risks of running "R" rated tires on the street?

[twobone]

The new wheels I'm looking to buy come already shod with "R" rated toyos

My current driving is relatively short street driving on poor quality pavement.

I assume my issues with just leaving on these tires are:

-rapid wear
-poor wet traction
-stiffer sidewalls (rougher ride)

-is poor traction when cold a major issue?

My current tires are SO3s

I don't mind the rapid wear....just as long as there is no major street safety issue.

Thanks

[IROC]

I have used R-compound tires on the street for over 10 years. Rapid wear is relative, but street driving is much more benign than track driving so they will actually last awhile - probably 5-10k miles.

Wet traction is fine unless there is a lot of standing water. The ride will suffer as you have noted, but it's not that much worse than many other performance tires.

I have RA-1 Toyos on my car now. I drove back from a track event a couple of months ago in pouring rain and it was perfectly fine. No drama.

[gestalt1]

i use to drive to/from the track on bfg r1's and the problems are:
really harsh ride because of sidewalls
hydraplaning at anything over 40mph in the rain
the tires pick up rocks that you neve thought existed, nobody will tail gate because there car will get sand blasted.

the only tires i've heard good thinks about on the track and that can be driven on are the RA-1. many other DOT R tires make a lot of noise on the street as well.

[jorian]

Biggest risk is that you'll never want to run street tires again. I use the new Yoko AO48 R and happy with both wet and dry performance. On the track they are outstanding.

As Mike says standing pools of water can be a problem. Don't drive in the snow.

Something to consider is that most race teams use R compounds as rain tires. Ever seen F1 intermediate rains?

[barney911rs]

Another hazard no one mentioned is more speeding and aggressive driving tickets as you play with the increased grip.

[pieterk]

Originally posted by gestalt1
...nobody will tail gate because there car will get sand blasted....

Hah! Another advantage I'd never considered. It's almost worth doing for that reason alone!

Seriously though, I love RA-1s on the road. I also briefly drove a set of Dunlop SP R compounds on a different car on the road, and it was tough to go back to my Michelin PS2s after that. I'm looking forward to wearing out my Bridgestones on my S2000 expressly so that I can shod the car with RA-1s.

The 911 gets driven exclusively on RA-1s everywhere.

[VaSteve]

Originally posted by jorian
Biggest risk is that you'll never want to run street tires again. I use the new Yoko AO48 R and happy with both wet and dry performance. On the track they are outstanding.

Yes. Whenever I switch back to my street tires, I hate them. Never realized how much tires make a difference.

[Shawn 357]

Originally posted by IROC
I have used R-compound tires on the street for over 10 years. Rapid wear is relative, but street driving is much more benign than track driving so they will actually last awhile - probably 5-10k miles.

Wet traction is fine unless there is a lot of standing water. The ride will suffer as you have noted, but it's not that much worse than many other performance tires.

I have RA-1 Toyos on my car now. I drove back from a track event a couple of months ago in pouring rain and it was perfectly fine. No drama.

+1
I drive on the street with R compounds and the only time I have a problem is with standing water. Keep in mind I live in San Diego so it does not get to cold here which may be something to consider.
Shawn

[Steveinatlanta]

O.K.

I'm curious.

Once these tires are heat cycled out, at somewhere around 30 heat cycles, they're supposed to perform worse than street tires for performance and grip.

Not trying to be negative, would really like to find the ultimate performance street tire as I only put 3 to 4 thousand miles on a year.

Heat cycling doesn't matter on the street?

Still REAL fun after heat cycled out?

Jack Olsen, are you out there?

Best choice for street tires still BFG KD (Killer dry)?

[jester911]

I have some Toyo RA-1's that I drove on from Atlanta to Savannah then drove a DE and back with no ill effects. Not much wear either. The Toyos are less effected than some.

Street driving would have to be pretty harsh to really count as a heat cycle I would think.

My only concern would be driving on some that had little or no tread left and get caught in the rain but with tread and taking it easy wet is ok.

As for grip they are not going to be a problem on the street.

There is plenty of grip in them cold for the street as long as it isn't freezing.

[Jack Olsen]

In my opinion:

Toyos are okay for street driving. Hoosiers are so sensitive to heat cycling that you are throwing (a lot of) money out the window whenever you use them on the street. Both are loud and uncomfortable compared to street tires, and both are terrible if you go through any standing water.

For me, there are enough trips to the track (at least monthly) that Toyos are a worthwhile compromise for the around-town stuff. But street tires make a lot more sense for purely street driving.