Johnny Bence

Having followed the current F1 versus T1-S thread I'm a little confused.

I was totally set on getting T1-S when they're back in stock, but then I read the tyres-online reviews for the Toyos and they seemed rather contradictory in places (some said good and others said bad for aquaplaning, for example).

Generally they seem to be rated in the wet but poor in the dry. Is this the case? Does anyone have car-on experience of this, preferably some track time in both wet and dry conditions would be helpful too as I do quite a few track days? Do they understeer at speed in the dry a lot?

They were generally reviewed as quite a soft tyre that wore out quickly - I don't mind them wearing out quickly as long as they were worth it before they expired - have people experienced rapid wear, and even or unbalanced wear, with their T1-S's?

So - any experience guys? Is the T1-S the tyre I'm looking for - okay in the wet, very good traction in the dry, preferably with as little understeer as possible??!!

Cheers
Johnny.

[Edited by Johnny Bence - 5/4/2002 11:37:25 AM]

mattski2

Hi,

I haven't done a track-day so can't comment on that aspect of your post but from a general point of view I think that the Toyo's are superb.

I've had two Impreza's now and have tried various Tyres including Bridgestones, Pirelli P-Zeros, Yokohama A539's and of course the Toyo's.

I think that the Toyo's give such an improvement over any of the tyres mentions that I would quite willingly buy a new set of toyo's even if the others where fine wear-wise.

Basically, I think that they inspire complete confidence and have great grip in both wet and dry conditions.

Both Turn-in and breaking performance and stability was much improved and in-corner stability and grip is awesome, I think that you would be very happy with them.

They also wear very well, I did a lot of motorway miles + the odd country lane (well, every day ;-) ) and they where fine after 12k miles - at which point I sold the car.

It may also be worth noting the following info Re: Toyo:-

In Europe Toyo has marketed itself as "one of the biggest tyre manufacturers you've never heard of". This is indeed a fair description as the company is the 9th largest tyre manufacturer in the world with tyres sales of $1.1 billion.

Toyo is Japanese manufacturer and operates with technology on a par with the major premium brands. In Europe, however, Toyo are not as well known and so the brand is marketed in the upper medium price category making the tyre good value for money.
Toyo do not have a manufacturing base in Europe, all tyres being exported from Japan.


hope that helps,
Matt.
MY99 RB5 + Toyo's and v.happy

[Edited by mattski2 - 5/4/2002 7:14:06 PM]

[Edited by mattski2 - 5/4/2002 7:18:16 PM]

Johnny Bence

Cheers Matt. I think I'll get the Toyos. With those online reviews thingies it's very hard to get an accurate feel for a tyre when so many of the reviews contradict themselves - perhaps different driver styles and abilities are "hidden" in the equation...? Thats why I'm tending more towards word of mouth experience.

Now if I can just get some damm slicks...

Johnny.