rikhek

Bought 4 Toyo RA/1 scrubs from what has been a reputable source for Kumho's. Number of heat cycles was not specified, the seller just stated they have LOTS of life left for HPDE. The seller has been in the business for years and has always been a stand up guy.

I've never run the Toyo's before. Always ran Kumho's. The Toyo's are 275/35/18. My concern is they are basically down to the wear bars. I paid $370 for the 4 tires delivered.

Experience with Kumho's is once they get into the wear bars there's not much life left.

Pictures are provided representative of all 4 tires.

Did I get taken to the cleaners? I'm hoping they'll give me 400 track miles at Hallet as Kumho's have when purchased for this amount of money. I'm really hoping it's my inexperience with the RA/1's. Is this wishful thinking or was I hosed?

Rick

Olitho

I don't run RA1s, but a lot of the S2000 guys I run with at the tracks do. They say RA1s where well and unlike other tires (Hoosier, Kumho) they get faster with age.

Also, I DOT style race tires, it does not take much wear to get them down to the wear bars. They don't come with deep grooved tread like regular street tires.

I am anxious to hear the more experienced replies from Toyo users.

C6400hp

Hard for me to tell how much rubber is left without seeing the wear holes on the outside shoulder. Are any wear holes visible? The Toyo's do seem to get faster with age. Those do appear pretty worn though. I would say for $370 if you get 4 or more track days you got a great deal. Why not just pony up the 1K for a new set of full tread RA1's and use them for the whole year?

JiminVirginia

RA1s don't "heat cycle" like V710s and Hoosiers. They aren't soft enough.

You didn't get a great deal, but didn't get raped, and there may be a couple of track days in those.

Red Gump

the last set of scrubs I bought, 2 of them were already corded when I received them. that said, I'd say you're in good shape. who sold them to you?

Z11409

Fair price--grip goes away long before the tread bars do

Too Tall Bob

Rick,
I also pay about $85-$90/tire for used RA1"s with shipping, vs. about $275/tire for new Kumho 710's with shipping. When I got my first set of Toyo's, I thought the same thing that you did about the amount of wear left on them. I get alot of wear out of my 710's (last set was 28 heat cycles) and it looked like the Toyo's were shot even before I had them mounted.

I was pleasantly surprised at how well the Toyo's have worn and have since bought a second and third set to suppliment my Kumho's. I got about 15 heat cycles out of the Toyo's which made them cheaper to run per heat cycle than the 710's. However, the RA1's do not offer the same amount of grip as the 710's, so I just use the RA1's when I want to go out and just have some fun with passengers or when filming friends and want a better tire than the Goodyear's. When I need to toss out a quick lap in a time trial or something, I'll run the Kumho's instead.

One thing I did notice about the RA1's was that they will take a couple of sessions to get them to start working again...they were pretty slippery at first, but they are a good tire and have worn well.

One other note: I started off running 275x18's on the front and 305x18's on the rear. I have since gone to running 305's all around to help eliminate understeer. Just FYI.....

Bob 33

I have used several sets of RA-1s on street and track and will buy more. While not a true R compound tire, they are the best cross-over solution. Because I drive my car to the track and am concerned about rain/road debris in transit, I switch them out when they are in their prime. These tires age well and just keep getting better right down to the cord. I hate getting rid of perfectly good tires, often with less wear than in the above images. I run 18" front and back (275/305).

Bob 33

davidfarmer

Those won't last long. Looks like you got a set of used WC style SHAVED RA1's. New, non-shaved RA1's have tons of tread, but the shaved version have nearly none. I would be surprised if you get a day out of those tires. They chord very easily in my experience.

Too Tall Bob

Yes, the ones usually available are used, shaved RA1's from WC cars that still have about 2/32nds's left on them after being used for 30 minutes. The Toyo website says that full tread tires are not to be used as a competition tire but are to be shaved.

I have gotten great wear from used ones, and even got two full hard days of track time out of a set of 305's that had about half the tread left that yours do in the pic above. I do, however, have a track alignment with alot of neg. camber, so be sure to check your outside wear if you have a std. alignment.

95jersey

If you paid almost $400, why not pay the $750 and get the 710's which will last up to 6 days easy. Even if you get 2 days out of them, it's not worth it. I never buy used R's, because you'll never REALLY know what your going to get until you get them. It's just not worth it...cheap = expensive (at least with tires).

I am still running my 710's from last year and they have about 6 days on them and performance wise will eat an RA1.

TooManyIDs

Not just a matter of what tire I want to run. I drive my car down to MSR, can't run something too soft.

Wouldn't mind a set of 710's (had 700's before), but they don't come in 275/35WR18 and 305/35WR18.

If I'm getting 18 x 10 and 18 x 11, I could do a 285/30WR18 front, but found that a bit short on sidewall, the edges of my Classics stuck out beyond the tire.

Looks like a 315/35WR18 could work on the 18 x 11, but optimal is 12".

John has all this stuff in his head, I'll talk to him when I'm out there.

Chalky

Just curious but where are you getting new Kumho's for $750.00? I would be interested.

c4cruiser

Don't know if anyone has noticed, but Hooiser is selling last year's R3S05 tires on their website for some pretty deep disdcounts. And they are offering free shipping.