Interesting Tyre Review - this month's EVO

[is1]

An interesting tyre review in this month's EVO (as well as a 20th birthday special on the Clio sports, with the Williams preferred).
The tyre review caught my eye because it featured (an evolution of) a tyre which a few years ago highlighted to me the importance of tyres and the effect they can have on a car - the UniRoyal Rainsport 2. It came second and beat the PE2 to fifth. It lost out only to Conti SportContact 3 (a new and undoubtedly VERY expensive tyre). A Rainsport 2 comes in at £68 in our Trophy size, a serious saving over the PE2s.

A few years back, I was going to sell my Daihatsu Charade GTti as it just seemed to be unruly in the wet, wasting drive through wheelspin and generally feeling "slippery" in the wet (it was lowered on mid-range springs but that was it mods-wise). It wore reasonable GoodYear (not F1) sports tyres. I needed to change tyres and came across the Rainsports, they were well-priced and I gave them a go.
They completely transformed the car in the wet and dry and just brought it alive, meatier steering, WAY better under braking in the wet and dry, really lively, clean and predictable.
The ONLY downside was an alarming rate of wear but that is possibly down to the fact that they enabled me to drive the car in a way that I did not think possible. Incredibly late breaking (note, no ABS on the GTti either), masses of grip and when they gave up to understeer, just lift off a tad and start again.
Anyone tried the Rainsport on the Trophy?
The EVO boys rate the Trophy and they report that the Rainsports outperformed the PE2s and cost significantly less.

 

[aucky]

FFS! I've just spent £200 on PE2s

 

[son of solo]

i think my R27 has those conti sport contacts on...

 

[trophy380]

Check this out: http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyres_For/ ... io-172.htm

 

[Berty]

I've not tried them, but the T1Rs on the front of mine are just about done. As I'm on a pretty tight budget at the moment I might give them a go, I was going to try the Dunlop SP Sport Maxx but at £68 a tyre the uniroyals are definately worth a try.

 

[Jamie]

Kuhmo's get a good review. Not sure how much the ones to get are - from what I've read on CS, a considerable saving on PE2's.

 

[is1]

With respect guys, my initial post wasn't about "low cost" or "cheaper" in itself. I would not bother with anything like Kumhos, Falkens etc.
My point was that this month's performance car bible (EVO) and my own subjective experience in the past of Rainsports albeit on a different car, was that they are possibly a BETTER tyre than the PE2 - the cost is just a fantastic bonus.

I would never do anything on cost alone and I would advise against budget tyres. I recall someone with a Trophy mentioning they had Falkens on the front and it torque steered quite badly and wasn't all that it was cracked up to be.
As we all know, the tyres are pretty much the most important aspect of a car.

I am getting a pair of Rainsport 2s for the front in the next couple of weeks just to try them out if nothing else. Will report once they have a thousand odd miles on them.

 

[marrow]

With respect guys, my initial post wasn't about "low cost" or "cheaper" in itself. I would not bother with anything like Kumhos, Falkens etc.
My point was that this month's performance car bible (EVO) and my own subjective experience in the past of Rainsports albeit on a different car, was that they are possibly a BETTER tyre than the PE2 - the cost is just a fantastic bonus.

I would never do anything on cost alone and I would advise against budget tyres. I recall someone with a Trophy mentioning they had Falkens on the front and it torque steered quite badly and wasn't all that it was cracked up to be.
As we all know, the tyres are pretty much the most important aspect of a car.

I am getting a pair of Rainsport 2s for the front in the next couple of weeks just to try them out if nothing else. Will report once they have a thousand odd miles on them.

Nice one - look forward to hearing how the new tyres perform.

