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R888 price gone mad?


JamieP
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I have been with R888's for many years now & feel reluctant to change them, I'd feel more at ease moving to a tyre with similar properties TBH. I'm hoping people who have had a lot of experience with the Cups can persude me, but I need a tyre that is going to put 700bhp down, & looking at them, I'm not feeling it. I don't want to go out & blow £600 on a set of Cups only to find they don't cut it :)

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Think he means good, the cups are great lap after lap assuming you are on a track:) and don`t "go off" as quickly as 888`s but tbh single laps of the ring the 888`s were very good, so in summary the 888`s are brill for a quick blast without having to get heat into them as they are soft as shite anyway, there you go.

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Think he means good, the cups are great lap after lap assuming you are on a track:) and don`t "go off" as quickly as 888`s but tbh single laps of the ring the 888`s were very good, so in summary the 888`s are brill for a quick blast without having to get heat into them as they are soft as shite anyway, there you go.

See this is where the 888s are ideal for me. When I go out in the Supra I'm not giving it beans 100%, it's like bit of hard driving, bit of easy driving. The 888's seem perfect for that.

 

I could listen to people rave about the Cups, buy some for myself, then find that they don't really suit what I want from a tyre - which is why if I move I want something as close to 888s as possible.

 

I always thought Cups would be the one, but I thought they were similar compound to 888s, obviously they're not, & yes they may stand upto lap after lap better than 888's but that's not what I want

 

Hope this makes sense?

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If thats the case then try the yokos or the dunlops. If its street use only i wouldnt worry about the cups, only if you fancy yourself as a stig and go do alot of track days.

 

I like the dunlops alot and would rate them better although they were the discontiuned o2g and not 03g.

 

Im not knocking r888s though as they are a good tyre but like everything else there is always something better :)

Edited by Kirk (see edit history)
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If thats the case then try the yokos or the dunlops.

 

I like the dunlops alot. Im not knocking r888s though as they are a good tyre but like everything else there is always something better :)

I think I will, I don't like change, hell I'm now contemplating just getting another set of 888s. I think the yokos or dunlops will suit me better, sending these Cups back, & will prolly go for the Dunlops 1st, £500 a set isn't "that" much more than the old R888 price when you consider the other running costs of a single

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I think I will, I don't like change, hell I'm now contemplating just getting another set of 888s. I think the yokos or dunlops will suit me better, sending these Cups back, & will prolly go for the Dunlops 1st, £500 a set isn't "that" much more than the old R888 price when you consider the other running costs of a single

 

What usage is the car being put to? It's so easy to choose a suitable tyre I am amazed at the indecision :) In an ideal world you would have AT LEAST four sets of rims and tyres to even get close to an ideal tyre for all conditions, but in the real world a compromise is needed. For street usage just forget the DOT stamped track specials, all of them are VERY biased to dry weather track usage. In the wet, on a track, even the softest road legal tyres are disadvantaged by a proper full wet race compound. Tell any tyre expert what you do mainly with the car and they can easily advise. It's when you want a dry race track tyre that is also brilliant for sprints or drag racing, and in a deluge on the M25 that the "right" tyre is none existent.

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A nice hard compound radial slick. BMTR tyres in Birmingham are Avon and other race tyre distributors and very competent to advise given car weight, rim size and suspension set up. I know you know this Wez, but be aware that many track day organisers insist that cars running full slicks need a roll cage to be allowed on track.

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Basically the car get fast road use. It's not pushed 100% for long periods like it would be on a track, it gets maybe 5 - 10 mins then steady driving for a bit. I do like to use the car as intended, but it would be insane to drive it like a track car on country roads without any consideration for things around corners/coming the other way if you know what I mean.

 

My car is dry usage only, it is my summer toy. I don't need this tyre to perform in the wet at all.

 

I have found the R888 to be ideal for me, I can accept the wear rate, the grip is superb after only a handfull of 3rd gear pulls.

 

What I don't want to do is change my tyre for something "other" people regard as being amazing (the cups) then find I feel they are crap.

 

In summary, I know you think I'm being indecisive :D, but do you think the Cups could put down 700bhp with this on/off style of usage?

 

What usage is the car being put to? It's so easy to choose a suitable tyre I am amazed at the indecision :) In an ideal world you would have AT LEAST four sets of rims and tyres to even get close to an ideal tyre for all conditions, but in the real world a compromise is needed. For street usage just forget the DOT stamped track specials, all of them are VERY biased to dry weather track usage. In the wet, on a track, even the softest road legal tyres are disadvantaged by a proper full wet race compound. Tell any tyre expert what you do mainly with the car and they can easily advise. It's when you want a dry race track tyre that is also brilliant for sprints or drag racing, and in a deluge on the M25 that the "right" tyre is none existent.
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Michelin Pilot Cups are a road legal track tyre of fairly hard compound and low tread depth and very stiff sidewall designed for race series where a DOT legal road tyre is specified. To work properly they probably need a lot of camber and some heat in them. They are designed for fairly heavy cars like 911's and mid size BMW's on a race circuit, but sneak around the rules by being JUST good enough in the wet to be usable on a wet track or road with caution and to be deemed strong enough in construction whilst still being light, to get DOT approval for road usage in the UK. The R888 is a similar tyre, but budget made, and is generally of softer tread compound and less stiff a sidewall construction. It appears more suited to lighter cars. The A048 is definitely best suited to very light cars like Caterfields. If you literally only use your car in the dry (what a waste, limitation and pain in the UK that must be.... :)) then an R888 may suit, if you don't mind the tread noise and harsh ride. If the car has a genuine 700 BHP it will put its power down much better if you address a decent LSD and suitable springing around damping more than by fitting tyres whose main purpose is going around dry corners fast without melting. Ultimate straight line grip will come from a tall and soft sidewalled drag tyre, but it will be dangerous if you need to make a sudden swerve. Ultimate cornering power will come from one of the DOT legal tyres of which we are speaking, and ultimate wet grip will come from an ultra soft compound with lots of grooves and sipes, but its wear rate will be appalling.

