First of all, those results are from a European magazine (NOT Toyo) in ONE test in ONE tire size. For example that test shows the Goodyear F1 outperforming the S-03, the reverse of which happened in Tire Racks' tests.

Secondly, Bridgestone is a JAPANESE company! If you don't believe me, you can look it up. Bridgestone USA is a subsidiary of Bridgestone Japan.

Gee, quite the authoritarian on tires aren't you? Like I said, you can go around bragging about your S-03s being so good and trackworthy, while the rest of us actually go to the track on our ***** tires. As Rx7@Rocketship.com mentioned, the T1-S was used in the Speed Challenge as a spec tire. I guess they're track worthy after all...

 

You car is JAP made and your tires aren't. What a hipocrite!! Keep digging. Better get a bigger shovel.

 

i dont doubt their trackworthiness. i doubt their superiority. i havent yet bragged about my tires. i simply said i have a set and i and going to push them. youre the one getting all aggressive. you called me out on information and i STILL havent seen you do anything but talk and blow hot air. show me some stats.

and, how in god's name did that ocme off as authoritarian? i said what i knew and what i didnt. if i had said there was no such thing as tire fade then i wouldve been authoritarian. you sir are the one being authoritarian.

 

And the Falken Azenis rock all of your worlds, in the dry and the damp.

 

But not the actual wet, hehe. I get plenty of rain and standing water where I live, so the T1-S makes more sense to me as a street/track tire.

 

For what car? It's a nice tire (had a set on my Miata), but Falken doesn't make the Azenis in stock FD sizes (225/50-16, 245/45-16).

 

When did this turn in to Godzilla vs. Mothra?

The T1S is a top class tire (i've owned a bunch), dry or wet or on the track. As with any street tire, BALLANCE is the key. If you want all out, get an R-compound tire. It'll smoke an S03, or any other street tire in the dry.

As far as S03 vs. T1s, a few parcells of "grip" that the S03 MIGHT have over the Toyo don't seem worth the 5 lb per/tire weight penalty... particularly with regard to over all performance of the car.

 

This isn't the Lounge; please cut the crap. This section is one of the few on this forum that isn't constantly over run with name calling and complaining. Let's keep it that way.


Rating tires by what you read is fairly useless anyway. Unless you have actually driven both tires on the car you can't compare them directly, you can only say what you like about the tires you've run.

 

And that's good enough for me and it's why I started this thread. I was hesitant about the Toyo T1-S but I heard enough good things about it from owners to overcome any reservations I had. The heavier unsprung weight of the S-03 still bothers me...(it's not a minor amount)....even though the S-03 has many great features.
And I also learned about the new Toyo T1R that's coming out, so this has been a great thread for me.

Thanks everybody!

 

does anyone have any opinions on the SO2's?

 

Also a top tire.

Back in '97 I had these mounted on stock rims for a HPDE event at Mont Tremblant, and my instructor who was running BFGs R1 on a gutted FD was quite impressed with their grip.

When comparing to the top street Michelin's (model ??) being run on the M3s it was obvious that the S02's were much less prone to chunking. (Tremblant was notoriously abrasive).

Again, at this level of tire, you would be hard pressed to be able to discern any performance gains (or losses) on the street.

David

 

I just picked up a set of slightly used SO2's in the sizes of (2) 235/40/18 and (2) 265/35/18 for $627 shipped. I think I got a pretty good deal. The rears are brand new and the fronts have about 85% left. I am thinking that the rears will probably ware out before the fronts. And yes I did get pictures before I sent the money. Are these heavy like the SO3's?

 

Well, you have the unmounted tires and a scale don't you?

 

Agreed, I've got S03's now, my next set will be Toyo's. I chunked my S03's pretty good on a hot track, I really do need a set of track wheels with "real" R compound tires.

 

Well, I just got them in today (11:15 cst to be exact). I just weighed them, 235/40/18 @ 23.56 lb's 80% tread left, 265/35/18 @ 28.60 brand new, seems a little heavy to me. The rims they are going on are ENKEI NTO3-M witch weigh in @ 19.4 lb's.

 

Thanks for the meas. For comparison, a nominal T1-S weighs 22.9 and 24.7 lbs in those sizes, respectively. This jives pretty well with the measured values of my T1-S wrapped Enkei RP-01s.

 

When designing the FD, Mazda engineers went to a lot of trouble to get the wheel and tire combo to weigh no more than 38.5 pounds. Keeping down the unsprung weight helps with suspension response and rotational inertia. That's why since I have the stock rims I'm so interested in the weight of the tire.

Obviously, if you get a lighter rim then you can also get a heavier tire and still be within the design specifications. I don't imagine a little bit one way or the other will matter much. But I've also read tests of various tire and wheel combos in a number of auto mags and bigger isn't always better. Sometimes it's even worse.