Official OcUK Tyre Review & Guide thread!
- Thread starter Gibbo
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They came 2nd overall in the test...Are you feeling Ok?
Have you even read the results?! They were excellent in Aquaplaning both straight and curved, but merely mediocre in Subjective (wet), Lateral G & Lap time (wet).
They came 2nd in part because, and this is my point, subjectively they were very good in the dry.
It's really not that hard to understand, and I'm failing to see why you're unable to grasp this.
The Rainsport 2's, in this particular test, are rated as 2nd overall. Their Aquaplaning performance was second to none, but the rest of their wet performance, subjective or otherwise, was mediocre.
The OP clearly believes them to merely be 'Ok' in the dry. This going against the reviewer who marks them as very good, and thus second under dry performance.
The Rainsport 2's are significantly better than 'Ok' in dry prformance.
Can we just make something clear.
I am not reviewing the tyres, the idea was to collate mainly information in regards to sidewall stiffness of different tyres.
The in brackets where I've put OK dry, great wet comes from reviews I've read and other user comments. The reviews is further down and I've submitted two reviews of tyres on same car comparing against the previous tyres it had on.
I am sticking by that Rainsports are OK in the dry and very good in the wet. There are far many superior dry weather tyres out there which when compared against such tyres make these OK, is that so hard for you to grasp?
For me a tyre is either terrible, poor, ok, excellent/great or amazing/sublime.
So for me the Rainsport from reviews I've read, peoples comments I would come to the conclusion dry grip is OK, there are loads of tyres out there with better dry grip, Goodyear F1, Conti CS3, Conti P5, Michelin PS2, Advan AD08, Toyo R888 and more. So when in such company how on earth can the Rainsport be any more than OK, all of those tyres are superior in the dry.
Another review of the Falken FK452 on the Focus ST, only problem is I'm a tyre noob and tried these after rave reviews on Focus STOC.
Falken FK452
Car - Focus ST
Tyre size - 225/40/18
Previous tyre - Continental Sport Contact 2
Dry Grip – Never got the tyres to squeel so maybe I’m not driving it hard enough
Dry braking – Acceptable, they do squirm slightly under very hard, late breaking
Wet Grip – acceptable, don’t really push it in the wet, wife manages to get traction control light to flash like mad when setting off mind.
Wet braking – OK I guess but see above about not pushing in wet.
Sidewall – No idea how stiff it is
Turn in – It works but can feel a floaty at times
Feedback – As MrMoonX said you can really hear the road surface change and all the lumps and bumps through the wheel
Comfort – Quite a lot of road noise, not much give over bump either
Summary – For the money they are, for me, as good as the Continental Sport Contact 2 the Focus ST came with. I would like something with better wet performance next though. Also the fronts have developed a really annoying deformation that caused a lot of vibration. Wear rate is quite good as they have 4mm left on the front atfter 9000 miles of dual carridgway & motorway driving.
Falken FK452
Car - Focus ST
Tyre size - 225/40/18
Previous tyre - Continental Sport Contact 2
Dry Grip – Never got the tyres to squeel so maybe I’m not driving it hard enough
Dry braking – Acceptable, they do squirm slightly under very hard, late breaking
Wet Grip – acceptable, don’t really push it in the wet, wife manages to get traction control light to flash like mad when setting off mind.
Wet braking – OK I guess but see above about not pushing in wet.
Sidewall – No idea how stiff it is
Turn in – It works but can feel a floaty at times
Feedback – As MrMoonX said you can really hear the road surface change and all the lumps and bumps through the wheel
Comfort – Quite a lot of road noise, not much give over bump either
Summary – For the money they are, for me, as good as the Continental Sport Contact 2 the Focus ST came with. I would like something with better wet performance next though. Also the fronts have developed a really annoying deformation that caused a lot of vibration. Wear rate is quite good as they have 4mm left on the front atfter 9000 miles of dual carridgway & motorway driving.
Sounds to me like you've flat spotted the fronts, which normally comes from breaking very hard and locking up. If you want better wet performance, look at the Conti CS3's.
My point, all along, was do I beleive a random, who doesn't review tyres for a living, and doesn't work in the motorsport industry that the Rainsport 2's are 'Ok' in the dry. Or am I in fact more likely to beleive a professional reviewer with years of experience in the industry to tell me that the Rainsport 2's, are better than Ok.
It seems blindingly obvious to me that anyone who had driven the Rainsport 2's over 1,000 miles across different surfaces, and in varying conditions would tell you that the Rainsport 2's are better than 'Ok' in the dry.
yet strangely list your occupation as NHS IT
man of many talents it seems.
And only had them a month
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18191841
Excellent credentials !
and who would have thought that for such a seasoned tyre reviewer such as yourself. You'd need to ask us what tyre to use !