 

From your description of your usage I'd say a normal summer high performance sports radial is most suited. You are unlikely to get any cornering heat into the motorsport tyres as to do so would probably have you before the beak in short order for dangerous driving on the road.

 

What do I use? My 2 WD Skyline is usually trailered to events, but living so near Oulton it's nice to have the option of driving there and hopefully back, plus it's nice to be able to check something out without booking track time. Therefore I use a DOT legal motorsport tyre (Pirelli P Zero Corsas are on it right now). They are dire in the wet, and one would ideally have a second set of rims with wet tyres to change to, but it's just for a bit of fun and I don't bother. R888's are just FAR too soft and are well off the pace of the dearer tyres generally. Pilot Sport Cups are better than the Pirellis on this car, but I couldn't get them in the sizes I use (225 x18 front, 255 x 18 rears) at the time. In the wet a normal quality summer road tyre would be faster. , and safer than the above.

 

I'd run slicks for extra grip and cost saving, but it's not caged, and therefore illegal on most track days on slicks and full wets. I am going to be going that route when I build the bits into the new, caged, shell over the winter.

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Cheers for the depth reply Chris,

 

I don't have a TRD LSD yet (but it is in my plan), but I'm sure my current LSD is holding up at the mo in terms of straight line performance as when the TC is off it leaves 2 big black lines.

 

I take it you don't class R888 or DZ03Gs as "normal summer high performance sports radials".

 

I may try a new set of Corsas or Cups in the future to see how they go, but next it's going to be the DZ03Gs for me,

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Michelin Pilot Cups are a road legal track tyre of fairly hard compound and low tread depth and very stiff sidewall designed for race series where a DOT legal road tyre is specified. To work properly they probably need a lot of camber and some heat in them. They are designed for fairly heavy cars like 911's and mid size BMW's on a race circuit, but sneak around the rules by being JUST good enough in the wet to be usable on a wet track or road with caution and to be deemed strong enough in construction whilst still being light, to get DOT approval for road usage in the UK. The R888 is a similar tyre, but budget made, and is generally of softer tread compound and less stiff a sidewall construction. It appears more suited to lighter cars. The A048 is definitely best suited to very light cars like Caterfields. If you literally only use your car in the dry (what a waste, limitation and pain in the UK that must be.... :)) then an R888 may suit, if you don't mind the tread noise and harsh ride. If the car has a genuine 700 BHP it will put its power down much better if you address a decent LSD and suitable springing around damping more than by fitting tyres whose main purpose is going around dry corners fast without melting. Ultimate straight line grip will come from a tall and soft sidewalled drag tyre, but it will be dangerous if you need to make a sudden swerve. Ultimate cornering power will come from one of the DOT legal tyres of which we are speaking, and ultimate wet grip will come from an ultra soft compound with lots of grooves and sipes, but its wear rate will be appalling.

 

From your description of your usage I'd say a normal summer high performance sports radial is most suited. You are unlikely to get any cornering heat into the motorsport tyres as to do so would probably have you before the beak in short order for dangerous driving on the road.

 

What do I use? My 2 WD Skyline is usually trailered to events, but living so near Oulton it's nice to have the option of driving there and hopefully back, plus it's nice to be able to check something out without booking track time. Therefore I use a DOT legal motorsport tyre (Pirelli P Zero Corsas are on it right now). They are dire in the wet, and one would ideally have a second set of rims with wet tyres to change to, but it's just for a bit of fun and I don't bother. R888's are just FAR too soft and are well off the pace of the dearer tyres generally. Pilot Sport Cups are better than the Pirellis on this car, but I couldn't get them in the sizes I use (225 x18 front, 255 x 18 rears) at the time. In the wet a normal quality summer road tyre would be faster. , and safer than the above.

 

I'd run slicks for extra grip and cost saving, but it's not caged, and therefore illegal on most track days on slicks and full wets. I am going to be going that route when I build the bits into the new, caged, shell over the winter.

 

You took the words right out of my mouth. :innocent:

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No, neither of those tyres are in the least bit "normal" :) If you haven't bought the TRD I have to say that the Giken is far better for big HP cars, and no less civilised, noise and chatter wise. The stock Torsen is not designed for the sort of torque the engine in your car is putting through the back tyres!

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I dont think cups will be any good for us, to hard, i know chris dont like the R888's because they go off quickly on track but we are not talking about track driving here.

 

We are talking about getting acceleration grip on the street from 700-800-900bhp Supra's, the R888 does a bloody good job of that imo.

 

I got the Dunlops today, i dont think they will be any good compared to the R888 either tbh, they are rock hard.

 

Maybe the R888 is worth the money they are asking, its just the sudden price hike is a hard pill to swallow.

 

I never noticed any improvement in grip after going with a TRD either, i got it because i know they are strong.

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Thanks for the great info Chris ;)

 

I have put on PS Cups because I wanted traction .. which I didn't have on street tires before in first 3 gears.

 

The Michelin's, even when only slightly warmed up, give amazing traction in every gear (except first) ... which is exactly what I want on the road.

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Hey Luc, are your Cups defo 285/35/18?

 

My 888's don't even get me traction in 2nd

 

Jamie, hope you don't mind me sitting tight until you review the dunlops :D

 

If they're crap then it's the bitter pill that is R888 :D

 

 

Wont be for a while yet mate, i measured them up and there is no way they are going on a 10" wheel, Need an 11" wheel for 315's

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