 1 24h and 1 4h).

 

As this thread became an alternative to R888s, just to mention Hankook Ventus RSS.

I've no idea what they are, but saw them on driveforward's Megane R25R RSR rental at the 'Ring 3 weeks ago.

C51 compound, all the usual markings on them, Treadwear 50, Traction AA, Temperature A, E4 & DOT markings (DOT T7RL), radials, but marked on the sidewall was "For competition use".

Stopped me in my tracks that did, being on the public roads outside of a competition, until I considered what it didn't say was "only"

Are they hard compound FIA moulded slicks maybe?

Could be worth looking into. Couldn't find much on Google though. Tread pattern looked semi slick, but a bit more traditional with straight grooves, rather than the wavy cuts of an R888 or A048R. This from recollection:



... which looks pretty minimalist, a few main grooves to tick the road legal depth boxes, and otherwise groove patterns which are fairly superficial, non-continuous with the main grooves, and the outer sideways grooves specifically designed to wear down without rendering it illegal

** Edit: same tyre as Billb has flagged above here

 

Another person with the same problems !!! my brother thought maybe i was just pushing the limit to much , but i get "tyre squeal and wash-out understeer all the way " the conditions for those tyres are odd ,

i found semi wet they are a joke it needs to be either mega wet or mega dry , so winter time with rain these tyres are a joke,

I'm just looking at reviews and what people say on other tyres , as im not using yoko's with my VR dropped in ,

Joe

 

I have been monitoring the tyre market as of late and a number of harder wearing performance orientated tyres are appearing, most cheaper that the now expensive R888 and other 100+ tyres. This could be because of the rumor that R-compound tyres like A048s, R888s and the like are going to loose their road legal status soon and a lot of manufacturers seem to be getting in on the act. There are plenty of other 100+ semislicks but they are all still going to cost 400+ for a set.
These new tyres seem to be coming in at roughly 55 onwards to about 75 each hoping to provide the ultimate all rounder road & track tyre all in one. Given that most track day goers are not out to set the ultimate lap record, these new sticky road tyres are probably worth a look. All the info is based on looking at 195-50-15 (Apart from the Kuhmo KU36 in 205-50-15) as this is the most common size used by a lot of us here on CGTi.

There is the:
Yoko Advan Neova AD08


Kumho XS KU36


Toyo R1-R


Hankook R-S2


Federal 595 RS-R that Mk1 Driver has.


There is the Hankook R-S3 out now too but doesn't seem to be available in 15".


I have been reading various reviews on the web and asking fellow track day users where ever I can to try and get an idea of what each tyre is like. The only true way to find out is to buy them but basically it came down to this.

While all the tyres offer greater dry grip and less tyre life compared to your average road tyre, the order of performance seems to go like this:

Joint 1st - Yoko Advan Neova AD08 75 Each & Federal 595 RS-R 62
2nd - Toyo R1-R 62
3rd - Kuhmo XS KU36 72
4th - Hankook R-S2 50

I tried to use reviews from people using similar weight cars and FWD where possible. The AD08s appear to be great wet or dry and are supposed to keep lapping without going 'Off'. The Federals are mean't be almost as good as R888s being only split seconds to a second at the most behind. Pretty amazing given that the Federals are not R-comps. The Toyo R1-Rs were designed as an R888 compound tyre with more grooves which gives high dry grip from the go but go 'off' quicker that the 1st two and are known to overheat with long use. However, the wet grip appears to be tremendeous, which given the design, seems plausable. With the Kuhmos, the overall performance is just lacking behind the others and given the size, makes them less desirable. I put the Hankook R-S2s in last place purely because they are the slowest tyre out of the bunch and probably perform like a top end road tyre but not quite full on track use.

Note: I do not hold any responsibility for any of the tyres being crap or you being unhappy from buying them based on my info. It is up to YOU to read further into any tyres you may be interested in and make your own mind up. The info above is merely my conclusion of what is available.

Hope this helps in some way.

Gurds

 

As an R888 replacement, there is also these from Federal:

FZ-201



I haven't read any real feedback yet but they do come in at just under 90 per tyre from Tyretraders.com

These do say competition only though.

Gurds

 

Thanks Gurds, some useful info there.

Toyo R1-R a new one on me, in fact most of those are. It's got a bit of A-032R about it.

Another one for the mix is this Silvertstone FTZ Sport Type RR, which I saw on a sprint Pug 205 2 weeks ago:



195/50 15

- I thought the FTZ was a rain orientated tyre but this one is an R888 in appearance, bar name.

More info here.

 

I've got R1-Rs and they are brilliant in the wet on the road at least. I've only tried them on one sprint so far but they felt good. I haven't used r888s so I cant compare but they're much better than UHP road tyres. They've got a deep tread so they seem a bit 'squirmy' and they are very soft when new, felt much softer to touch than r888s but they harden up a bit after some miles. The sidewalls are much stiffer than road tyres but not as stiff as r888s. they're also very wide for their size like r888s. I dont know how they'd hold up on a trackday though, after a 1minute sprint run they were starting to grain.

 

Theres a review on a few makes of tyres including the silverstones here using a mk2 golf http://www.serviceandsport.com/pdf/tyre_test_may08.pdf://

 

I was going to mention these to, but appears they went into administration in '07

http://www.tyremonkey.co.uk/MSP-CRMS-SSF-185-55-15.html

 

Thanks Barny. Fixed your links:

http://www.tyremonkey.co.uk/MSP-CRMS-SSF-185-55-15.html

http://www.serviceandsport.com/pdf/tyre_test_may08.pdf

Gurds

 

Spoke to Toyo at the Autosports show two years ago (just before they launched it) regarding the R-1R, they say its a trackday rain tyre but with 5-7000 miles of road use then becomes ok to track in the dry.

 

So it sounds like effectively once the tread blocks reduce height and can't move around as much..

 

Shame you didn't buy some - they'd just about be scrubbed in by now

 

General concensus seems to be that the R1-R's go 'Off' after prolonged track use. I think its more of a fast road or wet track tyre.

Gurds

 

As a complete Newbie to all of this, are the tyres not controlled for this season?

Also, how often do you guys change tyres? I mean if I'm running R888's at 100+ a pop, I seriously doubt I could change mine often in a season...