If you’re driving a sporty sedan, coupe, or crossover and you really want to get the most out of its handling potential and cornering ability, ultra-high-performance (UHP) or summer tires are the way to go. They’re designed for handling and braking performance that most other tires just can’t quite match, for confident cornering on twisty roads or interstate offramps, along with short braking distances and steering response that’s nimble and immediate. On the other hand, all-season tires are designed to deliver capable handling but also tend to be a half-step behind UHP tires in that regard. There’s a definite downside to most UHP tires, though – they’re designed with a softer tread compound, almost as soft as a pencil eraser, and “stickier” (sometimes so soft that pressing a thumbnail into the sidewall can leave an indentation for a moment) for great glue-like adhesion to the pavement. That soft rubber formulation, though, will wear prematurely, which is why many UHP tires don’t come with a limited manufacturer’s tread life warranty. The “best of both worlds” scenario here would be a tire that can deliver the versatile year-round performance of an all-season tire with the edgy handling and braking of a UHP tire, and that’s what you get with a UHP all-season tire like the Toyo Proxes Sport A/S.

Summer or UHP tires will harden and lose traction on colder days, which is why tire manufacturers advise against using them when temperatures are below 40-45 degrees F. Toyo has extensive experience in the motorsports world and tires like the Proxes R1R, Proxes Sport, Proxes R888R, and Proxes RA1 are all designed as street/track hybrid tires; tires that are DOT-approved for use on the street, but are designed for drifting and time trials on race day. They have leveraged that performance expertise into a tire with all-season traction with the Toyo Proxes Sport A/S+, so let’s go in and get a closer look with this Toyo Proxes Sport A/S+ review:

Features and Benefits

Here are some of the innovations and design features that make the Toyo Proxes Sport A/S+ such a standout in the world of UHP all-season tires:

• Advanced silica-infused tread formulation with Toyo’s proprietary Nano Balance technology helps deliver long wear, sticky traction, and excellent wet-weather grip
• Innovative dynamic taper design helps with road manners, traction, and stability
• Multi-wave siping pattern is designed to encourage long, even wear, keep road noise to a minimum, and enhance traction and braking in wet or dry weather
• Continuous center rib delivers sharp and immediate steering response as well as solid straight-line stability and road manners on the highway
• Alignment indicators are moulded into tread surface to give drivers an early alert to uneven tread wear and possible alignment or suspension problems
• Select sizes are certified for use with electric vehicles (EVs)
• Reduced rolling resistance for better fuel economy, longer battery life and range when used on EVs
• Built-in rim protector on sidewall helps guard the tire and expensive wheels against curb scuffs and scrapes
• Four circumferential grooves work as a system with angled grooves to effectively route water away from the tire’s contact patch and resist hydroplaning on wet roads
• UHP-style casing construction features high-tensile steel belts, high-hardness bead fillers, and stiffened, reinforced sidewall for responsive, accurate cornering
• Higher sipe density in the tire’s inner tread ribs for improved braking on wet or dry roads and winter traction in light snow
• Ribs and the contact patch are optimized for better weight distribution, improved braking and handling performance, and even wear
• Tread pitch is randomized and computer-tuned to neutralize certain frequencies and overtones, keeping road noise to a minimum
• Covered by Toyo with a 50,000 mile limited manufacturer’s tread life warranty

Pros and Cons

When it comes to the Toyo Proxes Sport A/S+, this is a tire where the pros definitely outweigh the cons:

PROS:

• Handling is sharp and accurate, even when pushed hard
• Advanced tread compound helps deliver long, even wear and confident grip in wet weather
• Low rolling resistance for fuel savings
• Backed by a limited tread life warranty of 50,000 miles
• Great traction
• Good dry and wet braking
• Stable at high speeds
• Low irregular wear

CONS:

• Can be noisy on some pavement surfaces
• Ride can be a little firm at times
• Not good in heavier winter conditions

SimpleTire’s view on Toyo Proxes Sport A/S+ tires

Are you familiar with SimpleTire’s SimpleScore system? SimpleScore is the rating method that the SimpleTire team developed to give you a quick overview of a tire’s strengths and weaknesses. We look at the tire’s specs, manufacturer information, customer reviews, and other data points, then process that as per 1-10 numerical values for the categories of traction, handling, and longevity, as well as for an overall average SimpleScore. In the case of the Toyo Proxes Sport A/S+, the SimpleScore results look like this:

Toyo Proxes Sport A/S+

• Traction: 9.3
• Handling: 9.3
• Longevity: 9.0
• Overall average SimpleScore: 9.1

Those great SimpleScore numbers are all backed up by the performance of the Toyo Proxes Sport A/S. Toyo leveraged all their technical know-how and expertise from the world of motorsports for the Proxes Sport A/S+, with its stiffened construction that helps resist the deformation and “tread squirm” that occurs when a vehicle is pushed hard into a corner or a quick maneuver. The solid center rib is designed for nimble, light steering response as well as stable road manners on the highway, and the system of wavy sipes, circumferential grooves, and angled grooves does a great job of removing water from the tire’s contact patch to resist hydroplaning.

On the highway, the Proxes Sport A/S+ is confident and correct, with good straight-line tracking and ride quality that’s a little on the firm side, but not so firm that the vehicle gets jittery and loses its composure on irregular or broken pavement. On freeway onramps or winding roads, the Proxes Sport A/S+ shows few vices in its handling, with little tendency towards understeer or oversteer; with an RWD vehicle, it’s easy to kick the rear end out a little, but then it will correct again as soon as you let off the accelerator. Road noise can get a little more noticeable on some pavement surfaces, but most of the time the Proxes Sport A/S+ is quiet enough to be a good complement for an EV, with their lack of engine noise and exhaust note.

The built-in rim guard is a handy feature, especially if your vehicle is fitted with expensive alloy or aluminum wheels that you want to keep looking good, and built-in alignment indicators molded into the tread are a great way of drawing attention to uneven tire wear before it becomes a real problem. This tire is available with a limited manufacturer warranty of 50,000 miles.

The Proxes Sport A/S+ doesn’t perform well in heavier snow (although its tread features enable it to handle a light dusting of snow on the road), but that’s not what a tire like this was really designed for. Where the Proxes Sport A/S+ excels is in delivering premium tire levels of UHP performance, balanced with the versatility of year-round traction. You can expect the price of this tire to be very attractive as per its features.

Vehicles The Toyo Proxes Sport A/S+ is a good replacement tire for

The Toyo Proxes Sport A/S+ isn’t featured as OEM on any vehicles, but it would make a great replacement tire on performance-oriented sports sedans, coupes, and crossovers such as:

• Acura TL
• Audi A6
• BMW 135i
• Dodge Challenger
• Chevrolet Corvette
• Kia K5
• Ford Mustang
• Honda Civic
• Chevrolet Camaro
• Subaru WRX
• Hyundai Veloster
• Jaguar XKR
• Lexus GS350
• Lincoln LS
• Mazda Miata MX-5
• Mercedes-Benz E550
• Nissan Maxima
• Pontiac G6
• Scion tC
• Subaru BRZ
• Toyota 86
• Volkswagen CC Sport