Toyo T1R

Probably a moot point, given these tires are discontinued, but hey. My freshly imported Subaru WRX Type RA came fitted with a new set of these tires in 2018. I had heard they were a good performance tire and they did look the part, with their directional "V" tread pattern. However, I found them decidedly average in the dry and particularly poor in the wet, unpredictable, with low levels of grip. I felt my 280hp rally rep was getting down the road despite these tires, rather than with them. In fact, during one particular downpour, I managed to spin all four wheels in all five gears! Admittedly, as a Type RA, it has a low ratio box, but still. Inside the car, there was a lot going on. Like a Kung fu tribute to Colin McRae and yet outside, progress down the road was ... unremarkable. At this point I decided they had to go, as they were ruining the car and as I was only doing 2,000 miles a year as a weekend chariot, they were going to last forever. However, I checked the tires pressures the next day and they were particularly low. So I added some air and things improved. This got me thinking and with a bit of research on the net, I found many people recommending a few extra psi for the T1R. I've now settled on 4psi over oem pressures and things have improved significantly. In the dry, the car now feels up on its toes, with good levels of grip and very progressive on the limit. In the wet, I'm still slowly building up courage again, but recently I was unable to spin any wheel in any gear and while lateral grip still isn't huge, it does feel a lot more progressive and predictable. So I decided to keep them. I also recently bought an MR2 Roadster from an old boy, who had been put off mid-engine cars, following a hairy moment in the wet. Funny enough, I found he was running Toyo Proxes T1R, although this time it was harder to resolve. The wheels and tires were far from standard sizes, so the oem pressures were meaningless. Eventually, I had to re-calculate them using tire load tables, before adding my 4psi. In the meantime, I once again found that low and very high pressures would result in tail happy antics, at no speed at all, on just mildly damp roads. I have now managed to reach acceptable levels of grip by adjusting the pressures, but on the MR2, it's still not good enough. The tire widths and profiles are just too wrong, so I'm looking at a set of Maxxis Premitra HP5, as they test well apart from wear and fuel. Neither of which bother me on a second weekend car and I can get close to the staggered oem set-up, while keeping the bigger alloys. Have you ever thought you're over thinking things? So the moral of the story; if your stuck with old Toyo Proxes T1R, check you recommended oem pressures and the oem tire load. If your tires have a different load rating, adjust your pressures using a pressure load table to find the pressure that carries the same load as the oem pressure/rating and then add 4psi. Finally, I noticed a few people on this page reviewing the Toyo Proxes TR1, which is a completely different tire and has its own review page. Just saying.

Regretted buying them from the first day, they understeer in the wet badly. In the dry they were acceptable but noticeably not as sharp as the previous Continentals. I only had to do one emergency stop in just under 30,000 miles and they just barely stopped the car in time in the damp, they did not skid but even now with new Kumho's fitted, I can instantly tell that the Toyo's were a bad tire. They lacked grip. They did fantastic for milage (just under 30,000 miles with just over 3mm tread left, ~7mm on the rear) but that is likely due to a hard compound. I will never buy a Toyo again, which I had considered a decent brand. It isn't like the price was value for money either, the tires had to be changed before they reached the end of their tread and my new (cheaper) Kumho's are much sharper than the Toyo's ever were. In fact these Kumho Ecsta HS51's are comparable to the Continentals in the dry and the wet and are more comfy over bumps. But my understanding is that Kumho have come a long way recently, seeing the have come first in the tire tests. I paid £58.87 for Kumho's, £74.29 for the Toyo's previously (per corner).

I drive a large front wheel drive estate car, 275bhp or so. Firstly, these are a SUMMER tire, so you have to anticipate that they may not be so great in the wet, although I managed OK in the Central Belt's big freeze (-11ºC) of 2010 on them.
They are a little noisy, especially as the temperature drops and the rubber gets slightly harder. (At this point I normally put winter tires on)
In the wet they behave very well, breakaway is quite gradual at high speeds and very controllable. I've never actually found the lateral breakaway speed...
Some of the comments on here amuse, the chap whose car went wobbly when braking and cornering, that's why you do one or the other! You don't drive your car in the same manner in the wet as the dry. To do so is stupidity.
I've had about five sets of these tires and wouldn't hesitate in getting them again. If you want bad, go and fit a set of Talon Triangles.....

I fitted these tire set in my 350z. Most of the time, it is my daily drive and I drive spiritedly. I drive on both motorway and zic zac roads, cause I live near those mountain. Generally, the tires have good feedback, both dry and wet. A bit noisy but my car is even noisier so it never bothered me.

I also bring my car to the track once a month. I am not driving crazily on the track or competition, just regular track days and these tires do really well. Lots of feedback for novice because the tire squeeze a lots before it losts its grip. Very good on wet track. To give you an idea how good it is, I would say I will choose T1r on the wet rather than any semi slick tires. However, when it is getting too hot, the tires seems to give up grip at some points.

In terms of wear, I got this tires on my car for 15.000km approximately. Mixing between daily and track days. Got about 7 track days. Still got 6-7mm left. Not bad at all for the money.