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18189718
FWIW, I had the same issue with vibration from the FK452s after a ****ing hard drive. I ruled out a flat spot because of the ABS, and put it down to our **** road surfaces over here - I've buckled/egged five wheels now in the space of about 18 months.
Nope the problem is just as Fox has said it depends on a persons expectations.
If I fit Rainsports to my car for example for me I would find turn in terrible, roadfeel poor to OK, dry grip OK and wet grip very good.
Because I've driven cars with R888, Advan AD08's, Michelin PS2's, Vredsteins, T1R's, Pirellis, Goodyear F1's etc. and when compared to those the Rainsports are just OK in dry grip because those tyres give a lot more dry grip, thats a fact, bar maybe the T1R, its probably about equal in dry but worse in wet.
For instance, the Vredstein Ultrac Sessenta is an OK/Good dry grip tyre, but for me I'd say its just above OK because in dry grip the Advan AD08 is vastly superior.
So on my scale of things and to my expectations the Rainsport will never be anything better than OK in dry grip for me.
Have you driven a car with R888's, Advans or high spec Summer tyre like Conti 5P or Michelin PS2?
I can guarantee you if you fitted a set of any of the above your dry grip would improve and it would improve massively with something like an R888, and then you'd too be thinking well when compared to a tyre like the R888 then yes I suppose the dry grip is just OK.
OK is not a bad thing, but there are far stickier dry grip tyres out there.
But as far as I am concerned the Rainsport 2 performs OK in the dry, its not excellent and its certainly nowhere near sublime.
You have highlighted the problem...perspective. Your perspective is a history of using sublime/fantastic/amazing tyres which specialise in dry grip performance. I would suspect, although please feel free to correct me, that these tyres mentioned are:
a) Significantly more expensive (than the Rainsport 2's)
b) Wear more quickly due to compound (T1R's & Eagle F1's)
c) More suited to the track, than the roads in the Uk.
The issue here is a random reading the thread would think: 'Ahh, the Rainsport 2's are only 'Ok' in the dry. I'll go get some T1R's instead.' Said random would then overcook a corner in the rain, lose control, and total car / possibly hurt themselves in the process. This is why perpective is needed. You cannot simply say 'x is just 'Ok' in the dry' and leave it at that. This is why you should leave tyre reviews to the Pro's - they have a proper perspective, we don't.
My view is that, so far in my experience with the Rainsport 2's, the dry grip is good, the wet grip is good, and all in all they are very confidence inspiring. I have no doubts there are better tyres for the dry, and better tyres for the wet, but as a package for your 'normal' consumer, there are few tyres which do so well when considering all factors.
I didn't think I had been braking that hard but its possible
I hadn't considered it had been something of my own doing.a) Yes I'd imagine they are more, but when it comes to tyres I want the best.
b) Not necessarily, Michelin PS2 a prime example would probably outlast your Rainsports, but more track focused tyres can last as little as 4000 miles, though the AD08's look good for about 8000ish which is not bad.
c) The AD08's are better on the road, more grip in the warm in both warm and wet, more predictable, more feedback. Its only poor on the road when temps drop, hence why I am now shod in Winter tyres.
In regards to T1R's, I really doubt the Rainsports would save you where the T1R's would not, simply because in dry they T1R is probably ever so slightly better and in the wet they are not hugely worse, they still work quite well, I had T1R's on the Mustang and they gripped fine in the wet with 600BHP, I am still alive. The issue here is not the tyre, but the driver. If I had to choose T1R's or Rainsports, I'd go with Rainsports as their dry grip won't be far off, their wet grip is superior and sidewall wise the Rainsport is no worse, possibly marginally stiffer.
You mention normal consumer, were not normal consumers though are we, this is a motoring forum full of enthusiest who many of do push the limits of their cars whether they admit to it or not, hence why I started a thread in regards to sidewall stiffness of tyres.
This is the problem, The Continental Uniroyal Rainsports are known to have superior grip to the Goodyear F1's, the Falkens and the T1R's in both wet and dry on the type of car I own however on somebody elses car the best tyre money can buy may be the Avon ZV3, tyre performance will change drastically from one car to another so the only way one persons opinion on grip would be valid would be if everyone on this forum drove the same car.
At the end of the day if you want to know what the best tyre is for your [car] find a forum dedicated to the [car] and ask there.
No offense meant
Soldato
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Nice thread title!
You have no idea how stiff the sidewalls are either, your guessing from feel based on the lateral stifness provide by a steel reinforced tyres and pneumatic spring. Just the pressure of the said 'spring' can make as much of a difference as switching brands, no sorry, i mean switching size, no sorry i meant switching corner weights.... wait hold on. This is getting a bit optional in terms of test conditions.....