Toyo Proxes 888R

COOL COBRA

Hell Yes!
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It is important to remember that the R888R is a DOT legal road race tire, not a drag radial. Therefore the tire does have limitations based on its usage. The main difference is in the tire carcass/sidewall construction - it is much much stiffer as it is designed to withstand high g-load cornering in lateral load conditions. This is pretty much the opposite of what you want in a tire when you are looking to put traction down in a straight line at lower speeds or from a stop.

A street oriented drag radial, for example, will have a taller, softer sidewall that allows you to easily and quickly build heat into the tire.

A road race oriented tire with stiff sidewall will take more time to heat up the tire - in a road race environment this is done by weaving back and forth and building up enough brake temps which will in turn heat up the tire after a few laps to proper operating temperature yielding the optimum/maximum grip of the tire.

As is probably obvious, doing such a procedure on the road is ill advised and is the reason why you see so many people also dogging the R888R, contrary to the praise it gets, as not having enough traction on the street.........well yea - it was never meant to put down the kind of power some of our cars are making from a dig or in a colder environment.

For the most part this is not an issue as most here only drive their cars in the summer and there is enough ambient temperature (and the roads are warm enough) to build enough heat in the tire after a few miles of driving......but be aware that if you take this tire out on colder days its going to take much longer to get the tire up to temp before it can do anything for you below 3rd gear.

P.S > This is not a tire you want to be doing burnouts in often - like if you go to the drag strip more often. They have extremely low wear ratings as it is - too many/frequent burnouts will wear through them extremely quick. At $350/tire for a 315mm that can get expensive quick.

When I had my car set up for street/strip, I used to run a 315/40/18 Nitto NT05R DR - big beefy sidewall and soft compound. They give a bit of that raked look, but also performed very well on the street when I was at 700whp on an 18x10.5 wheel.
Ok. I have to ask, have you ever ran the 888 on your car? Honest answer please.
 

Bdubbs

u even lift bro?
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I have a hard time trusting nitto drag radials. Years ago I had the 555r's on my upper pulley bolt on cobra. I was making 455/479 and couldn't even get traction on a 2nd gear hit. Not to mention I didn't even get 5,000 miles out of them.

I switched to the r888 and could dead hook first gear and got around 10,000 miles out of them. I could have gone longer with them to.

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DCguy

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Ok. I have to ask, have you ever ran the 888 on your car? Honest answer please.
Ive had two sets of the R888….not tried the newer R. But basically the same tire.

Either way, nothing im telling you is controversial. You can read up on the R888/R and get the same feedback on various track day forums. If you disagree based on your personal experience I can't speak to that - everyone's mileage will vary based on a multitude of factors, but the fact is this tire is not a DR and is not designed for dig/drag racing.....that doesn't mean its a bad tire.....just letting people know its limitations so that they can get the most out of it.
 
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badmpg03

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I like 888/R888R, I have them on 2 cars and they are great for spirited driving, cornering/braking. Can put down most of 800+whp rolling into 2nd when they are warm on a 305/35

Agree that temps sub 55deg can be sketchy. Cold, they are not good tires. They are noticeably louder to me as well....if I did it over I would not have them on all 4 corners, would pick a different tire in the fronts to help

I have been through a set or two now so will be trying out 315/30 TQ next go around
 

jdant

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I run Nitto NT-01's that are just like the 888R's. Great when warm on a second gear hit. It's a 100TW tire but I have had them for 4 years/ 7K miles and may need to replace this year. No standing burnout's though or they would be long gone:)
 

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nitrojunk

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R888R's are a great tire, I have them on all corners.. car makes 650RWH and in the summer " Afternoon" they dead hook like no ones business. Yes they make road noise at highway speeds but who cares.
 

1s9v9t7

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Well pretty apparent what the choice in tire is. I’ve had all three at 500rwhp.
The 555r, I could spin all the way to 60mph. Had the NT-01r’s, with just a damp road, not getting on it, sent the car through the median while on the highway.
The 888r’s, best damn thing. On my second set. Even handles wet roads. But if you race/spin them, they will wear quickly.


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mkmadterp

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Just picked up at set of r888rs on 315/35 for my 17/10.5 deep dish cobra wheels … haven’t had a chance to test em out yet
Hey Marvin9075......I am considering purchasing a set of deep dish Cobra rims to replace my standards and can't find any pics. Any chance you could post some side view pics? Thanks
 

Marvin9075

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Hey Marvin9075......I am considering purchasing a set of deep dish Cobra rims to replace my standards and can't find any pics. Any chance you could post some side view pics? Thanks
I’ll go take a couple for ya today
 

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