Toyo Proxies TR1 review

I’ve done a few hundred miles on these new tires and am now ready to share my thoughts.
Previously my Copen has been wearing Bridgestone Potenza RE040, and I really liked them. They had a good progressive feel and good grip, but they were getting old so they had to go.

The Toyo are a lot more responsive than the old Bridgestones. The initial turn in is where the increased responsiveness is most noticeable, and they still main improved response mid corner also.

As for steering feel, I feel as though the steering is lighter and it doesn’t weight up quite as much or in as linear of a way as the Bridgestone. Perhaps 35 psi was a little too much for them on such a light car? (the sticker in the door recommends 35 psi and that felt good with the Bridgestone) lowering the pressure a little bit to around 33psi improved the steering feel a bit, they feel less light like on ice. I think the reason for this difference is the increased load rating and stiffer tire. Overall I think I preferred the feel of the Bridgestone, but I’ve gotten used to the Toyo and it feels good.

As for overall grip, it seems that some corners I can take a bit faster and in others the speeds are about the same. Overall I think grip has improved.

The Toyo is less prone to tire squeal and the sound is less high pitched. I noticed that the Bridgestone would start to squeal before you’ve completely ran out of grip whereas the Toyo starts to squeal closer to the limit. So in other words, there’s less audible warning you’re on the limit.

One other thing I’ve noticed is it feels like the rear of the car is more lively maybe? Sometimes I get the sensation that the car is pivoting on its axis more, almost gives the sense that the back end is coming round.

Overall the Toyo encourages faster driving with its higher response, increased feeling of agility and more delayed warnings of loosing grip, it’s responsive, has good grip and does better with a reduced pressure. It also looks pretty cool.

With how few options in my size are available in the uk, it is pretty much the only tire I can recommend if you can find some.