I have a set of A048's, and I would guess they are similar to the RA1's (I've never run the Toyo's myself). I've only done one DE on them so I'll have better feedback in about a month.

 

Let me know what you think of them when you've had an opportunity to test them out.

 

We've sold the 48R for two years for a spec class in SCCA. The tires was develped for Japanese Autocross. It does ok in short runs, but the tires need to be heat cycled then left to cure for at least a week or longer. This will help insure the tire doesn't cycle out in a weekend. These tires don't like heat! Once you get the car dialed in on them they are pretty good. They last no where near the RA1 and performance is about equal. Bottom line is why pay more for the Yoko and get the same results as the Toyo which costs less.

 

Any ideas on the Nitto NT-01 and Toyo ?

 

Good enough for me. Thanks for the info. RA-1 it is.

 

Dumb question about heat-cycling. Is a long run on the highway (say 80 mph, pretty much in a straight line) for 200+ miles enough for a heat cycle, or do you need to run a session on the track and higher speeds with fast cornering in order to get a proper heat cycle?

 

a heat cycle is pretty much bringing the tires up to operating temp. Highway for a long time would count, but I doub't you can get 180 deg on the highway. So, it's not a full heat cycle but it is good enough for a first break in cycle.

 

What's the different between heat-cycling and shaving the tires?

 

Heat cycle= Tires heat to certain temp and cool down (one cycle)

Shaving the tires is just removing the outer tread around the entire circumfrence of the tire to get a flat footprint and more shallow tread depth for more grip.

 

Guy before me got the heat cycle right on. Shaving does a few things. Most tires that get shaved usually have too much tread or rubber on the tire. This does a couple things, one, it will cause the tire to heat up too much because of the rubber squirmming, which may lead to chunking. Second, most tires are at least .5 quicker when shaved from stock depth. Has to do with a few things, mainly the tire heats up quicker, doesn't squirm, and is lighter.

If you take a regular street tire, and shave it, it too would work better than a non shaved. Most street tires are much harder than R compound and that hardness makes the tire chunck under hard driving. The tire is literally rolling the outside edge or chattering when going through a corner real fast. Shaving makes the tread lower and thus helps eliminate the chatter and rolling over.

 

I compared the RA1 to the R888 here :- https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/sh...=187294&page=2

 

I ran the NTO1's full tread at the NASA norcal time trial at thunderhill raceway April 1st. I did not like these AT ALL full tread. Admittedly I only got in two timed 20 minute sessions due to some issues with broken wheel studs, but for me Worn RA-1's were quicker. The tires take lateral loads well, but outright grip was a bit dissapointing. T-hill is a high speed track with a mixture of tight corners, sweepers, and very fast turns. Thankfully I have found a tire dealer that will still shave the tires for me after the fact. I ran a not so stellar 2:06 at thunderhill to finish 4th in TTA after Robi (of Robispec) who won with a 2:01.8XXX, and a few High HP Hoosiered Mustang Cobras. Robi, by the way, was on new , full tread RA-1's, but he is just that much better of a driver than me! On Hoosiers I think I would have been ahead of one of the other mustangs. I'll give a report after the 28th how the Nittos are shaved.

 

I run 265/35-18 Yokohama A048's for HPDE events and V710's for autocross. I've been pretty happy with the A048s so far.

 

Nittos' were MUCH better shaved. I ran a 2:04 at Thunderhill on shaved NT01's a few weeks ago.

 

glad to hear.. I just scrubbed off all the tread blocks so I'll be having some fun at the next track day.

n