It's new tire time for my FD and I'm considering replacing all 4 tires with either the Bridgestone S-03 or the Toyo Proxes T1-S. (I have the stock rims.)

I really like the S-03's. They have great performance, and I especially like how they're designed to stay soft even as they age. What I don't like is that they're heavy. Mazda went to a lot of trouble to limit unsprung weight and rotational inertia and set a tire weight limit of 23 lbs. which the S-03 exceeds significantly.

The Proxes T1-S is under the 23 lb. weight limit, but I hear it's a noisy tire and a number of people I've talked to aren't Toyo fans.

So if you have experience with either tire what's your opinion? Please explain any shortcomings, other than price. And if you have another tire that beats either of these two, let's hear about that too.

 

i hear that T1-s dont have too much grip in the dry. i like my S-03's personnaly.

 

I have had the toyo t1s on my fd for 5K. I have the stock wheels on my 95 and the Pettit 'street' alignment numbers. Dry grip is excellent and I do not find them noisy. There is less turn in then on tires with stiffer sidewalls, though. Ride is good: there is a slight cushion feel, but they are not soft. The bonus is that they make the high power RWD rx7 feel solid on wet roads. One word of warning is that this type of tire is totally unsafe with any snow, ice or black ice. Not a problem in Houston, though. I have used these tires on my Supercharged Miatas with good success too. On those cars they tend to tramline when they are getting old (20K).

I got mine at onlinetires.com for a good price.

Tom

 

I vote T1S. I was running them on my supra pushing 500+ and many others do the same. Good dry tracking, plus they tire is lighter than others on the market.
I actually use S-03's in the front for their great handling and the T1S in the rears. I just bought some 295's T1S for me supie b/c I dont wanna run on dr's all the time.
I can hook you up with T1S for a good price through a guy I know.
Pm if you decide to go with the T1S
Thanks Ryan

 

I like my T1S I don’t find them to be noisy at all (i think they are quiet)and grip great. I like knowing they are a light tire on an already light wheel. Low rotational inertial is a great thing.

They look incredible on stock wheels as well!

 

Go with the 245/45/16
https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...&highlight=t1s

 

love my S03's, no ts-1 exp. I doubt they compare favorably to the bridgestones.

 

no contest....go with SO3's

 

RIIIGHT. I don't know where you guys are getting your "info" but you are mistaken. The S-03s are not significantly better in the dry or wet, if at all, compared to the T1-S, and they cost more and weigh a LOT more.

The S-03 is a great tire, but so is the T1-S. Any potential performance differences aren't going to be noticeable in street driving anyway!

 

Regardless the t1s has been discontinued, and I never claimed any info. I dont see you putting up any info either however. From what I've been reading trying to disprove you for the last 30 minutes I have found no empirical comparisons between these tires(on google), but all I hear is t1-s for street and S03 for track. The S03 is heavier, wears more quickly, and is louder. On the positive side it is SAID that it has superior wet and dry grip. My final and unchangeable opinion is that the S03 is for people who want a high quality trackable street tire and the t1s is for pussies who complain about road noise and forking over cash for what they want. that is all.

 

The new tire is the T1R. A firend of mine ordered them a week ago form tire trends. he had t1S's before and liked them. There not a very noisy tire and there about the same price as the so3.

 

Really? I didn't know that. I know they're still in stock at various places. I'll check out the "T1R" 86J is talking about, and if it's not a track tire, I'll consider that one too. Thanks everybody for all the info and opinions. It's probably true that I won't go too far wrong with either of these tires.

 

Is the T1R a drag radial or street radial?
What I want to know is if your gonna have to replace them every 5K miles like BFG drag radials and if its a sticky soft compound or regular like the T1S was.
Thanks

 

I looked at the Toyo site (again) and didn't find a T1R tire, nor a mention of a new tire.
The T1-S is still listed and looks like it's still for sale, and so is the RA-1, which is what I think people are talking about here. It's a street driveable track tire....not what I'm looking for really. This is what the Toyo website says about it:

"The Toyo® Proxes RA-1, a DOT-approved competition tire designed specifically for improved touring racing and autocross, features all the high-tech components to provide you with an uncommon competitive advantage. It's a proven winner.


From its aggressive directional tread design to its steel wire-reinforced sidewalls, the purpose is clear-- to maintain your winning edge.

At its full tread depth (8/32 inch) the RA-1 provides wet traction, but shave it to 4/32 inch and hang on as your dry lap times drop!"

 

Based on what? Nice attitude. Drop the ego and you might learn something.

