Toyo 888s or Continential Extreme Contact Sport

SWEET03COBRA

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So I have been searching my butt off and trying to find a great street tire with the best traction and to avoid wheel hop as much as possible. I kept hearing great things about these Continentals and the 888rs. Once in a while people would talk about the nitto G2s as well but didn't seem as much. I'm looking to make my car drivable again for nice long trips and don't want to have white knuckles when it rains. What yal think?
 

MastaAce03

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Completely different tires. The R888 is an R compound and will give you better traction by far and are fine in the rain as long as you drive with some common sense. The continentals are a great tire and will last much longer, but the traction won’t be close to a R888.


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1Kona_Venom

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R888 Best tire for all my needs, and run them on everything since my '04 Cobra
I purposely ran some back roads here in Georgia 2 years ago in a heavy down pour. At 55mph
I was clearing standing water. I got on I-95, stabbed the gas in 1st (which you shouldn't do anyways but wanted to see) and the car swung sideways. Damp pavement, hard roll into the throttle 1st - top of 2nd no issues.

My front tires were brand new Toyo Sports w/ the 305/35 R888.
Wheel hop is eliminated with more then just tires, imo.
 

SWEET03COBRA

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so where do you guys buy your R888s Do you run R888 in the front and R888Rs in the rear so should I go with something like the G2 or continentals in the front and stick the 888s or 888Rs in the rear? Good combo would be 275 35 18 front and 305 35 18s in the rear?
 

V6&V8SHO

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Ordered from tire rack

I run 265 40 18 Toyo Proxes 1 up front (max perf summer)
305 35 18 R888 rear

Both are 26.3 diameter.
 

KLLR SNK

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I have run the Continental DW's in 295/18 & 275/18 plus now I am running the G2's in 275/17 & 315/17. I wanted a good/great, relatively quiet, highway tire for weekend road trips where I didn't have to worry about wet or dry weather conditions. I considered the 888's but felt their tread design was more of a dry traction street and track tire. Either the Conti's or the G2's should fit your application well but I would give the edge to the Conti's for dry and wet "wear" technological advances and less road noise.
 

Goose17

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Ordered from tire rack

I run 265 40 18 Toyo Proxes 1 up front (max perf summer)
305 35 18 R888 rear

Both are 26.3 diameter.

Although different sizes, I am running this same setup on my GT500... Proxes 1s up front with R888s in the back. Excellent traction. The R888s are noisy bastards. Only having them in the back helps, but they still are noisy. I haven’t tried the newer R888Rs yet.
 

V6&V8SHO

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Although different sizes, I am running this same setup on my GT500... Proxes 1s up front with R888s in the back. Excellent traction. The R888s are noisy bastards. Only having them in the back helps, but they still are noisy. I haven’t tried the newer R888Rs yet.

Trade off for the grip. The proxes are very nice for the fronts.
 

InvisibleBlade

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I have no personal experience with the Continentals, but R888 hands down. I love them. Goose17 mentioned them being loud, but I honestly don't hear them on my car at all.
Goose17, do you have stock exhaust?
 

Goose17

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I have no personal experience with the Continentals, but R888 hands down. I love them. Goose17 mentioned them being loud, but I honestly don't hear them on my car at all.
Goose17, do you have stock exhaust?

I am running Borla S on my 2011 GT500, which is louder than stock. From inside the cabin, the tires sound kind of like gear noise. From outside, they sound like 4x4 mud tires.

I do like the grip though and accept the noise. However, if I had to do a road trip in the car, the noise could get old.
 

MastaAce03

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They are definitely loud and gooses description is spot on. I have a lot of suspension work done on my car, running off-road mid with borla tourings. Still sounds like a 4x4 wheel and I really don’t care. It’s a tried and true tire that will hook second gear in warm weather up to about 650whp without any issues every time.


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TheFleshRocket

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The problem with the R888s is that after they go through winter, their grip drops dramatically. I don't mean after you drive the car during the winter, I mean after the car sits parked in your garage during the winter and you didn't pull the wheels/tires and bring them inside your house.

If you live somewhere that the winters are 40-50F and your car is garaged, this probably won't be a problem, but if the winters get below freezing, your R888s will have significantly less grip the following Spring. This is fine if you buy new tires every year, but if you expect your magically grippy R888s to keep impressing year after year, you'll be in for a disappointment.
 

shaner

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I have run the Continental DW's in 295/18 & 275/18 plus now I am running the G2's in 275/17 & 315/17. I wanted a good/great, relatively quiet, highway tire for weekend road trips where I didn't have to worry about wet or dry weather conditions. I considered the 888's but felt their tread design was more of a dry traction street and track tire. Either the Conti's or the G2's should fit your application well but I would give the edge to the Conti's for dry and wet "wear" technological advances and less road noise.
What size wheels do you have
 

KyleSVT

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I love My R888's will always use it on my cobra and any performance oriented car from now on. Running 315/30/18 rear on a 10" wheel and 275/35/18 on 9" front wheel. This is my 3rd season with them and they are still very grippy but my garage is heated for winters.
43452507552_da25287db6_h.jpg
KD3A9455Corrected by Kyle SVT, on Flickr
42595695035_01ac37b93c_h.jpg
KD3A9402Corrected by Kyle SVT, on Flickr

Video review if you care to watch
 

94 Cobra R

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Currently have the Toyo TQ on the rear...amazing grip. Especially after they've warmed up. But in the rain? Not bad on the streets, but on the interstate, it's the most scared I've ever been. You can feel the rear sliding all over. I have some new 888R's sitting in the shop for when these go. I will probably do my first drag test with the TQ's at the beginning of Dec at a local Test & Tune, when the weather cools a bit.
 

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