Sounds good to me, Toyo’s it is then[Y]
I’ve had the Parada fitted to an old Fiesta RS1800 track car and they were awfull. Yoko insist on using a very, very soft compund for their tyres. They got too hot too quickly and the tread just began to melt and chunks started to come off them. £140 for about 30 laps does not a good tyre make.
I’ve just realised that I haven’t updated this thread.
In the end I bought Toyo T1R’s. First impressions are very good, but then I’ve only done a couple of hundred miles on them going to the National rally at Mallory Park, plus I also changed the wheels at the same time. The Motorway driving was very smooth and with plenty of grip when needed on the back roads, so on that note they will do for me[Y]
Thanks to all for your advice.
Cheers
Marcus.
I’m glad you like the T1Rs. I hate mine, on both cars.
Part of my reason for buying them was the overwhelming support for them on various forums. But I’ve still got terrible grip in the dry with 2000 miles on the T1Rs. I’m going to be replacing mine with another set of Marangoni Zetas on the MX5 (they don’t make them in the right sizes for my other car).
On my tyres you can see where the narrow pointy bits of tread have just folded over under cornering loads and the edges have worn away - you can even bend them with your finger. This has left all the tread in the middle part of the tyre with huge radiused edges, hence less foot print, and even less grip.
They aren’t dangerous (they lose and regain grip in a friendly way - no surprises) and they are fine in the wet, but they are not grippy in the dry.
I keep meeting people who rave about them, so maybe it’s just me.
[:$] Maybe you use yours differently to others (I mean on the road)?
I have the 205 T1Rs - hard to fault on mine… ~ but that’s with me driving! [;)]
Well this is it, I could have some weird driving style. Thing is I notice the T1Rs not having grip while following normal cars down twisty roads - it’s not like I’m cornering particularly hard.
I could blame the comedy diff in my car if other, cheaper, tyres weren’t absolutely fine (like the Falkens, Yoko 539 and Marangonis I’ve had on it). I’ve got an auto test at the weekend, but after that I’ll put the Toyos back on for another try. I’m desperate for them to start working - it’ll save me loads of money. They’ll be good for winter.
I can’t believe my experiences are so different from other people’s, especially as it’s not just randoms on the internet but several people who’s opinions I trust. Maybe I got a bad batch or something?
Hi
Its not a weird driving style, its a weird car. Nobody else has a welded diff. This is obviously going to affect the handling and it would seem the Toyos are particularly sensitive to this car set-up, much more sensitive than the other tyres you have tried. I did try and explain this earlier, but you did not seem very receptive to my input.
Alan
But that doesn’t explain why they also don’t have much grip on my other car, which has an open diff.
Also the effect of the welded diff is tiny on large diameter corners - on anything you can take at 20mph or more you really don’t notice it’s there. Even accepting that it artificially loads up the front tyres at turn in it’s just the same cornering forces but at a lower speed - it’s not an entirely alien set of tyre loads.
My experiences of these tyres are so different to everyone else’s it may well be a combination of the diff, my driving, the batch of tyres and the local kids greasing them up every night. I get acess to a lot of tyres (I currently have 45 wheels in my collection, and that’s after giving some away last week) and the Toyos on my car, with my driving, on public roads, at legal speeds, in back-to-back testing don’t grip well in the dry compared to other tyres.
I’m being as scientific as I can be about my assessment.
I’ve put up with the Toyos for 2000 miles now, even extending the mileage limit on my insurance and using my competition car as a daily driver in the hope that these tyres will suddenly make sense. I’ve really tried to like them.
My guess is that your experience with tyres, both at the extreme of drifting as well as normal road use, has allowed you to guage & compare better than most on here - the Toyos might not be the best tyre, but not many have the opportunity of experiencing so many varieties on the same cars as you do.
This one has been interesting, I like the Toyos - they’re the best I’ve had on my 5’s (other tyres were Avon ZV3 & Kumho) ~ I’d gladly accept that the Toyos could be bettered, but I don’t have the opportunity to test as many! (Due to Mrs Goof and -£’s ~ there is a link there!).
If you’re going to throw them - throw them in the direction of S.W. Leics! [;)]
Toyo T1-R’s 195/55/14. [:D]
My T1R 195/55r14 fit fine to standard sized 14s and have the same rolling diameter as standard sized tyres - so no gearing/speedo issues. You would have to tell your insurer you had changed sizes from standard. My experiences of these tyres seem to be atypical, so I’ll not comment further.