 

[George K]

Don't knock the so called budget tyres - in many cases they are owned or at least partner a major well known make and are starting to become o.e. Certainly my own experience of both Hankook and Kumho is that they are at least very close to the top groupings and are major corporations in their own right.. For track tyres the Kumho is as good as any. For various reasons I have used both iterations of the Hankook Evo, the S1 and the V12 and both have been excellent. The V12 which had a very good group test in Germany on 215/45x17, is good on the road, returned very good times on the hills in both wet and dry conditions and seem to be wearing quite well.

Don't forget that a half worn two yearold tyre will always sound and feel very different from a new tyre, even of the same type.

These back to back test can be a bit misleading - you have to check where they are performed, as often this is at the Goodyear test centre in Belgium - they are then syndicated across magazines in several countries. Suspect that Uniroyal are no longer independet. I do remember when a Michelin came out top in the dry, only to find that it was at least half worn - which compares to a buffed semi-competition tyre and normally offers a significant time advantage.The Tirerack tests in the US seem to be more impartial.

 

[aucky]

Don't knock the so called budget tyres - in many cases they are owned or at least partner a major well known make

Uniroyal tyres are made by Continental iirc

 

[Trophy264]

anyone running the contact 3's the car could do with some new shoes soon and these seemed to own the PE2's

 

[ravydavygravy]

Bump.

Need to order 4 tyres. Anyone tried the continentals?

 

[is1]

Although I don't have them on the Trophy, I do have the Conti 3s on my Audi A3 Sportback 1.9 TDi (225/45/17) and they are no different to the Pirelli P Zeros that were on the car before. Obviously both pretty handy tyres but I don't think the car is a particularly good test mule. If pushed, I actually preferred the P Zeros.

Not sure the Conti 3s are available yet in 205/45/16(?)

 

[ravydavygravy]

Just checked - the contis start at 17".

Pe2's again then

 

[is1]

Why not the Uniroyal Rainsport 2s which came second if you are willing to do away with the PE2s?!! They're only £70 each. I can understand if you MUST have PE2s but if you're flexible ...
Uniroyal is a subsidary of Continental by the way.

 

[PB.283]

One thing to consider is PE2s will add value to the car as they are OE and Renaultsport spend ages choosing tyres.

When I bought me Trophy having PE2s all round was on my list of must haves and I dissmissed cars without them.

Although I then ditched them for Hankook RS2s but that was because I planned on doing a few trackdays and the PE2s sidewalls could not cope.

 

[Hozcat]

Does anybody know where the cheapest place to buy fully fitted PE2s is at the minute?

Cheers,
Hoz

 

[Jimbo]

Does anybody know where the cheapest place to buy fully fitted PE2s is at the minute?

Cheers,
Hoz

I'm picking up a pair from Camskill, delivered for £205. Fitting at my local dealer is £12 per tyre, so ~£230 fitted isn't toooo bad.

Considered the Uniroyals but... nah, would rather pay a few extra quid and stick with the tyres Renaultsport chose themselves.

 

[Gazza]

Does anybody know where the cheapest place to buy fully fitted PE2s is at the minute?

Cheers,
Hoz

I'm picking up a pair from Camskill, delivered for £205. Fitting at my local dealer is £12 per tyre, so ~£230 fitted isn't toooo bad.

Considered the Uniroyals but... nah, would rather pay a few extra quid and stick with the tyres Renaultsport chose themselves.

Jimbo, if its not too late just go to Cambridge performance tyres. They will match the price including fitting from past experience. I payed £205 fitted there before

 

[Jimbo]

Does anybody know where the cheapest place to buy fully fitted PE2s is at the minute?

Cheers,
Hoz

I'm picking up a pair from Camskill, delivered for £205. Fitting at my local dealer is £12 per tyre, so ~£230 fitted isn't toooo bad.

Considered the Uniroyals but... nah, would rather pay a few extra quid and stick with the tyres Renaultsport chose themselves.

Jimbo, if its not too late just go to Cambridge performance tyres. They will match the price including fitting from past experience. I payed £205 fitted there before

No not too late - was going to order them today. I'll give performance tyres a call. Nice one!