so essentially, a tyre marketed and developed to excel solely on wet weather has the edge over a similarly priced all round premium summer tyre.
Uniroyal rainsport 3 released
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so essentially, a tyre marketed and developed to excel solely on wet weather has the edge over a similarly priced all round premium summer tyre.
so the only person posting a comparison against the RS2 is someone with a set of worn potenzas...
my experience with rainsport 2 was that the grip levels were no better than average. feedback and steering response were ok but certainly nothing to write home about and wet and cold weather performance was a little better than the tyre that replaced it. They took a long time to wear out but that was pretty much the only feature about the tyre that I liked.
I put a set of Yokohama Parada Spec II on the car after the rainsports and they were better in every respect apart from the way they dealt with standing water.
It is rather bewildering that a tyre like the RS2 with a relatively soft sidewall is getting such praise from people with vehicles with massively benefit from stiffer sidewall tyres
I don't see why anyone would choose these tyres over a continental/bridgestone/dunlop/michelin given the price they are.
anyone else have any comparison info here?
I think it's a case of some car/tyre combinations working better together than others, I replaced a set of RS2's on a VTEC Prelude with Parada Spec II's so the reverse of the transition you made and I saw a noticeable loss of wet grip. On many Honda forums the RS2 used to have a rep for being just as good as an Eagle F1 but cheaper.
I don't think its developed solely to excel in the wet, the impression I have is that it its aimed to excel in the wet whilst still being competent in the dry, an aim I feel it has achieved, especially when you consider the RS2 a 10 y.o. design. Granted it is marketed for wet performance, it's name suggests as much, but it wouldn't be much cop if it was useless in the dry.
In the wet, yes it's my impression the RS2 had a slight edge over the PC5, the PC5 however I feel performs slightly better than the RS2 in all other areas, most notably dry braking and dry accelerating hard uphill from a stand still which caused the RS2s to skip a bit.
I'd say overall the PC5 is a slightly better tyre than the RS2, its certainly not leagues ahead but it is not hugely more expensive either so it would make sense in that respect.
As an aside I find the constant use of words like 'premium' and 'mid range' brands a bit of a misnomer -for me its really just overall performance vs price, as a tyre, I really don't care who its made by or how prestigious the brand is supposed to be. If Nankang suddenly started producing good tyres (lol) I'd happily consider them.
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Just had a quick look on camskill for my tyres as I noticed semed a bit slippery recently.
195/45/16 £53.50, I'll have a set... oh no I wont =NO STOCK=
Dammit
195/45/16 £53.50, I'll have a set... oh no I wont =NO STOCK=
Dammit
It's a tad complicated, but to sum it up, Uniroyal and Continental are both brand names of the car/truck tyre division of Continental AG. The Uniroyal/Continental car tyres are both designed by the same R&D people, made in the same factories, etc.
Soldato
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I've had these on the rear on my mr2 turbo for the past two years and i've been impressed with them, they replaced some Falken ZE914 which had lots of tread. The RS2s are better than these in all regards, especially wet grip. No surprises there though considering the ZE914 is pap.
However, my rear tyres are an awkward size (225/45/16) so i have very little choice when it comes to tyres.
However, my rear tyres are an awkward size (225/45/16) so i have very little choice when it comes to tyres.
You really don't like the Rainsports do you?
not really.
background story:
as they were on my Fiesta when i got it, i lived with them for a while.
I did some research into them on the ST forums and a lot of people were telling me that i was crazy and they were the best tyre they have ever used.
I personally didnt think that they suited the car and made the back end quite unpredictable. lateral grip was appalling no improvement was had once i took the car for alignment to eliminate the unpredictability being a suspension issue.
they were sort of the go to tyre on that forum.
Uniroyal Rainsport 2 are like the Breaking bad of Tyres.
Everyone goes on about how great they are and I am left wondering what all the fuss is about.
you have a type r. don't put squishy side walled tyres on it.