If I were starting again I would go for 195/50R15s and stick to the slightly larger wheels, but I have the luxury of already having wheels in a number of sizes. The difference between 14" and 15" is not going to dramatically transform your car.
I’ve just bought TR1s for just over 100 beer tokens for my new Lenso’s, from Camskill after a recomendation from a user on here.
I’ve only had them on the car an afternoon but, after having just gone for a spin, can confirm that they give a pretty good ride and didn’t let go on the faster corners. I did manage to get the back out on a roundabout but then I had intended to!
I spent a long time trying to decide which brand to go for but settles on the Toyo’s after a lot of praise from guys on here.
IMHO you could do an awful lot worse.
Hi I have just this morning got two tyres T1R’s delivered from Camskill at a cost of 65 for two including P&P also, just had a mot and needed them for the back (I bought T1R’s as my husband bought them for his Celica low profile) and he said they were good so hence me buying them. Hope they will be ok Cheers peeps
Caz
Any news on the new Asymmetric F1s yet? Has anyone tried them, please?
To enter this conversation very late this is my opinion.
I really don’t like the Prada 2, maybe they just don’t suit light cars, but the wet grip was poor to the point of silly and the dry grip was not great and they seemed to wear quicker than you would expect even under the conditions. Also I was concerned about the quality control. I can’t find the picture, but these are directional tyres so they have to fit a certain way around. If you look at this picture
you can see that the grove in the tyre is on the outside edge. Yet on the off side rear it was on the inside edge. To me this says the grove is cut into the tyre after it is moulded and they are not to careful about which side it went.
T1R’s are not the greatest tyre in the world and I say that even though we sell them, but they really are not bad for the price and more than good enough for normal use and track work. They are not the best in the rain, that said I have them both on my Volvo and Puma. Comedy can be had in the Puma in the wet, you don’t need the steering wheel just the throttle but they work.
Her Capitan, the feathering of the edges is a common condition on T1R’s when used heavily. If you are not pushing them I would suggest an aggressive toe and camber set up. On the race cars they are shaved to 4mm for dry use as the tread blocks overheat otherwise giving what you see. In the wet as well as softening damper rates pressures are dropped to 20 - 21 PSI but 26 to 30 in the dry depending on temps. They will actually give a surprisingly high amount of grip in the dry when worn and with temperature. Thy have soft side walls and the standard 26PSI road pressure does not do them any favours on the road and I would run 30.
Zeta Linnea’s are a sticky soft compound, you can feel that even when brand new on the rack. I have never driven on them but I would expect they will grip well in the dry, but again may over heat.
GSD3’s are a fantastic wet performing tyre, but I can also show a garage full of melted ones from dry track use. Yes of course many people don’t track them and they are great on the road, but even spirited road driving will find that the excellent wet grip does not significantly improve in the dry.
As I always say in these things, for road use I still very much rate the Bridgestone Turanza RE30 or RE300 as it now is. RaceWorx, the car in the picture was on Toyo Proxy 4’s at Brands last Friday and had a surprising amount of grip, however I always think it is in the damp that you find out how good a tyre is. All that said I have run R888 all year round for the last 2 and a half years and I find them very hard to beat.
Cheers Nick, massively helpful post. I’ll stop feeling like the only person in the world who thinks T1Rs aren’t perfect.
Also I may give 888s a try next time.
Michelin PE2’s are the tyre of choice IMHO 
Having had Parada Spec 2s on since I bought the car, and having just changed for a full set of T1-Rs, I would say go with Toyo every time. The car is instantly better. There is more grip in the dry and more in the wet.
I hope they last longer than the Yokohamas, because they were shocking. I have a fairly easy-going driving style, and drive mainly around town, with the odd country lane and/or motorway session, and they lasted less than 10 months, and less than 9000 miles, which to me, is appalling.
I’m now a Federal 595 RSR convert. Grippy in the wet and fantastic grip in the dry, just a shade off R888 levels and half the price. I know I sell them, but they are good.
Have you had a go on some Toyo R1Rs yet? I’ve got some on my MX5 and love them - loads of grip wet or dry and no downsides at all for road use, auto-tests or drifting.