Toyo's website sent me to a bunch of phone numbers for tire dealers only, not retail stores. So where do I buy Toyos? Discount and TireRack don't sell them. All I want is a price!

Here is the World Challenge Toyo Dealer....good prices from what I hear:

Bob Vilven
800 251 0017
fax 217 583 3383
email rjvilven@aol.com

A to Z Tire in Houston carries Toyo. I got a quote from them several years ago on RA1s.

A to Z Tire
4909 Dacoma
713-956-5270

Jim

For some reason, pricing for Toyo RA-1's is hard to obtain... Just for your information, I bought 4 shaved 275/40R17's a couple of weeks ago. They cost $908 delivered, but I have been told that I have a $60 rebate coming from Toyo since they will be used in NASA's American Iron series. I bought them from Bob Woodman Tires, Inc in Charleston, SC 843 571 2277

I may have been able to get them cheaper, but these guys will likely be coming to our events as track side support (tires, mounting/dismounting) and I am willing to pay a little more to encourage this sort of support for us and told them so when I ordered the tires...

There used to be an A to Z tire here in San Antonio, but they have become a dealer only warehouse now. They shut down about a year ago

I sent Vilven an e-mail...see what he says

WOW! I can almost get Hoosiers for that! Haven't bought Toyos for a while....not competitive in my series.....forgot that they were that close to the better Victoracer/Hoosier in price....sorry to hear that!

Daaamn...

I thought they'd be cheaper than that. I'm just trying to weigh all my options for some new auto-x shoes...

From what I've seen from people who have used Toyo RA-1s, they will last quite a bit longer than Hoo$iers ... rough guesstimate of twice the lifespan maybe longer??? Not too bad if you're just open-tracking or just concerned about local autox competition. My co-driver and I have considered a set just to use for local events.

Prior to deciding to run American Iron, I had heard good things about the Toyos (related to autocross). When I decided to run AI, I was a little concerned about tire costs and checked how long they last. While the comment that I got from one person wasn't completely complimentary ("they suck, but suck for a long time"), I learned that these tires are good for 3-4 race WEEKENDS. This is Saturday (practice, qualifying and race) and Sunday (practice, qualifiying and race) three-to-four times. In addition, even if they aren't the grippiest, they last and we all have to use them in AI, so there won't be some megabucks guy out there running brand new Hoosiers every day at the track that I have to try to outrun...

The longer lasting (fresher breath?) aspect of the Toyo's is what's appealing to me. At my experience level, a longer lasting tire is better. I'm not gonna trophy at Nationals, just looking for seat time. Just weighing all my options...

Was reading a thread on CC.com about the Nitto RII's. Been looking at those as well...

Yep.....brings me back to the first 8 years of racing my Datsun.....I used that comment a MILLION times!

I used to get damn near a FULL 10 race season from the Toyos on the Datsun.....thats why I ran them so long before going to a REAL tire....

3-4 weekends in a Toyo seems low for the Camaro though...my main competition here is getting 4 weekends out of a set of Hoosiers....and YES they wear about twice as fast!

Good point.

I should clarify the definition of how long they last. I have been told that they are COMPETITIVE for 3-4 race weekends. After that, they may cord or become harder rocks and uncompetitive...

I just tried them out this past w'end at the track. They do suck. They don't stick. I miss my Victor Racer.

Well, I should feel right at home with them. ALL of my autocross and tracking experience is on one of these choices:
1) Pep Boys Ultra Z
2) Yoko AVS Intermediates
3) Used Kuhmos from people with enough sense to get rid of them.

These should be in this category or a step up!

Best part about Toyos is they SUCKED SO CONSISTENTLY, I was a MONSTER at the start of races!

Guys would be babying their tires of choice, and I KNEW what the Toyos would do START TO FINISH so I "Put the pedal to the metal....kept the foot on the floor" for the first few laps and man I could pass a TON of cars!

Problem was always the same.....damn Hoosiers/Goodyears/etc. would always motor by when they got up to temp!