Also, I've seen nothing about the T1-S being discontinued. There's certainly nothing about it on Toyo's website. Sounds like your sources are pretty unreliable. Perhaps you might want to reconsider your "final and unchangeable opinion."

EDIT: BTW, since you wanted a trackable tire, how many times have you been to the track? I bet you my quiet ***** tires have seen more events than your trackable tires have.....

 

aw puddin,
look man. i stated my opinion. i said what i heard. you read me with too much paranoia. ive got S03's on my car, of course im gonna prop the. im not trying to hurt your feelings, break your *****, or call you out on some ****. dont misread my intentions and spin my words.

i never fushu mang : )

 

Over in the UK, the T1-S has been discontinued, and replaced by the T1-R. This was through an official Toyo dealer. T1R supposedly has beeter grip, esp in the wet, compared to the T1S, by using different compound formulation, with higher silicone content. (Well, thats waht I was told, anyway!! )

Must say, I had SO7's and they were absolutley crap. No grip whatsoever. VERY heavy and VERY hard compound. The Toyos are miles ahead in weight and grip. I also has T1S's on my last FD, and was more than happy with them.

 

T1-R will replace the T1-S later this year in the US. They are already available elxewhere. This is not the RA-1. You can check this link to see a description of the T1-R

http://www.tiretrends.com/catalog2.p...currencyCode--

T1-s are still available for us street-driving pussies (!) in the US

 

Thanks for the info Andrew and miatrx. I'll wait until the T1R comes out and I can see its specs and compare it to the others I'm considering. (I'd like to see the weight of the T1R, for one thing.)


If you didn't click on miatrx's link, here is what the webpage says:


Ultra High-Performance

The Toyo Proxes T1R is a new generation Vshape UHP tire designed exclusively for sport sedans and coupes and that meets the demand for high-speed stability and excellent handling under dry and wet conditions, while retaining low noise and optimum driving comfort.

This new tire takes advantage of modern design technology and provides stable steering response and traction thanks to the improved tread pattern design, resulting in superb braking performance as well as improved wear resistance.

Longer wear life - The newly designed silica compound effectively minimizes heat-build-up, which together with the improved casing profile provide effectively resistance against irregular wear and structural stress, resulting in extended total wear life.

Excellent wet traction performance - The rigid tread hardness delivers excellent ground contact on dry surfaces, whereas the unidirectional tread pattern with V-shaped main grooves and rigid shoulder rib pattern ensures superior water drainage performance, outstanding wet capability and high-speed handling.

Improved riding comfort and breaking performance - Optimal pressure distribution of the tire structure ensures a road-hugging grip even under the most demanding road conditions, while retaining excellent riding comfort and breaking performance under wet and dry conditions.

 

Oh...the T1-R looks so expensive even in canadian dollars. I'd personally get T1-S right now and be happy with it for a couple of year before getting newer generation tires.

 

I have the T1S and love them. Have no experience with s03's but for the price and weight difference I'm not too sure if the s03s can beat the T1S. I think the T1S are 5lbs lighter than the s03

 

He wasn't spinning your words. You said people who buy the T1S are pussies, which is a downright retarded thing to say. Besides, I think the T1S is a good track tire as well because they last a hell of a lot longer than the S03s will. I ran an autocross course fourteen times within about an hour and a half, (waiting about 4 minutes between runs) consecutively on the T1S, and they didn't fade at all. In fact, my eleventh and final lap was my fastest. And it's not like I was driving like a wuss, either.

Don't cry when people **** on you after you refer to them as "pussies".

 

Not bustin' ***** here, but the S03's are NOT destined for the track as you lead to believe. On the other hand the T1S WAS used as the spec tire in the Speed Challenge series.

With that said, they are both very good tires and you'd be a better man than most if you can tell which tire you were running on or off track.

David

 

I was unaware that tires faded, wear I knew but fade I did not. You see my cryin? Here, let me rephrase myself. I like the S03 more than I like the t1s because I own a set and they rock my world. We drive Rx7's gentleman. It would be incongruous for us to bitch about road noise, that would qualify you as a blubbering vagina in my stupid little book. Tire life I can see. We shell out enough money on things wearing out without worrying about tires. Everything I have read suggests that at the limits the S03 perfroms better. Minutely, insignifigantly you say? 1.01 > 1.00. That is the bottom line. Bridgestone is US based. Nashville based. I send enough money to the japs. Ill keep my arguably superior amercian tires.

 

here is your empirical evidence
http://216.239.63.104/search?q=cache...xes+t1-s&hl=en

s03 better dry, ts-1 better wet. straight from toyo's mouth. and let me just say that they are obviously impartial and unbiased