Road Trip Report: R888R's In The Rain, 4:10's MPG

SteveWK

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Front - MPSS 275/40/19
Rear - R888R 285/35/20
Gears: 4.10

Drove from Wichita, KS to Cedar Rapids, IA and back. The trip there was mostly in the rain with heavy rain at times. I actually pulled over twice to check out the radar to see what I was driving into. Didn't need hail damage. The drive back was sunny, thankfully.

I had zero issues with the R888R's in the rain although my pucker factor was high the whole way there. The tires are brand new and have full tread. I'm betting with worn tires they would not have faired as well. I didn't drive my normal 80+ mph and kept the speeds down to 75 or less and maybe down to 60 during heavy rain. To be honest I was so busy driving the car I didn't spend a lot of time looking at the speedo, so my speeds are an estimate. Did a brake check once and they seemed ok. I sorta got on it once leaving a rest area that had wet pavement and they hooked suprisingly well. I did not drive through any standing water that I can remember. Another factor is the toll roads in Kansas are in really good shape from Wichita to Kansas City. They seem to drain water pretty well and the pavement isn't all worn and shiney.

The tires were fairly quite by my standards. I did hear a low pitch sound though. Best way I can describe it as a straight gear sound but lower pitched and not very loud. Overall have zero complaints with the R888R's on the trip.

The 4.10s performed well. The mileage was around 21 mpg on average. I say around 21 because some tanks were 22 mpg and others were closer to 20 mpg. I attribute this to the speed limits in each state. It is 75 in Kansas and 70 in Iowa and Missouri. I calculated mileage based on how much gas I put in the car at fillups. The air fuel ratio bounce around between 13.8 and 14.2. Don't know if that is normal for highway driving or not.
 

CobraBob

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Pretty decent mileage, and likely helped a bit by the wet conditions keeping you mostly out of moderate-high boost. Sounds like those tires were a good choice.
 

GNBRETT

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Like ANY good sticking tire they work great in the rain when new but as soon as u wear them down a little they are useless in the rain and no different than a DR that is worn down.

I experienced this just recently with Nitto 555R2's. They worked great in the rain for about a month. Once they started to wear and they wear rapidly just like the R888 because they are soft they become nothing but a novelty and simply cannot be used in the rain and therefore make them kinda useless for a DD tire.

Pretty decent for a weekend car that ur smashing at every light cause they hook up well but dam them things are really noisy AF and annoying to be honest. Buddy had them on his Camaro and wow were they loud!
 

Blkblk13car

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Front - MPSS 275/40/19
Rear - R888R 285/35/20
Gears: 4.10

Drove from Wichita, KS to Cedar Rapids, IA and back. The trip there was mostly in the rain with heavy rain at times. I actually pulled over twice to check out the radar to see what I was driving into. Didn't need hail damage. The drive back was sunny, thankfully.

I had zero issues with the R888R's in the rain although my pucker factor was high the whole way there. The tires are brand new and have full tread. I'm betting with worn tires they would not have faired as well. I didn't drive my normal 80+ mph and kept the speeds down to 75 or less and maybe down to 60 during heavy rain. To be honest I was so busy driving the car I didn't spend a lot of time looking at the speedo, so my speeds are an estimate. Did a brake check once and they seemed ok. I sorta got on it once leaving a rest area that had wet pavement and they hooked suprisingly well. I did not drive through any standing water that I can remember. Another factor is the toll roads in Kansas are in really good shape from Wichita to Kansas City. They seem to drain water pretty well and the pavement isn't all worn and shiney.

The tires were fairly quite by my standards. I did hear a low pitch sound though. Best way I can describe it as a straight gear sound but lower pitched and not very loud. Overall have zero complaints with the R888R's on the trip.

The 4.10s performed well. The mileage was around 21 mpg on average. I say around 21 because some tanks were 22 mpg and others were closer to 20 mpg. I attribute this to the speed limits in each state. It is 75 in Kansas and 70 in Iowa and Missouri. I calculated mileage based on how much gas I put in the car at fillups. The air fuel ratio bounce around between 13.8 and 14.2. Don't know if that is normal for highway driving or not.
I just did SFL to N Ga (700miles and averaged 22.2mpg and I’m stock so that’s great!
 

