**Unofficial Tyre Thread**

I have ordered a set of Rainsport 3's..

They were only £55 each so hopefully a bargain but they can't be any worse than the Potenza's.

Cheers
 
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I think the reason people like them is that with most midrange tyres such as Falkens, Kumhos etc, the main thing you lose against the premium brands is wet grip, and with the rainsports you don't.

The issue I have with them is the the sidewalls feel quite soft, which you do very much notice in the dry compared to the market leaders, but then again you have to drive harder than 99% of the general public ever will for that to become noticeable.

A lot of people who buy them will be coming from tyres like the Dunlop Sportmaxx or Pirelli P Zero, which although premium, aren't anywhere near as good as something like the CSC6 or MPSS.

I agree that anyone saying they're as good as any of the latest premium offerings is talking rubbish, but you can definitely see the appeal.
 
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The Rainsports are a very good mid-range tyre, suitable for a 'normal hatchback' especially with the potential for wet weather here in the UK. My girlfriend's car has them all round, and it always feels very sure-footed even in torrential rain. They're not a patch on the usual UHP suspects, though, and it's unfair to compare them as such.
 
[TW]Fox;29437257 said:
Rainsport is the latest tyre the internet have convinced themselves is amazing because it's really cheap. Just like the old Falken 452.
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It's also because it has the words rain and sport in its name and must therefore be awesome.
 
geraintl said:
really have not been impressed with mine they dont feel planted on the road
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That could be down to the tyre being poor. It could also be caused by poor geometry, incorrect tyre pressures or some other factor.

Your opinion seems to be subjective, which is totally fine. Objectively though, the ASY2 is a much, much better tyre than the Rainsport 3 so you should expect it to perform even worse...

...unless you put on the blinkers in a true case of purchase justification syndrome :D
 
I've just move from Rainsport 3 to F1 ASY3.

The main issue i had with the RS3's was the sidewall being really soft, Just pushing the side of the car by hand would see massive movement. Granted the smaller profile tyre i've now got will help too, but that has pretty much gone now.

I could consider them in the furture possibly for a car i'm not looking to throw around too much. But for the sake of maybe £20-25 a tyre in my current size for example, it's probably not worth it.
 
I did think about trying cheaper tyres since keeping the current car but ended up getting AS3 fitted. Swapped the old AS2 onto the front and I'm still so so so so impressed by them.

Driving the A82 at 11pm in the dark/rain with 100% confidence in the tyres, even on slow(40mph) sharp ones it just gripped.
 
I'm getting quotes of £150-£160 per tyre for Pilot Sport 4's (or about £145 on black circles). I'm also getting quotes for £135 for Conti SC5. Is the PS4 worth a little more than the CS5? at 255/35/18 on a 3 series.
 
[TW]Fox;29437257 said:
Rainsport is the latest tyre the internet have convinced themselves is amazing because it's really cheap. Just like the old Falken 452.
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They are good but my god they are soft. Did what they said on the tin though, gripped and never lost traction. Now time to try ASY2 as the wife doesn't like how the car feels and I have to agree.
 
Im assuming best tyres for a e92 335i are PSS? Alternatives?

Whilst i dont drive like a bell, I do occasionally have a blast on some nice backroads but noway near the limit so a racing tyre i need not!
 
The ContactSport 6 is a better all round tyre than the PSS based on my experience so far covering over 1000 miles in them (@20k on the PSS). Most especially on our UK roads.

Though that is if they're available in your size.

No point getting PSS now, too expensive, too end of line.
 
mrk said:
The ContactSport 6 is a better all round tyre than the PSS based on my experience so far covering over 1000 miles in them (@20k on the PSS). Most especially on our UK roads.

Though that is if they're available in your size.

No point getting PSS now, too expensive, too end of line.
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While you may be right about the quality and performance of the Contis my reservation about them is how they'll wear. I've had a few Michelins, most recently the PSS, and they have all worn exceptionally well.

My past experience of Contis is that they simply don't last well, I'm talking 8-10k miles before they're finished. This was on a 2008 Ford Mondeo, so a fairly heavy FWD car, where my Michelin experiences have all been on BMWs, but my current PSS (on M135i) are now on over 30k and still have 4-5K miles left in them (and they've been on track twice as well).
 
Havana_UK said:
I wouldn't think so as that chunk is just out of the rim protector, basically doing its job. You might want to improve your not-driving-into-kerbs skills though looking at those wheels!
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ahah thanks, I just bought the car, last week, and my dad has a shop around the corner which I always drive to (takes as long to drive to as it does walk i'm just lazy). Some inconsiderate fool in a mk3 golf hadnt parked their car in their diagonal car parking slot properly theres also a huge chunk of pavement which they are able to go onto which doesn't impede pedestrians as its necessary for bigger cars to park on anyway.
As there was an unfortunately placed post on the opposite side stopping me from going onto the kerb, I wasn't left with much choice.

I'm looking for some used replacement alloys as well although on a tight budget.
 
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