pixrken wrote:


Anyone else seen this infared photo? Seems kind of similar to the dark wear pattern on Rick's tire (if you flip it to match the tread's direction). The yellow area shows the highest contact of the tire's smooth surface, the orange/red along the grooves of that same area are the highest contact anywhere on the tire, but the surface on the other half of the tire is mostly green, less contact (same place as the dark area on Rick's)

I'd think that Toyo surely experimented with pressures alot to create the best infared pic they could, and they still have a similar wear pattern.

Taken from the Contact Distribution Chart on Toyo's own pdf

www.toyor888.net/racing/toyo/images/R888ProductDataPage.pdf

Just my .02 . I had the same problem as Jon Arriano, I corded the pass front after two days at PIR, my setup then was stock setup with Koni's, cut 250# springs,2.8 camber, running around 38 psi. I have since added camber plates, 3.5 camber, and 325# springs. I have been running a set of 235/50's that have held up well thru a 20 run auto x day and a test and tune at Firebird West running around 38-39 hot and are wearing well. I also ran a set of 225/50's for the Firebird East event which had two races the same day and don't show any unexpected wear. I know we are all trying to develop the R888's but are we going to have a cutoff date for running the old RA-1's ?

wild4a914 wrote:


Yes we will have a cut off date for the RA-1. Not sure when, but one aspect we need to allow for the series to remain low cost is to ensure drivers don't need to throw away good RA-1's. I don't want guys buying new RA-1's, but we should be able to use up our existing supply of them.

2008 is a Transition Year. 2009 may be different. In Arizona at least we will take the rest of 2008 allowing both tires. We need more time on R888, before we cut off all RA-1s. In 2009 I expect Arizona to phase out all RA-1 use some time before summer at least for all regular runners.

Why should there be a cut off date? They both are TOYO, and there's not that much difference between them. Brian seem to say they were still going to make the RA1's. One or the other might be better for different drivers. Let them make the choice.

Larry

Larry,
Toyo is phasing out the RA-1. Some sizes are already no longer available. This will be the case with our size as well. This is the primary reason we are switching tires in the first place. If that were not the case we would just stick with the RA-1.

The other issue is that we are in a spec class and we need to spec the tire. Competitiveness dictates that all racers run the same tires. This means the SAME tire size, brand, and version.

Now I could simply state that you can't run RA-1's at all. This would be in keeping with the concept of a level playing field for competitiveness and is actually in the 2008 rules for after June 08. However it would be costly as there are guys who throughout this year have supplies of RA-1's that need to be used up. I perfer to see guys use their existing RA-1 and just buy R888 when they are used up than to need to buy 2 sets of R888. We are a budget class a
and need to balance competitiveness vs cost. As such both tires are being allowed in Arizona in an effort to allow drivers to use up their personally supply of RA-1s. When I no longer see stacks of spare RA-1's at the track we can set a cut off for using RA-1's. Clearly I will need to look out for the less frequent runners who may be on 2 year old RA-1's since they they miss most of last year.

Now there is also a learning curve assocaiated with R888s. It has become pretty clear that all that we know of RA-1 does not seem to apply to the R888. This does not mean the R888 is inferior. It just means it is different and will take time to learn. As such while I am not happy to hear about less than favorable experiences with R888 I believe that we can come to grips with the tire and learn to love it as we do the RA-1.

To make this process easier I will be sharing all the data I have on using the R888 for our cars and would hope the other drivers do the same. In this case Rick's expereince is invaluable. Thank you Rick.