Toyo R888R Tire Review
Published: February 13, 2018
Dimensions
The first thing that stands out about R888R is that they are wider than the "normal" 205/50-15 size tire. R888R are not as wide as Hoosiers but they are wider than NT01, RE-71r and other tires I've had mounted.
Tire Rack quotes the following tread widths for various tires:
| Tire | 205/50-15 tread width |
|---|---|
| Bridgestone RE-71r | 7" |
| Toyo R888R | 7.6" |
| Hoosier R7 | 8" |
Pretty nice. I'm excited to try the 225/45-15 R888R.
Dry Grip
R888R are a hard R compound tire. Their grip level is comparable to that of Nitto NT01, and I would say exceeds the grip level of Maxxis RC-1.
R888R have excellent heat resistance. They can be pushed hard without overheating, and maintain long wear even when driven hard.
R888R do experience grip fall off as they accumulate heat cycles, but I would say they lose grip slower than R888 do with a similar heat cycle count. I am not yet in position to compare R888R to NT01 or Toyo RR as far as grip fall off vs heat cycles.
Dry Wear
R888R exhibit a slow wear rate in the dry. I estimate getting between 10 and 15 track hours, or about 5 weekends, out of my 205/50-15 set on various Miatas, being driven as hard as the car would allow. With more conservative driving I can see a set lasting 20-30 hours.
My R888R wore fairly evenly, with the rears getting more outside wear likely due to insufficient rear camber which I have addressed. Importantly I have not observed premature inside or outside edge wear that was prevalent with Maxxis RC-1. I targeted 38-39 psi hot air pressure.
Wet Grip
Between the tread pattern of R888R which is large blocks with little void space and the relatively hard tread compound, I expect a full tread R888R to perform similarly to full tread NT01 and RE-71r in standing water situations.
I tested 1/4 tread R888R in moderate rain conditions with significant standing and running water at Barber. At this point in their life R888R still have a very pronounced center groove but most of the remainder of the tread has been worn off. This center groove makes the tire unpredictable in wet conditions: if the groove happens to hit a water puddle, the water goes into the groove and the tire yields decent grip. If the car is a few inches off to either side, the slick part of the tread hits the same puddle and the tire completely loses adhesion. The result is R888R did not hydroplane for quite as long as, say, similarly worn RE-71r, but were prone to unexpectedly gaining or losing grip.
Wet Wear
R888R wear very slowly in wet use due to the hardness of the compound.
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