Toyo Proxes R888 impresses Caparo director at Goodwood

The director of Caparo T1 Cars has spoken of his admiration for Toyo’s road-legal Proxes R888 tyre, which was fitted to the Caparo T1 for the Goodwood Hill Climb, Matt Cummings, director, Caparo T1 Cars Ltd said: “It's the next best thing to fitting a full on racing slick to our Caparo T1. If that sounds like a compromise, it isn't. Because what you never forget, is like the T1, the Toyo R888 is fully road legal. The Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2011 was a great opportunity for us to demonstrate the amazing capabilities of the T1 and the Toyo Proxes R888.”

The Caparo T1 has a top speed of 200mph and with the right set-up goes from 0-100mph in under 5 seconds.  The Caparo team has used the R888’s on its cars on several occasions and Toyo representative Suneeta Mehmi saw first-hand the benefits the semi-slick tyre gave the powerful sportscar, as a passenger going up the Hill: “It was an amazing experience,” she said. “The speed and power of this machine was immense and I could really feel the colossal grip of the R888’s. They made the car stick to the track, especially on the corners…”

This was Toyo’s second year running at the Goodwood Festival of Speed with distributors Micheldever and Protyre. The show was attended by 181,000 this year, representing good returns for Toyo’s time and cash investments. Contact with car enthusiasts and the importance of the event in the motoring calendar make it an event Toyo says it is proud to be a part of.

Toyo says it received “many visitors to the stand wanting to learn more about… [its] product range and enquiring about tyres best suited for their vehicles.” Staff from Toyo, Micheldever and Protyre were available throughout the festival. There was a F1 Simulator on stand which kept everyone entertained, as well as a game which challenged people to work out stopping distances of tyres with different treads, which promoted both tyre safety and greater understanding of available technologies.

This year, the Toyo stand had an additional balcony, which the company says gave a better experience to VIPs, including good views of the Red Arrows show.