Toyo R1R vs Kumho Ecsta XS for DD and AutoX
 

Good afternoon guys. Google has failed to provide me the information I want so I'm coming here for first hand experiences and information I might not know about these 2 tires for DD and AutoX duties. (Please assume stock wheel size for now but any information regarding performance variance in larger sizes would be appreciated)

Which do you feel grips better during racing?
Which do you feel wears the longest?
How does it perform in rain?
Is heat cycling of DD going to degrade the tire prematurely?
Will being cold(winter storage) damage these tires like the Toyo R888?

I'm more concerned with how well they perform as a DD as I've already seen some testing that "proved" the Ecsta was slightly better on course than the Toyo.

I don't know about the Toyo's but I ran the the Kumho Ecsta XS on my Mini. IMO they're not the most comfortable for DD, decent amount of grip, not bad in the wet, pretty good treadwear, overall OK for the money. Would I run them again? No, there are better alternatives.

Hope this helps.

What do you feel is a better alternative and why? What kind of tread wear(mileage) you get out of them? What I've read only indicates a few possible choices for my requirements

I had about 30k on the Kumho's and they can probably go another 15k of DD. I did not track the car. Being in Texas, I can run summer tires year round so my choice is Michelin PSS. Costco has great deals on them most of the time. The Kumho's did not feel as smooth and were louder after 20k. I have not run Conti DWS but would give them a shot since I hear good things about them.

Good info. Thanks for the input. Anyone else have an option?

Toyo r1r and the Khumos are in different autoX classes now, but in past seasons even the r1rs amongst themselves were not created equally.

Which tire sizes in Khumos were "proven" to be faster around the course?

Both are great tires and for performance purposes, your driving skill will determine which is the better tire.

I believe they were 215/x/r15 I don't remember the height but it was on a civic. Last year was my first time racing and I slid constantly, that's why I'm looking for tires. I didn't expect the Ecsta to make me a pro instead of the R1R but no point in not getting the best if it's the same price etc. Seems like the Toyos are a bit pricier.

Which of the 2 is in the lower class? I don't know what my mods add up to now since I've added coils and such but I don't want to rank up if I don't have to.

That's an old test. I know the XS for a while was supposed to have the highest dry grip of the "Extreme Performance" tires for a while, but I would bet that the RS3V2 and ZII StarSpec both would beat it in the dry now, while also having way more wet grip.

^^ Agreed, the XS is a few years old now and isn't as good (comparatively) as it used to be.

From your expectations, Toyo R1R is the better choice. It's much better in the rain than the XS and wear longer as well. From my experience, the R1R does overheat faster, but it was on a heavier platform (GD STI) and mostly track events. If if it's mostly DD/autox with the lighter twins, you're less likely to run into these issues, as it's very popular among miata and e30 crowd. Like other mentioned, both are fairly outdated tires and there's newer better alternatives.

I've been googling around and have yet to find anything bad about the R1Rs. I heard they wear worse than the Kumhos though. The Yokohama AD08s seem kinda pricey so they are out. Any one have any test data from last year for everyone's top street tire? Kinda almost seems like there isn't a "best" tire available

wait, you got 30k(miles?) out of Kumho XS tires, and expect to go another 15k?

I was under the impression the Kumho XS was similar to re-11a, star specs, rival, rt615k etc and would be 20k, at best...

I just might look into the XS again, if thats the case.

Yes, I was very surprised. I think I was right around 28-29k. I would say maybe 20% left. Definitely not another 15k. Sorry my math was all screwed up.:bonk: Either way, I still got good mileage out of them. This was on my Non S Mini Cooper with no track time and I was commuting about 100 miles a day.

EDIT:
Before you guys think I'm crazy for DD'ing the Kumho's with my long commute, I bought wheels with these brand new tires already mounted. :P