Looking for RS OEM size Toyo R888 shaved for track. what is the best place to get a set?

 

I heard Vilven Tire out of Illinois is a good spot

check link below -- half way down on the right side

http://www.nasaproracing.com/news/toyo/dealer-list.html

 

Thanks

i called Vilven and here is what they quoted

235/35/19 - $283 each
305/30/19 - $350 each

they charge $10 per tire shaving and about $88 shipping charge to CA from IL. this is te best price around .... here is the catch. they don't have any tire in stock since it's the end of track season. they may not order tire until later January

i will e-mail Bob at Vilven tire and see if i can get them earlier. will update in couple days

 

try www.bobwoodmantires.com
Not sure if he offers shaving but he has decent pricing

If all else fails, les schwab should have them or be able to get them

I got a full set of r888 for my 6-gt3 (18s) for $1345 last summer
Again - not shaved though

 

just e-mail them and will see what they have to offer

 

good luck!

 

Bob Woodman just raised his prices, This past fall I paid 340 for 305/19's and now they are 380.00. so the prices quoted above are pretty good. Maybe now that the price of oil is going down maybe they will lower the price of tires. "Right"

 

lol ... down turn of economy has affect everyone. it used to cost $240 per track day at Thunderhill and now it's $140 for a January run. Maybe Bob decided to lower his price to stimulate sale. the price above was quoted from his price sheet today. will let you guys know when i hear back from him tomorrow

 

There is a fair amount of debate about the value of shaving the R888's. While they do tend to squirm when new at full depth tread, they get into their optimum grip zone pretty quickly. Unlike the RA1's, a couple of long threads on Rennlist about how poorly the R888's responded to shaving when they first came out. Toyo may well have tweaked the tire a bit in response to this, so more current input may well be available.

For DE purposes, I find them to be fine unshaved after a couple of sessions. For race purposes you would either have to cycle them in or shave them.

 

i am not completely sold on shaving the tire either. may try w/o. thanks for the advice

 

I haven't shaved my R888's, as I am using them on the street, but I did obtain a set of shaved RA-1's from the local Les Schwab tire store. They have a shop in Oregon that does really nice tire shaving.

No affiliation

 

They actually say don't shave the R888's, just heat cycle/wear them in after some good laps!

Hated them at full tread, but once they wore in they are awesome!

 

You can also try Appalachian Race Tire in Knoxville. Also, just saw that Toyo offers a 265/30/19 in the R888 for anyone who wants to run wider than the 235 OE front's. Especially some of the agressive street guys.

 

Not really recommending the R888 for the street - at least not with a white car. Lots and lots of very fine black dust after only a few miles. Doesn't matter whether you are driving hard or not - lots of dust.

 

Love the R888s, tried many brands, Hoosier is the fastest but not having to change tires at the track is priceless....