Making our rounds at this year’s PRI Show out of Indianapolis, Indiana, we caught up with our friends at Toyo Tires to get an inside look at some of its latest tire options available for late-model vehicles. We had the pleasure of speaking with Marc Sanzenbacher, Senior Manager for Motorsports. Sanzenbacher detailed the all-new member of the Proxes line of tires, the R888R, which takes what Toyo has learned from the previous generation R888 and applies what worked from that tire in-conjunction with a new, modern twist.
“The R888R has been optimized for a larger contact patch for both straight-line and cornering,” Sanzenbacher detailed. “This results in roughly a one-percent reduction in lap times, and that’s the biggest benefits of these tires.” Sanzenbacher also confirmed that the latest generation R888R tires are now available in larger and more unique tire sizes as well.
“We’ll also have a lot of new sizes which will fit many of the 19 and 20-inch diameter OEM wheels,” he explained. In regards to the Proxes RR tires, Sanzenbacher said that the 285/35R20 size tire that will be available next month is an industry first, DOT-approved competition radial. “These tires were designed for modern musclecars to use in open class races and autocross competitions,” Sanzenbacher concluded.