My bro-in-law has recently bought some 205/55/R16 W rated Toyo T1-R's. They grip well but the side walls seem quite soft and the car feels floaty at high speed. They are in the right direction.

Anyone else notice this? They are rated up to 168 MPH so should be fine. They are at 32 Psi, is this too low/high?

Thanks.

Bought mine about a month ago.

Initially on 29 and 31 psi.

Didn't feel like they gripped anywhere near as well as my previous Dunlops....

Didn't like them at all until I'd done 400 miles on them.

Now on 31 and 32 psi and they feel good....

I'm on my second set now, and haven't noticed any issues like you describe. I do run them 2psi higher than standard all-round, as I noticed the shoulders were wearing faster than the centre of the tyre (even taking wear from cornering into account). From what mackdaddy's said, doing this might have meant I've avoided any problems with the ride.

Although I'm presuming you've got the right tyre, they're not T1-Ses, by any chance? They did have a softer tyrewall, and is why the T1-R ('reinforced') was brought out, apparently...

Definitely T1-Rs.

On exactly which model? I've not noticed any problems with that size on the Elegance TDi, running the recommended tyre pressures (with the note that the conversions aren't exact; I run the higher pressure of the 2 on the fronts and the lower on the rears). Previous tyres a mix of Dunlops and Michelins.

It's on a 52 plate VW Passat.

I found with 55 profile at 32psi bit too mich tyre roll and wear to outside edges, but they had exceptional wet grip!!

After reading this thread, I'd another look at mine last night, and the tyre edges are feeling a touch rounded on the edge blocks compared with the V-grooves which are as sharp as the day they were fitted. Which makes me think that a PSI or 2 over standard might be advisable to reduce shoulder roll.

Found this on Piston Heads -

'Regarding running in, Toyo's are well known for retaining mould release lubricant for many 100's of miles so you could be sensing loss of stability at speed as the air starts to get under the car and lateral forces increase. '

And this -

I thought exactly the same when I had Toyos fitted to the rear of my Chimaera. I was beginning to wonder if I had made the wrong choice. They were quite hairy to start with. Exactly as you describe. Changing lanes at 80+ on the motorway was frightening at anything more than a snails pace!! But.... Stick with them, eventually the effect wore off and now.... there is so much grip in the rear. I can sling it into roundabouts far quicker than I could with my old S02's

Seems they just need running in. Thanks for all your input

I'm not the only one then!

I think that they definitely needed wearing in and that floaty sensation at speed has gone.

They still don't feel like they grip around corners as well as they should so I'm going to up the pressure.

I had laser alignment done at the same time which I think was a red herring for me.

...what a great forum, eh!

Oh yeah. I'd never have considered the possibility that the tyres on mine were too soft, considering I'm running Skoda recommended pressures, but the edge wear certainly suggests that that's the case.

After reading this thread, I'd another look at mine last night, and the tyre edges are feeling a touch rounded on the edge blocks compared with the V-grooves which are as sharp as the day they were fitted. Which makes me think that a PSI or 2 over standard might be advisable to reduce shoulder roll.

I don't know whether part of that's down to the difference in the way each bit of tread 'meets' the road. In the centre section, the V shape of the grooves means that the treads sort of roll onto the road smoothly. On the shoulders, however, the treads run more-or-less at right angles to the road, so corners meet and leave the road suddenly as the wheel rolls. Hopefully that makes sense - it should explain why the treads may feel more rounded for different parts of the tyre, even though the wear (in terms of tread depth) may be pretty even. As was the case when my last lot of Proxeses were replaced...

I don't know whether part of that's down to the difference in the way each bit of tread 'meets' the road. In the centre section, the V shape of the grooves means that the treads sort of roll onto the road smoothly. On the shoulders, however, the treads run more-or-less at right angles to the road, so corners meet and leave the road suddenly as the wheel rolls. Hopefully that makes sense - it should explain why the treads may feel more rounded for different parts of the tyre, even though the wear (in terms of tread depth) may be pretty even. As was the case when my last lot of Proxeses were replaced...

That all makes sense, but the edges are slightly feathered, rather than just "less sharp" if you see the distinction. Any previous time I've seen a wear pattern like this it's been down to understeer, and only really affected the driven wheels (or front wheels with 4wd).

I've noticed the edges on my t1-r's are a bit "scuffed" looking so I may have to experiment with the pressures.

At the moment I run them exactly as the sticker in the fuel filler door says, 2.1 and 2.2 bar (I even use the correct scale on my inflator and pencil guage :P ).

I have been wondering weather or not to maybe do a front to rear swap (got 15k miles out of a set of yokohamas doing that on last car but there weren't directional) but haven't got around to it and have now done around 4.5k on these anyway so I may just stick with it and see what happens, wear wise.

They do stick like **** to a blanket though and have never let me down, even when cornering at "silly" speeds and finding very slow cars around the bend..........

That all makes sense, but the edges are slightly feathered, rather than just "less sharp" if you see the distinction. Any previous time I've seen a wear pattern like this it's been down to understeer, and only really affected the driven wheels (or front wheels with 4wd).

Think I know what you mean - not sure what the answer is though, unless it's just that being a tad underinflated is causing understeer so mild as to be unnoticeable???

I've increased my pressure again - up to 32 front, 33 rear and they're definitely gripping better.

It was pouring down today and there wasn't any skittishness(?) - they gripped at least as well as my previous Dunlops.

....relieved to say the least

Think I know what you mean - not sure what the answer is though, unless it's just that being a tad underinflated is causing understeer so mild as to be unnoticeable???

That wouldn't affect the rear tyres as you put it. Which is why I'm thinking the edges are tucking under slightly, which would increase the slip angles all round.

That wouldn't affect the rear tyres as you put it. Which is why I'm thinking the edges are tucking under slightly, which would increase the slip angles all round.

Ah, of course! I'm at the limits of my knowledge knowing that underinflated = worn shoulders, overinflated = worn centre section TBH. I'd be interested to know if you find anything out, though...

Ah, of course! I'm at the limits of my knowledge knowing that underinflated = worn shoulders, overinflated = worn centre section TBH. I'd be interested to know if you find anything out, though...

Just don't ask me about the maths side; I've never seen the equations, so only get the qualitatives. From what Mackdaddy says, it looks like I'm on the right lines though.

Had to parallel park in the car park at work today, and was too lazy to straighten the wheel once I'd got in. Noticed that the sidewall of the front tyre was rolled right over, so that ALL of the treaded section was touching the road. The tyre looked so squashed that I thought I might have a slow puncture, so I went out just now in my lunchbreak to check. Pressure was fine, though. Looks like the sidewalls are still pretty soft, despite supposedly being reinforced... Never noticed ant 'skittishness', though, so a few psi over standard pressure seems to be enough to keep that in check. Still surprised at how distorted the sidewall's got, though...

Well, I've gone to the same pressures as MacDaddy, and there's less steering corruption and wander over the badly spalled top dressing on some of the roads around here. I wasn't any faster than usual, so I've no idea if there might be any handling effect, and don't expect to know about wear effects for several months.

gone up to 36psi on the front and 33psi on the rear on my Fabia VRS , will see if there is a difference in handling and comfort , early indications seem to be encouraging , no obvious harshness in the suspension , other than what i already had