Changed to Toyo T1-R's and now my car handles like ****

[ashley]

Swapped the tyres on my g-limited to T1-R's in the standard size and I hate them! Before I changed it handled like it was on rails...except in the wet when the lack of grip was letting go on me...a few hairy moments later and I decided new boots were in order

Every time I start to change direction it feels like the back end is crabbing on me- horrible! I can only guess it's the tyre walls flexing on me.

I've been playing with harder tyre pressures at the back to try and compensate but cannot get it to handle right

Looks like I've got a set of almost new T1-R's up for sale...what tyres to try next

[craig]

I have had a few sets of T1-Rs and am going for them again when I next need a set. Great grip!

[jasongtr]

i need some new tyres as the ones on my car i just bought are budget cr4p, so 2 q's how much do you want for the toyos and what did yu have on it before?

[MrLuke]

look on the sidewalls of the tyres for the max psi. -10% from this and inflate them. See if that helps your problem

[raptor95GTS]

yeah that's exactly the same feeling I had with those tyres and no pressure setting would alter it. Try the Hankook RS2's from Camskill, 205x50 front but I'm sure you can get the 225x50 rear

[ashley]

I have had a few sets of T1-Rs and am going for them again when I next need a set. Great grip!

In standard sizes? I don't deny they work well in a straight line, but they feel terrible when throwing it into the bendy stuff!

2 q's how much do you want for the toyos and what did yu have on it before

Not sure how much I'd want for them, I'll let you know asap
Prior tyres were budget that came with the car...

look on the sidewalls of the tyres for the max psi. -10% from this and inflate them. See if that helps your problem

Cheers for the advice, first thing I did was up the pressures at the back as far as I could but it really hasn't solved the problems!

yeah that's exactly the same feeling I had with those tyres and no pressure setting would alter it. Try the Hankook RS2's from Camskill, 205x50 front but I'm sure you can get the 225x50 rear

Cool- so I ain't alone! I had heard about folk having issues with them in the standard profiles, but wasn't expecting the extent of the problem. I went with T1-R's cos I will be running the 888's and figured the T1-R's would be a good road going stepping stone

I was gonna try the F1's but I've not found somewhere that sells them in standard sizes yet...

Might just go straight to the 888's

[craig]

I have had a few sets of T1-Rs and am going for them again when I next need a set. Great grip!

In standard sizes? I don't deny they work well in a straight line, but they feel terrible when throwing it into the bendy stuff!

Only had them is stock sizes on 15"s Happy enough with them More tyre wall flex like you say compared to say 17"s though because of the higher profile.

Still great tyres

[ashley]

Doesnt the tyre wall flex unsettle your car as you enter hard corners at speed though?

[JohnnyC]

Before I changed it handled like it was on rails...

What tyres did you have on before?

Think I'm on my 3rd set of T1-R's on the rear, and will be getting them again

Granted they're not as good as the Yokohama's that were on when I bought the car - but those were just lethal in the wet (never spun though ).

[jon_st205]

How scrubbed in are the T1R's?

[J-1]

I've had T1R's on all 3 of my MR2's and i personally can't fault them. Granted, the tyre walls are fairly soft, but still a decent tyre for the money.

I fancy the R888's!

[Baker]

remember that a lot of tyres will suffer from this at the start due to the deep tread. take a few mm of that and it should help.

but yeah, t1r's are a bit bendy!

[HighwayStar]

Ashman hold fire on getting rid of 'em just yet mate... as has already been stated they will come to you. I have exactly the same issue every time I put a new set on but with higher pressures (max - 10%) they're alot better. Then gradually reduce pressures back (though still not to stock.... I use 36/32 R/F) as they wear in. In a few mths you'll be throwing it in again and feeling absolute solidity at the back once more.

R.

PS The 205/50 they do is IMO a better front option than the 195/55. Granted it is a run flat but I reckon it provides a better balance... if you're not a fan of understeer of course. Just a thought for next time.

[ashley]

Cool- I will give them a bit longer then. I've had them on the car for a couple weeks now, so the surfaces are nicely scrubbed- I'm guessing the deep tread may by making things worse!

I've always rated the T1-R's (and loved the T1-S's) for my other cars, they are fantastic boots...I just wasn't expecting such a dramatic change in the handling on the 2...

I will give it some more time and see if they do come back a bit- if nothing else it will be interesting to see if they do

Cheers guys

[Race Idiot]

After using T1-Rs and then switching to Eagle F1s it was a revalation, I couldnt belive how much more grip they have and at least you can bloody tell what they are doing unlike the damn squidgy T1R's. Tried pumping the T1R up at silly pressures and it didnt seem to make much difference.

I'd rate the Falken FK452 and the Goodyear eagle F1 GSD3 over the T1R. Unfortuntately you cant get either in standard wheel sizes for the 2.

So next set of tyres on my 15's are either going to be Falken Ziex912 or Hankook RS2. Unless I get a cheap set of 16's for the winter.

[RobCrezz]

I normally like T1Rs, but dont rate them on mk2 mr2s. The falken 452s are much better imo.


however, you do need to scrub the toyos in for a quite a few miles before they start to perform right.

[MrLuke]

yeah that's exactly the same feeling I had with those tyres and no pressure setting would alter it. Try the Hankook RS2's from Camskill, 205x50 front but I'm sure you can get the 225x50 rear

Another hankook fan here, as for pressures mine are 45psi all round using the max psi - 10% rule. Made the handling much better. I dont really understand why you would want a higher psi at the back.

The pressure is already a function of the extra weight from the engine etc. If anything id of thought you would want a lower psi in the rear tyres (when cold) as they get more use so will heat up quicker, i.e. the tyre pressures will rise as they heat up. Whereas the fronts are not used so much so will not heat up as quickly etc.

I find the front is much better for the higher pressure, was forever thinking they were flat and checking them to find them at 33/35 psi which is about standard. Wouldnt look back now tho, each tyre is different so makes sense it works best at a different temp

[/offtopic]

[ashley]

I dont really understand why you would want a higher psi at the back.

I bumped at the pressure at the back because it was the rear of the car that was felt like it was leaning over the tyre walls. The increased pressure was an attempt to stiffen the tyre as a whole and so reduce the flexing feeling.

In general I was taught you always use higher tyre pressures for higher load, so in a front engined car I would have higher pressures in the front wheels. In the two the rears have more weight on them so you'd have higher tyre pressure at the rear.

I've not been measuring tyre temperatures yet- but as a starting point I'd have thought it made sense to have more pressure in the rear tyres on a 2

[ashley]

It did have Nexen 2000's at the back before, can't really comment on how good they were due to the lack of tread on them though!

[JohnnyC]

After using T1-Rs and then switching to Eagle F1s it was a revalation, I couldnt belive how much more grip they have

Eagle F1's rock.
Unfortunately not available in standard mk2 wheel sizes