DSG2003Mach1

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interesting, I will say I only had them on the rear but I was bombing down the expressway at 80 in a typical fl downpour and the car was rock solid (R888Rs rear, sport comp in the front)
 

1Kona_Venom

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I just did SFL to N Ga (700miles and averaged 22.2mpg and I’m stock so that’s great!
and you didn't stop by to say hi? lol


Like ANY good sticking tire they work great in the rain when new but as soon as u wear them down a little they are useless in the rain and no different than a DR that is worn down.

I experienced this just recently with Nitto 555R2's. They worked great in the rain for about a month. Once they started to wear and they wear rapidly just like the R888 because they are soft they become nothing but a novelty and simply cannot be used in the rain and therefore make them kinda useless for a DD tire.

Pretty decent for a weekend car that ur smashing at every light cause they hook up well but dam them things are really noisy AF and annoying to be honest. Buddy had them on his Camaro and wow were they loud!

The majority of 13/14 owners tires will dry rot before they wear them down to nothing. :ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:
 

SteveWK

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Like ANY good sticking tire they work great in the rain when new but as soon as u wear them down a little they are useless in the rain and no different than a DR that is worn down.

I experienced this just recently with Nitto 555R2's. They worked great in the rain for about a month. Once they started to wear and they wear rapidly just like the R888 because they are soft they become nothing but a novelty and simply cannot be used in the rain and therefore make them kinda useless for a DD tire.

Pretty decent for a weekend car that ur smashing at every light cause they hook up well but dam them things are really noisy AF and annoying to be honest. Buddy had them on his Camaro and wow were they loud!
Out driving today, I did notice they were louder than on my trip. The 4.10s at 80 mph and 2000 rpm make the exhaust a bit louder and I didn't notice the tire noise as much on the open road. Still not a problem for me at this point. Some sound deadening like dynamat might solve the problem. I just love these tires for the way I drive and the power level I am at.
 

SteveWK

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Any noticeable tire wear?
I went to autozone and bought a cheap tire depth gauge. New the tires are 6.3 32nds of an inch and I measured 6 32nds after 1277 miles. I have done zero aggressive driving with these tires so far. I had a set of R888s before this set and drove them aggresive often and I can tell you they were wearing much faster.
 

SteveWK

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1Kona_Venom

"The majority of 13/14 owners tires will dry rot before they wear them down to nothing."

Not including the original Goodyears, this is my 4th set of rears for this car. Two sets of Michelin Pilot Super Sports and one set of R888s. I did open track the car 4 or 5 times with those tires though.
 
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Blkblk13car

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and you didn't stop by to say hi? lol




The majority of 13/14 owners tires will dry rot before they wear them down to nothing. :ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:
Tell that to mine I’m at 90,100 and counting

making the move to GA finally- I need to find where I’m going to take my car though. Any ideas in the Alpharetta area?
 

biminiLX

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Like ANY good sticking tire they work great in the rain when new but as soon as u wear them down a little they are useless in the rain and no different than a DR that is worn down.

I experienced this just recently with Nitto 555R2's. They worked great in the rain for about a month. Once they started to wear and they wear rapidly just like the R888 because they are soft they become nothing but a novelty and simply cannot be used in the rain and therefore make them kinda useless for a DD tire.

Pretty decent for a weekend car that ur smashing at every light cause they hook up well but dam them things are really noisy AF and annoying to be honest. Buddy had them on his Camaro and wow were they loud!
Brett I just wanted to clarify, are the 555R2s noisy?
My 555Rs were never noisy and I’m looking at summer wheels and want to run 555R2s on the Trackhawk.
-J
 

biminiLX

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Great post Steve.
Guys have no idea what they’re missing without gears and tires (my specific recommendations are the Nitto DRs and Toyos discussed here).
-J
 

ZYBORG

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Ive personally known a couple of great drivers that have ATE SHIT on R888s and rain…. All it takes is a short moment of overconfidence…BAM!

Gotta be on your toes with that combo…
 

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