# Just got my Toyo RA-1s today



## Raffi (May 18, 2002)

The tires were already delivered today, even though they were only shipped yesterday from AZ! :wow: Talk about fast delivery times!

I will have them mounted on my M68s tomorrow or Friday and will take them to the track for 3 consecutive days the first week-end of June. I will give you guys a report and comparison with the Kumho Victoracers when I get back from the track. 

BTW, they're 235/40/17 all around.

:str8pimpi


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## doeboy (Sep 20, 2002)

Raffi said:


> *The tires were already delivered today, even though they were only shipped yesterday from AZ! :wow: Talk about fast delivery times!
> 
> I will have them mounted on my M68s tomorrow or Friday and will take them to the track for 3 consecutive days the first week-end of June. I will give you guys a report and comparison with the Kumho Victoracers when I get back from the track.
> 
> ...


Cool! Let's see how long these last you before you cord them too...


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## m3bs (Dec 24, 2001)

Where did you find them? I've been looking all over the country for a set of 235/40-17.


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## Raffi (May 18, 2002)

m3bs said:


> *Where did you find them? I've been looking all over the country for a set of 235/40-17. *


Call Bryan Shackleford at Chapman BMW in Scottsdale, AZ, at (480) 949-7600, and tell him I sent you.


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## Raffi (May 18, 2002)

*Re: Re: Just got my Toyo RA-1s today*



doeboy said:


> *Cool! Let's see how long these last you before you cord them too...  *


I'm SURE it will take a LOT longer than with the Kumhos. The problem with the Kumhos, IMO, is that the quality is [email protected], so even though there is plenty of tread left on most of the front tires, they started to chunk off and cord. :thumbdwn: The Toyos are built a LOT better than the Toyos, from everything I've read and heard. :thumbup:


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## doeboy (Sep 20, 2002)

*Re: Re: Re: Just got my Toyo RA-1s today*



Raffi said:


> *The Toyos are built a LOT better than the Toyos, from everything I've read and heard. :thumbup: *


 :angel:


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## in_d_haus (Jan 2, 2002)

Congrats Raffi! 

RA-1 info:

1) Get them shaved. I run the Toyo RA-1s for their longevity and relatively good stick. They start out around 8/32nds and best performance is around 4/32nds. I got my last set shaved to an intermediate 6/32nds to get a little more life. They will be a little squirmy to start with and I will have to be careful I don't over cook them. If you run them full depth, the thickness of the rubber allows internal distortions to overheat the rubber and they fall apart, blister and/or chunk just like street tires. Run at full depth they make a good rain tire however. My first set were not shaved and I got two track seasons out of them which ain't bad. They were scary-squirmy the first few sessions though. The Toyos like to run about 42-44 psi hot so I start with 32-34 front and 30-32 rear with 2 psi more in the front to counter the predominant understeer of the chassis. Others have talked about spooky oversteer with the E36 which I haven't encountered with mine even by abusing the car to explore "crisis recovery" so you might want to start out with even pressures and evaluate how your car responds. Then adjust the pressures by 2 psi increments and re-evaluate (I don't think any of us mere mortals can really feel 1 psi changes, no matter what others say). Finally use 1 psi changes to fine tune and remember that every track day will be a little different. On that note I chuckled about a year ago when tire pressures came up on the digest and many were touting that you needed to know your pressures to within 1/2 psi or you didn't know squat. The following discussion recommended pressures that varied by about 10 psi. So is that a precision of 1/2 psi +/- 10psi? Maybe with a computer, telemetry, stop watches, meteorologists and a team of test engineers we could measure the differences a pound makes.

2)Heat cycle them, just run 50 miles or so up the freeway and back.

3) The reason we don't push novices into R compound rubber is that several things happen. First, some don't communicate the limits as readily as street rubber. My Toyos will sing when I push them too far but not like a street tire. I've heard that the A032s do as well. Second, some tires are known to hold to the limit and then let go like a rubber band breaking - the G-Force come to mind as do some things I've heard about half worn A032s in the rain (contrary to my preconception). Third, when the limit is exceeded, it happens at much higher speeds and higher risk.

4) I always put the best tire on the front right for PR (local track) because T-2 and T-8 really take their toll. Other tracks I will evaluate where to put the best tire. After your first season, rotate them inside to outside on the rim since our cars tend to abuse the outer third of the front tires. If I had done that at the beginning of last year, I would probably got most of a third year on my tires. As it was, I blistered the outside shoulder of two tires at Spokane last year when the rest of the tires looked good.

In all, you will really like them. They don't really don't behave that much differently than good street rubber (S03s) it's just at higher speeds and stresses. Spend a little time coming up to their potential and you won't really notice any handling differences, just higher speeds and a bigger grin. I generally drive mine to the track. . For longer treks, I put them in the back seat.


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## Raffi (May 18, 2002)

Thanks for the long recommendations/input in_d_haus! :thumbup: I will definitely break the tires in on the street before going to the track. 

BTW, the Kumhos also had a horrible tendency to break loose all of a sudden, so I always paid extra attention to my seat-of-the-pants feeling for what the car was doing to try and anticipate the tires' limits.  :eeps:


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## in_d_haus (Jan 2, 2002)

If you don't want to pay to have them shaved they will take cars of it themselves in the first couple lapping sessions of the day...just be careful


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## Raffi (May 18, 2002)

in_d_haus said:


> *...just be careful *


:eeps:  Will do... I might even take them out on a twisty around here before the track week-end.


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## TGray5 (Jan 22, 2002)

Excellent...look forward to hearing back on how you like them. I'm on the fence as to whether to make the R compound jump next time around or not. My S03s probably have 2 days left in them.

I'm thinking of doing Thunderhill with Tracquest at the end of June...anyone else interested? Raffi, you could probably instruct if they need people.


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## morgwai (Apr 2, 2003)

StahlGrauM3 said:


> *Excellent...look forward to hearing back on how you like them. I'm on the fence as to whether to make the R compound jump next time around or not. My S03s probably have 2 days left in them.
> 
> I'm thinking of doing Thunderhill with Tracquest at the end of June...anyone else interested? Raffi, you could probably instruct if they need people. *


I'm very interested in that event also, just hoping it would work out with my work schedule.:dunno:


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## Raffi (May 18, 2002)

StahlGrauM3 said:


> *Excellent...look forward to hearing back on how you like them. I'm on the fence as to whether to make the R compound jump next time around or not. My S03s probably have 2 days left in them.
> 
> I'm thinking of doing Thunderhill with Tracquest at the end of June...anyone else interested? Raffi, you could probably instruct if they need people. *


WRT to the jump to R-comps, if you feel confident that you're at the limits of the S-03s' traction, then move on to R-comps. Also, I've read and heard that the Toyos wear out really slowly, so it may make sense to get them, since they're cheaper or just the same price as S-03s.

WRT to Tracquest, thanks for the tip. :thumbup: I may be out of the country attending a wedding then; otherwise, if the job situation permits it, then I would love to attend/instruct. I'll let you know.


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