RA1 question for Lyle

[socal pat]

Just need to know what size you are running on your stock rim. I'm getting ready to pull the trigger on a set and want to get as much tire as I can for the wheel. So, I'm down to 225-45 or 225-50. I appreciate the help.

[Tom @ Fast Forward]

My RA-1s are 225-50-15 on Kosei 7x15 rims. They work great on the track.

[socal pat]

Tom, was there a particular reason you went with 225-50 as opposed to the 225-45? Since I will be running them as my street tire I thought I'd give up some of the top-end gearing advantage of the taller tire which would help on a long straight at the track. However the Toyo websight does show a 6.5" width as acceptable for the 50 series and not so for the 45. Hmmmmm Lyle?

[Tom @ Fast Forward]

I found 225-50/15 made my speedo correct. Besides, with the coldside taller gears are a good thing. I did the 3.636 diff gears too.

[Red Lightning]

Hi Pat - I'm running the 225/50/15 on the 6" stock rim. Do not make this mistake. Even pumped up hard these tires roll over badly and although the performance level is well above all season tires it is not confidence inspiring to do so. I've have run 225/50/14's on the stock rim 6" with sorta okay results.

I've run RA-1's at 205/50/15 on 7" rims at the track without problem. Just so you know, I run 225/45/15 Kumho V710's on the 7" track rims without trouble. You must account for the soft sidewall of the Toyo, it makes for an amazing street ride, but can compromise utimate handling.

Note - The RA-1's do start to make noise in the second half of their life.

We have 205/50/15 RT-615's on my car and 225/5015 RA-1's on hers. I think going forward her car will get RT-615's and I may give the Toyos one last try in the 205/50 size (all on the 6" 10AE rims). Right now, I think the RT-615 is probably the ultimate street tire...

YMMV, Lyle

[socal pat]

Thanks Lyle. I was hoping that the lower profile of the 225-45 might help some with the rollover. I've been running 205-50 Azenis 215's for about 3 years and was hoping the RA1 would give me a little more comfort with even better stick. Any thoughts on the Hankook RS2?

[Steve]

Pat, don't run the 225 on a wheel narrower than 7 inches. The 225 works on a 7" rim: ideally, it should be on an 8" rim, but those for a Miata are hard to come by at the moment.

Toyo also has a new tire coming out that will replace the RA-1... last I heard there should be an announcement at the SEMA show, so I'll have more info next week.