^ Agreed - the
Proxes R1R is a sweet tire for eating up corners - the feel is a little more vauge and rubbery than the Bridgestone RE01R, but the grip is better. They heat up fairly quickly for autocross, and stick like glue. We're running them on my girlfriend's Miata and they are a riot - pretty forgiving for driving up in the hills - the car will always stick once the tires are warm, even if you throw it into the corner a little faster than you meant to - they've actually saved my bacon several times.
Unfortunately, it must be said, they require more care and feeding than most other street tires. They are actually made of a similar heat-cycle tolerant "GG" compound that the R888 and RA1 are made of (in the US - outside the US, they have a sticker "GGG" compound for the R888). The 140 treadwear (instead of 100) is partially from the fact that the tread depth is 8/32nds instead of 6/32nds. They also tend to run wider than usual for a given size. The 205/50R15's we bought have a 7.9" tread and 8.5" section width, which is closer to a 215 or even a 225 in some tire models
It's important to understand that treadwear reported and measured by the manufacturer, not by some unbiased independent organization, so it doesn't tell the whole story. Personally, I think Toyo overstates theirs a bit because they want people to think they are a more durable and affordable dual purpose dry/wet combo street/race tire(which they are, compared to say, Hoosiers), but noone cares that much because the performance is there, and they don't get hard from heat-cycling as fast.
Some manufacturers will report lower treadwear numbers to give the impression that a tire is stickier (and people are pleasantly surprised that they last like a normal street tire). They all rely on the fact that most people will never switch tires that often, and will choose mostly based on reviews and recommendations.
The upside is that the R1R is essentially a "My First R-Compound" tire with deeper tread depth for better rain performance (the rubbery feeling is largely due to the tread depth) and are a bit more forgiving, more like a street tire that will warn you before it breaks away.
The big downside besides the durability issues is that if exposed to temperatures below freezing, the rubber will crack and fail just like any other R-tire! The "magic ingredient" that makes r-compounds sticky are various "water saturated" butyl compounds. When they get cold, the water freezes and cracks the rubber. A second set of wheels and tires is a must if it gets cold where you live, even if it never snows.
The sidewall is very stiff for a street tire (but not as rigid as a true R-tire) - definitely too stiff to "hook" well on a drag strip, and they must be aligned with significant negative camber, or the outer shoulders will wear off rapidly. Unlike most street tires, they must be warmed up to get them grippy - if you punch the throttle "on the way home from work" you will spin them. They also like higher than usual pressures, but are an awesome tire if you're willing to accept the complications of driving a race tire on the street.
The Miata handles pretty well already, but the grip from the warm Toyos is like no other street tire I've encountered. I'm sure there are other tires out there that can perform as well, but I'm gushing about them, because I'm certainly hooked.
If you're looking for a good "dual purpose street/strip" tire, Toyo has just started selling it's
Proxes TQ, DOT legal drag radial, but the available sizes might be hard to fit under the fenders on the Galant. You might be able to squeeze the 255/50R16 under there, but they're a tad tall.
