Toyo Proxes T1Rs - A Warning

Bought a couple of these tyres for the front of the VIS. Not a huge amount of choice in 205/50 15.

They're terrible. The sidewalls are too weak. After an Anglesey trackday I had wear about an inch down the sidewall. So I fitted some camber bolts and now have some negative camber - 2.8 degrees on near side, a little less on offside.

Did a Lydden Hill trackday yesterday and while the wear is limited to the top of the sidewall now they're still tucking under.

Sidewalls are too weak for any hard driving.

I agree that they are no longer a high-performance tyre, but I'd be willing to bet that the sidewall scrub you've experienced is as much due to understeer and body roll as it is to soft sidewalls. What tyre pressure were you running?

2.8 degrees negative camber will be OK on the track, but it will make the car skittish on the road

Started with standard pressure up front but took a couple of psi out which gave no improvement and resulted in the them overheating sooner. Was very hot yesterday which definitely didn't help. Always put a couple of extra psi in the back to reduce understeer. Probably should have added some more.

Car feels good on the road. Camber has increased the sensitivity of that initial steering input but it's not bothering me.

Might try the Nankang ns2rs. Mate has some on some rims that fit, just the wrong offset which will ruin scrub radius and feel horrible on the road but not a problem at the track.

Really don't want to go down the route of spring/damper changes, stiffer rear bar etc. Been there before and don't know when to stop.

Besides, quite like being the car with the lowest power to weight ratio, looking standard and still being faster than blatantly faster cars.

Before I put the T1Rs on I had ancient Pirelli P6000s on there with cracking sidewalls and they were still better than the T1Rs and didn't roll over onto the sidewalls anywhere near as much.

Sitting here pondering whether or not to just buy a moonie currently listed on eBay I think you know a little about!

For track days you need track tyres, anything else will just over heat and do exactly what you've experienced.

Agree with this statement, i run these tyres on my daily van, not on a track car.

That would certainly cure your understeer issues.....

Ive never rated Toyo's (my Dad had them for a short period before changing), always been a mid range tyre at best and ontop of that its now (T1R) a very old tyre (technology)

Ive always said you shouldnt skimp on tyres.

I started with a new set of Falkens in 18" (so not cheap) and within 1,000 miles I got rid of them for Continental Sport Contact 5. Huge difference in every way. (Was running 400+bhp)

Ive seen on here so many times people say but you can only go 70mph or 30 mph or whatever. Ridiculous. Its not just about going fast.

To the OP, sorry a bit more on topic, as someone else said above if its purely track work you need a track tyre, simple.

Road tyre at 220bhp minimum it has to be the premium brands to get the best out of the car in terms of performance, braking, cornering wet/dry and confidence etc, the list goes on.

Maybe there is a middle ground tyre if its a road car that you take on track once or twice a year, maybe like Yoko ADO8R (maybe, dont hold me to that)

A good video about importance of good tyres to all the non believers. (Yes I know rear wheel drive car but principles will be there or there abouts)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NcenJ0zmAY

Actually it's primarily a road car but I use it on the track occasionally as being a vis it's not worth the kind of money the LE is worth.

I'm going to try the Nankang ns2rs and will probably get one more track day in this summer so will report back. It doesn't make sense to go too sticky because the wheel rates are too low.

Hi no experience in track days but on my vis our purchased a set of Hankook Ventus Prime the improvement
over the Avon’s I had was fantastic. No more sliding in the wet and feels very firm in the dry

Best

The Nakang is quite a good tyre according to what I've heard. As a compromise road/track tyre the Yokohama AD08R is good - like anything track biased it is noisy as a road tyre but grip is impressive.

I have been using the yokohama AD048R as a road and track tyre and can't fault them. They are ok in the wet and very stick well in the dry, my main complaint would be that they have increased a lot in price over the last couple of years.

But I run 215/40 17 on the car not sure if they come in 205/50 15

my view as I have both TR1's and 888R's

1. running normal road tyres on a track, you need to up the tyre pressures
2. I ran RainSports on my car at Anglesey and like you spent the time driving on the side wall and not the top bit
3. Base Coupe Suspension is soft with a surprising amount of roll, so on a track this is amplified
4. TR1 is an "okay" road performance tyre, an XXX/50 profile is, especially for modern types, a very tall profile, so it is going to bend, unless the tyre wall is rock hard and then its going to be a noisey/crappy ride on the road!
5. R888R's are in my opinion amazing - great in both dry and wet, they are my "go to" tyre (at the moment), they are really only a track tyre as the road ride is "uncompromising" - oh and they don't last very long
6. "It doesn't make sense to go too sticky because the wheel rates are too low" - explain?

Thanks

Sg

Really I need to post a photo to demonstrate why I'm so critical of the Toyos. Big chunks of tread have come off all the way around the top of the sidewall. I know I abused them but even so.

Re sticky tyres and wheel rates, all I mean is more grip will just result in even more time on the bumpstops. Need more stiffness first.

Thinking about doing Cadwell in the Autumn. Might just pop the Hiflys that are on the back atm on the front and see if they cope any better.

At the end of the day it's primarily a road car so suppose I really just have to put up with its shortcomings on track.

Cadwell is not a great Circuit for a standard Coupe!
You’ll have fun but will be overtaken by all the Clio’s, you’ll cook your brakes and shred your tyres!

A standard Coupe is a great GT car, comfortable fast and reasonably economical.

All these great facets on the road equal nitemare on a track.
For it to perform reasonably you need to undertake a lot of work.

Most trackers those with hotted up ST’s, Clios etc will have a set of rims in the back which they swap around for the circuit, road tyres will just not cut it on a circuit, especially on a standard Coupe - blaming the manufacturer might make you feel better, but you are ignoring reality - sorry

You have two choices, get on the slippery slope of optimising your Coupe for track like a number of us have done and enjoy the ride and don’t look at the receipts or just have fun with your standard Coupe and understand it’s and the tyres limits