This might be a dumb question but has anyone ever used Toyo R888R 185/60r13 tires for street use?

I know the are primarily track tires but I only put on a 1000miles a year so they will probably dry rot before the wear out. I also avoid driving in the rain and keep the car in a heated shop above freezing year round.

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1978 Triumph Spitfire

Years ago I had some Avon track tires on my Spitfire. The car was glued to the road in dry weather, but if you did run into any moisture........

Also there was an abrupt transition when adhesion was lost (by that might just have been those tires)

Stay away from track tires for the open road. Doesn’t matter how few miles you put on them. The compound is so soft it will pick up every rock and hurl it at the paint. Very bad idea. Ask me how I know.

Ok scratch that idea.

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1978 Triumph Spitfire

Running into dirt on the road surface is like running into October leaves on a frozen road with regular tires.

Run them, they be fine.

the r 888s are in a numba of compunds,

SG = the softest

GGG = medium

GG = the hardest compound

sgs, best for sprint, climbs, picks up every thing ont road

gg, a road compound, nowt really will stick t,tyre




there better tyres oot there really for road use.
ev a look at anything in the 100-150-200 TW range
lower the numba =moer grip,moer wear
im running 80TW in med comp, down about 3 mm after 3 thou miles,
5 sprints an 3 hillclimbs, rest every road use
nowt sticks t,tyres bare grit /dust

13 inch tyres !!
https://www.federaltire.com/en/products_detail.php?class=Federal-Motorsports&products_detail_sn=3

or some Nanks
https://www.nankangtyre.co.uk/products/motorsport/

or Yoko,s
https://www.yokohama.co.uk/Tyres/Motorsports-Tyres/Track-Sport-Tyres/ADVAN-A048

ADO08,
https://www.google.com/search?q=yokohama+ado8r&client=firefox-b&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi2oe-u4LPgAhUWD2MBHXF7BLwQ_AUIDygC&biw=1079&bih=667&dpr=1.58


T1R

https://www.google.com/search?q=yokohama++t1r+tires&client=firefox-b&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiW9Pnq4LPgAhUbAWMBHf6sBhMQ_AUIDygC&biw=1079&bih=667&dpr=1.58

Toyo,R1Rs
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b&tbm=isch&q=TOYOr1r&nfpr=1&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwitoLOP4bPgAhWHRxUIHZhMCBkQvgUISSgB&biw=1079&bih=667&dpr=1.58


there alot of others oot there, so eva look about
track tyre in hard / med compounds,ok for road use.

M

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Scaryport, Cumbria, Farr Northwest Englandshire, UK



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2019-02-11 07:14 AM by GT6M.

Markus,

Fortunately for you and unfortunately for us, we have significantly fewer 13" tire options in North America than you do in the UK. The last almost sporty tire we had was the Sumitomo HTR, but that was dropped from the N.A. market a few years ago. Pretty much all we get now are cheap $40 tires or race-compound tires.

Vredestein shows the T-Trac 2 on their US-market website, but I have yet to find a seller who lists it in the 13" size. I'm hoping that a dealer may be able order some for me.

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"Lisle" - '72 GT6 basically stock and original. For now... T-9 conversion pending.
"Winnie the Poo" - '79 Spitfire 1500. Rubber to chrome bumper conversion, otherwise stock at the moment.

I had a look at the T-Trac 2 this morning and they looks like the ticket. I called my local dealer and they couldn’t get them or were even aware of them. Maybe they are new to the NA market?

Let me know if you find someone that can order them.

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1978 Triumph Spitfire

Also seems like there is a Federal SS595 that might be an option.

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1978 Triumph Spitfire

Possibly. It's a fairly hard compound at 460A A, but it does look the part of a modern directional performance tire. The two Spitfire sizes are the 185/60-13 and 205/60-13 at 21.7" and 22.7" diameter respectively. The typical 175/70-13 commonly run is 22.7". It's odd how most of the sizes indicate a 240A A or 260A A compound and the 13" and 14" 60 series sizes are listed at 460A A. They do show the 185/55-14" size at 240A A if you are ok with switching to a slightly larger wheel.

The Vredestein Sprint Classic is probably the only true dual-purpose tire for these cars, but the size is a bit tricky again. A 185/70-13 (a bit too tall) or a 205/60-13 (a bit wide for common wheel widths - a 205 really wants at least a 6" or 7" rim width).

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"Lisle" - '72 GT6 basically stock and original. For now... T-9 conversion pending.
"Winnie the Poo" - '79 Spitfire 1500. Rubber to chrome bumper conversion, otherwise stock at the moment.

Scratch the Federals. I was reading on a Fiat forum and there seems to have been a lot of questionable quality with them.

Achilles 122 was a suggestion on the Fiat forums as an alternative but it seems they no longer sell in Canada.

I’ve got brand new 13”x5.5” rims so I’m not changing rim sizes. I may just go with some Kumho Sense or General Rt43s for now.

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1978 Triumph Spitfire

I will just point out that 460 A A isn't that hard of a compound....not soft either. Most tires in 175/70R13 are 550-700 UTQG. I have a set of the discontinued General Altimax HP (440 A A) and they are a great all-season tire that will accept being pushed in spirited driving/autocross without changing rims or rolling/flaring fenders. When you get into the race compounds or Summer only, you need to really be aware of the temperatures, under 50*F will feel like driving on ice and below 40*F can damage the tire. This is especially important in the Northern regions.

It depends on what you get used to as a "performance" tire. I run 200TW autocross tires on my MINI. Yes, they go into storage during the Winter and I swap on winter wheels/tires. I run 400TW tires on my minivan.

That said, there is some argument against running such aggressive tires on a car like a Spitfire with suspension components that weren't really designed for tires with such high levels of grip. Even full on race tires weren't as sticky back when these cars were commonly raced. It's one reason why I'm hoping to find a way to source the T-Trac 2. It looks like a happy medium for these cars, although looking at the tread pattern I'd probably still mount a set of winter tires on the Spitfire.

Of course, there's also that part of me that wants to attempt squeezing a set of A7 HoHo's on my Panasports for local autocross runs....

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"Lisle" - '72 GT6 basically stock and original. For now... T-9 conversion pending.
"Winnie the Poo" - '79 Spitfire 1500. Rubber to chrome bumper conversion, otherwise stock at the moment.

It’s hard to find any decent tires in NA in 13’s.
I put the R888R’s on my GT6 and love them. Have done several road trips up to 1000 miles in 3 days in the mountains. Definitely not recommended for cold temperatures but I found them ok (not amazing) in the rain. Better than the Chinese junk that was on it before at least. They seem to wear ok as well since the cars are pretty light. Federal and vredisteins don’t even come close to them in performance.

Federal and vredisteins don’t even come close to them in performance.

says Tim,
Depends on wot yer calling a federal tyre
the RSR and the later RSRR are v v good UHP tyres,
about on par with the best of the rest.
there v v little in it for a 1/4 the money.
{ can ye get RSRs in Canada !! } if so, get em, the RSR has 7 mm tread
the RSRR has 5 mill tread, both 140 TW,

I had em on mine a while back, and was v happy with em,
ev a deek thru thees clips,

seems v v strange that ye cannae get most performance tyres in Canada !!!

there a difference between pure track tyres, and UHP road going semi sliks the RSR is a UHP category, hence its alot cheeper

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=federal+rsr+vs+r888

M

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Scaryport, Cumbria, Farr Northwest Englandshire, UK