help me pick a tire setup, toyo R888,or TQ?

[mondo]

hi all..trying to come up with a tire setup for the rear of my car, i'm running 18-8 front,and 18-11 rear true forged mach 5's

my car is a 03 with irs,it will have a turbo setup,viper spec t56,etc..

this is for my street setup,and not looking for optimum traction,just what will look the best,and ride well

i was looking at these two tires,as they seem to have the best size for filling up the rear well

either a toyo R888 in 305/35/18 which is 26.3 tall,and 12.4 wide
or a toyo TQ in 315/35/18 which is 26.6 tall,and 12.5 wide

out of these two,which would last the longest..not going to be doing any massize burnouts,or looking for which one would stick the best on the street, looking to be able to get out on the highway and cruise a few hundred miles on trips,etc

thanks in advance for any feedback from others that have used these tires..after i get this squared away,i'll be looking for something to put on the front 8" wheels

 

[94slowbra1]

i personally have no experience with the toyo tq but i have had the r888. very nice tire and grips very well on the street with high hp and tq cars. ride well, relatively quiet and look great. not to mention you can get a set for up front when the time comes and have all matching tires. cant comment on life, havent had them long enough.
with all that being said i do like that the tq is offered in a 35 vs the r888 30. more sidewall=better hook up

 

[KLeech]

Personally I run the Toyo Proxes TQ's in 315/35/18. They look fantastic, and are supposed to last around the same mileage as Nittos.

They would almost dead hook my less than 400 to the wheels car in first gear just rolling into it, not warming them up or anything. They hooked hard enough to hurt my stock trans and I only got to put 500 miles on them. They rode and handled great and are considerably cheaper than the r888.

I ordered mine from tirecrawler.com which was the cheapest I found them anywhere and iirc they were 560 shipped to my door.

 

[mondo]

good points from both of you..from what i have heard,the R888s do actually pretty well on tread life,have heard some people mention 15000 plus out of them,which is quite well for a dr or soft compound tire,and i like the tread..i do like the fact that the tq is a lil taller and will fill out the wheel well better..i'm guessing handling will probably be about the same between the two? wonder how many miles the tq's are good for generally?

 

[slim9687]

I just put a set of 315/35/18 TQ's on my cobra...I have only drove it about 10 miles and it was on cold roads. Ride is smooth by they didn't hook great at my power level (627hp turbo car)

 

[94slowbra1]

Both will hook up well. The tq is a drag radial: bigger sidewall, softer sidewall, better for straight lines. The R888 is a road race: stiffer sidewall, better for the twistys. Both are great. Guess it depends on what the car is geared more towards

 

[Tractionless1]

No way an R888 is lasting 15k miles with its tread wear rating. Had mine for 4k or so and they were well past half worn. Whoever got 15k ran them to the belts and they weren't any good in the rain for probably the last 10k miles.

 

[0-MYSTACHROME-4]

I run the R888 and i love them on the street

 

[mondo]

thanks for the replies everyone..i'm more looking for tire tread life than anything else,as i have a drag/street setup i can run on the car if the need arises..but it seems that no one makes a tire in the size i want,in a decent hard compund tire..the car with either the irs,or a sra with panhard bar and ta should handle decent..i seriously doubt i'll ever put it on a track to see how it handles,just want it to be decent on the street..i have seen some people run hard compund 335s..but i think thats just too big for my setup

mystachrome,what size did you go with? have any pics to share of the setup? thanks

 

[c6zhombre]

I have run both these tires on 18x11 rims....the TQ tread life is terrible, but my car makes 680 wheel torque. I was getting 2000 miles tops, no drag racing, but no real highway miles either....mainly 10 mile city romps around my town then put the car back in the garage. At least a redline 1-2-3 every time the car goes out, tho.

I have the R888s on now, can't really speak to mileage yet...but my suspicion is they'll last about twice as long (I would be happy to get 4000 miles). The R888 is truly a road race tire, albeit pretty soft at 100 tread rating....I have found them to hook pretty darn good with +80 temps outside. R888 on paper theoretically should out handle the TQ....but I don't really road race, so that wasn't a huge factor to me. If I had to choose one to get caught in a rain storm...I'd rather be on the R888s.

Cost factor....big advantage TQs.

 

[mondo]

thanks for the info C6.do you have a few pics of either setup on your car? thanks again everyone

 

[MrCaliKrome]

I just scored a used set of R888s off my friend's blown Vette.

305/35ZR18 on a 10" wide rim. Took off the F1 Supercar 285s that came with the car (with just BPU mods it would blow the F1s off in 2nd gear any time I stomped it).

Driverside is the F1 285 / Passenger side the R888 305

 

[mondo]

sounds like you got a great deal! how do you like how they fit? my back wheels are 11" wide..so,it will probably stretch the tire out some..would you happen to have any side pics of the car with the R888s? thanks!

 

[c6zhombre]

thanks for the info C6.do you have a few pics of either setup on your car? thanks again everyone

Here you go, Mondo:

315/35/18 Toyo TQ on 18x11 CCW sp500:

305/35/18 Toyo R888 on 18x11 CCW sp500:

The TQs are just a tad bit beefier....the R888s probably create the most textbook contact patch and tuck under the wheel well slightly better. Either look great IMO

I wish Nitto would increase their selection of 18" sizes because I'd love to try some NT05s or NT05Rs as well. Sigh...maybe one day

 

[MrCaliKrome]

sounds like you got a great deal! how do you like how they fit? my back wheels are 11" wide..so,it will probably stretch the tire out some..would you happen to have any side pics of the car with the R888s? thanks!

I'm on a 10" rear wheel, so I can't say how the 305's would fit on an 11" wide wheel?

Here are a few pics on the car:

 

[10sec89]

I have run the TQ's for a year and love them. I have put 5k or better on mine and they still show tread.

 

[MrCaliKrome]

I have run the TQ's for a year and love them. I have put 5k or better on mine and they still show tread.

10sec89, did you run the 11.6 on the TQs or a different tire set up?

How do you like them on the street vs. strip?

 

[mondo]

thanks for the pics guys..some really nice cars on here..looks like i'll just have to pick which one gets the best mileage..decisions,decisions,lol

thanks again!

 

[LordVader04]

My TQs have maybe 1k miles on them and are already on the wear bars, if you need a cheap decent looking drag radial ( that can drive in the rain) they aren't bad, but they will not last long or hook, if your car is making 600 or more:burnout: I am going back to Mickeys and never looking back, but I guess that's what I get for trying to save 100 bucks

 

[MrCaliKrome]

Thanks for the feedback on the TQs.

I took the R888s to Willow and of course they didn't hook. Also got really bad wheel hop.

Looks like I need something with a sidewall that flexes more???