Toyo Proxes T1-S tyres - opinions wanted

[Tonyt3]

I've recently fitted a set of Toyo Proxes to my car, and am dissapointed with them. Two reasons:

A: Damp Grip in corners is appalling

B: Road noise is poor - unacceptably loud

Does anyone else have similar opinions on Toyo Proxes? I'm especially cheesed off by the road noise - the tyres seem to make a distinct 'whiney' noise which increases with speed - almost like theres a problem with the wheel bearings. I know this isn't the case as I have experienced it on two Mini's with Toyos now.

Tyre size is 18/35/215. Previously fitted Dunlop runflats and Pirrelli Pzero Neros. Not had these problems with either tyre (although the Dunlop runflats wear away like they were made of cheese... ).

I'm beginning to think that the Toyo Proxes is an over rated tyre choosen by many because of its funky tread pattern - not really a good tyre at all. Anyone else get this feeling? I know the tyre is alledgedly quite good in dry conditions, but is it really a good choice of a performance Mini in wet Britain?

[Jones]

Why didnt you get the T1-R's?

I have the T1-R's and I have found them better than the runflats but I do find a lot of vibration under heavy prolonged acceleration.....maybe due to the tread pattern.....never had it with the runflats though.

I find them lighter.....

Though due to a lot of 4-wheel sliding on damp surfaces when I had the tyres fitted, I dont have the confidence that I had in the runflats as I found them great in the wet. I also havent tried taking a roundabout at 60mph yet either so not sure how well they grip the road!!

Jones!

[Tonyt3]

Quote: Originally Posted by Jones

Why didnt you get the T1-R's?

I have the T1-R's and I have found them better than the runflats but I do find a lot of vibration under heavy prolonged acceleration.....maybe due to the tread pattern.....never had it with the runflats though.

Jones!

i had a pair of new T1-S's stored in my garage for a few months waiting my new wheels, so when i got them fitted I wanted them to all be the same.....


Iteresting that you find they slip in the wet so badly too - they seem to grip fine in a straight line, but in the wet the seem to prefer to slip sideways than to actually grip, which is very worrying.....

[LMB]

Quote: Originally Posted by Tony*t3

i had a pair of new T1-S's stored in my garage for a few months waiting my new wheels, so when i got them fitted I wanted them to all be the same.....


Iteresting that you find they slip in the wet so badly too - they seem to grip fine in a straight line, but in the wet the seem to prefer to slip sideways than to actually grip, which is very worrying.....

Tony I agree they're terrible in the wet, no grip at all. I won't be buying them again.

[KLF]

Having gone through 3 sets of them in the past, I did rate them very highy for the money.

Main thoughts from me though is this is THE worst time of year to fit them because they don't seem to work very well in cold weather (I have ran them all seasons).

DRY
In my opinion still one the best tyres in the dry very predictable...... only when its warm though!!!! seem to get better the hotter they get, but price you pay is they wear out very quickly. (10k, 8k, 7k )

WET
Well I thought they were fairly good in the wet.. but not brilliant as i said above cold weather comes along and they are not as good, there are better out there.



p.s - I'm running Bridgestone potenza's RE050's at the moment quite impressed so far.


Hope that sort of helps


Chris

[Tonyt3]

Quote: Originally Posted by KLF

Having gone through 3 sets of them in the past, I did rate them very highy for the money.

Main thoughts from me though is this is THE worst time of year to fit them because they don't seem to work very well in cold weather (I have ran them all seasons).

DRY
In my opinion still one the best tyres in the dry very predictable...... only when its warm though!!!! seem to get better the hotter they get, but price you pay is they wear out very quickly. (10k, 8k, 7k )

WET
Well I thought they were fairly good in the wet.. but not brilliant as i said above cold weather comes along and they are not as good, there are better out there.



p.s - I'm running Bridgestone potenza's RE050's at the moment quite impressed so far.


Hope that sort of helps


Chris

Thanks mucker.....

Any thoughts on road noise? Having run dunlop RF's for a couple of weeks before changing, the noise is quite percepitable to me - like a low whirring.... thing is, its one of those noises that you can hear even when the radios turned up -

[KLF]

Yeah I noticed road noise they were different when going from the 17" runshat's to 18" toyo's but just asumed it was because they were wider different tread pattern, then ran them for soo long got used to the sound of them

Then sure enough when i changed tyres Nankang's first then onto these Bridgestones are a lot quieter.



C

[HObzy]

Hey Tony! New car still going ok then... I had t1-r's put on just before brunty, (but used slicks on track) and have had no problems so far (touch wood) wet (especially on the way home from there!)and dry good, but not stuck it out on the limit yet. Ride is miles better, and the asc light goes of much less on greasy roads and junctions. braking seems better too. Early days yet though...

[DrJ]

I've got T1-R's on and I have to say I really like them. Good grip and feel although I agree they whine a bit at speed. They also feel much lighter.

With greasy surfaces they slide but nothing like the terrible Goodyear runflats I had on previously. Mine are 205/50's on a 16 rim so probably more forgiving than your size

[Wobert]

Tony,

Do a search on the mytyretest on mytyres.co.uk.

I looked at using the Toyos, and having gone through umpteen pages of less than satisfactory reports I gave up on the idea of using them.

Lets just say that something like 75% of respondents stated "no way" in answer to would you use them again!

I've heard the Goodyear GSD-3 come highly recommended.

Robert

[sp@nky]

Quote: Originally Posted by wobert123

Tony,

Do a search on the mytyretest on mytyres.co.uk.

In my search if found the exact same tyre tests in french at pneu-test.com and in german at reifentest.com

Quote: Originally Posted by wobert123

I looked at using the Toyos, and having gone through umpteen pages of less than satisfactory reports I gave up on the idea of using them.

Lets just say that something like 75% of respondents stated "no way" in answer to would you use them again!

I've heard the Goodyear GSD-3 come highly recommended.

Robert

I've to have been leaning away from the toyos toward the GSD-3.
Anyone got other highly recommend tyre I sould look at.

Oddly enough some of the highly rated tyre in"EU" (sites above) dont quite make in the "US" (tirerack.com ), like the RE50 .

Cheers

[Nick666]

I'm getting the GS-D3 to replace my Pirelli RFs, but have heard that the Yokohama Paradas and AVS Sport (although v hard to get over here it seems) and Bridgestone S03 PP are also excellent.

[DrJ]

blackcircles usually have the AVS sport and I've always found them reliable (blackcircles that is).

[Root Ginger]

Can't beat the DO1J's Tony. Shame I don't think they come is your size.

Sounds like the sort of noise you get with semi-slicks. If you have this sort of tread pattern it's gonna be noisy so I can only assume that the Proxes have a lot of tread on the road.My car sounds like a plane taxi-ing on a runway or like a wheel bearings gone. JCW warned me about that before I fitted them.

The DO1J's are really good in the wet too. I was really surprised because I was expecting a semi-slick to be poor. As good as the run-flats when cold, better when when hot.

[s_and_m]

I've got T1-Rs (new) on the front and two "reasonable wear" T1-Ss on the back, all in 215/40/R17.

In the damp the back end breaks far ealier than it did with my awful Pirelli RFs (nearly spun me into the path of a C2 GTI the other day!)

The front T1-Rs offer better damp handling than the T1-S's but they are louder than the Pirellis and the Goodyears and Dunlops I had on the Cooper.

I'm going to see what the wamrer weather does for them (and another several thousand miles - not to mention the odd track day) and then I'll probably switch to P Zeros or F1s for a more predictable all weather experience.

S