Soldato
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mattyfez said:
exactly my thoughts entirely. PC5 is the better the all round, but the sidewalls let both tyres down. Also, i found the rs2's absolutely shocking in the snow and ice. They were going to be poor anyways, obviously, but they were a whole lot worse than the pilot sports i had before that. Probably down to the lack of cross tread i guess. Havent had the opportunity to test the pc5's out but i'm sure they'll be better.
Oh and i got through my front set of rs2's in about 15k, which is pretty poor on the front of a citreon xsara I guess
I wouldn't particularly class rainsport as winter tyres, i would say they were more summer with emphasis on wet performance, that said i coped fine with them last winter and i live on a hill, but my car is also AWD so that probably helps somewhat.
Oh and i got through my front set of rs2's in about 15k, which is pretty poor on the front of a citreon xsara I guess
Id say 15k is fairly average for driven wheels.. There's always a tradeoff between grip and wear rate, harder compounds are just not as sticky. If you get a sport tyre like an eagle f1 or a spc5 I'd imagine you'd be lucky to get 10k, assuming you drove enthusiastically.
Hey guys,
I have had nothing but praise for RS2's on my Clio 172 which started its life with me running Avon ZV5's........(wet grip horrors tbh). I have been excited about the RS3's appearance.
Anyway, i was very suitably impressed with the RS2's which i have run for the past 2 years.
But, I have just completed a full suspension refresh in the Clio as it wasn't exactly what i hoped it would be and it would seem I have finally sorted it out at last, grips like a lunatic.
However, doing this has exposed the chink in the RS2's armor that has already been mentioned, cornering hard does roll the tyre wall quite some bit. I have messed with pressures and the rest to no avail. These are the XL variants too.
To prove that it wasn't just me being a bell end i swapped the RS2's with the Michelin Pilot Sport 3's that i have just splurged on and have been running in on the rear and by god there is a serious difference.
Yes, I know....very different price points but you can actually feel the difference in the sidewall strength, grip levels aside.
The Pilots feel scalpel sharp and the forces you can generate verge on the absurd.
£100 difference in a pair between the 2 but worth absolutely every penny if you have a handling focused car such as a Renaultsport Clio. I would say Integra's etc are all the same and everyone should be putting the highest standard tyre on that they can afford.
I mean, I cant even afford Pilots yet i am buying 2 more. They are ridiculous.
Just my 2p tbh
J
I have had nothing but praise for RS2's on my Clio 172 which started its life with me running Avon ZV5's........(wet grip horrors tbh). I have been excited about the RS3's appearance.
Anyway, i was very suitably impressed with the RS2's which i have run for the past 2 years.
But, I have just completed a full suspension refresh in the Clio as it wasn't exactly what i hoped it would be and it would seem I have finally sorted it out at last, grips like a lunatic.
However, doing this has exposed the chink in the RS2's armor that has already been mentioned, cornering hard does roll the tyre wall quite some bit. I have messed with pressures and the rest to no avail. These are the XL variants too.
To prove that it wasn't just me being a bell end i swapped the RS2's with the Michelin Pilot Sport 3's that i have just splurged on and have been running in on the rear and by god there is a serious difference.
Yes, I know....very different price points but you can actually feel the difference in the sidewall strength, grip levels aside.
The Pilots feel scalpel sharp and the forces you can generate verge on the absurd.
£100 difference in a pair between the 2 but worth absolutely every penny if you have a handling focused car such as a Renaultsport Clio. I would say Integra's etc are all the same and everyone should be putting the highest standard tyre on that they can afford.
I mean, I cant even afford Pilots yet i am buying 2 more. They are ridiculous.
Just my 2p tbh
J
To be fair though bud, in my size (195 45 16) nothing else comes close at the same price point @ £50.
Pilots come in at around 90 a pop.
J
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Think ill stick a pair of these on the escort as my rears are gong to need changing soon. Was always impressed with the RS2s on my golf other than being a little soft on the sidewalls, however they did wear well and I felt they offered good levels of grip in both wet and dry, Should be less than £45 fitted aswell as cam skill have them for £36 a tyre in my size.