Wet grip is the clearest strength of the Uniroyal RainSport 2, with 133 positive mentions against two criticisms, followed by dry grip at 95 against eight. Comfort is also more often praised than criticised, while tread life is closely divided at 43 positive comments and 32 complaints. Around one in six criticise soft sidewalls, and smaller minorities mention imprecise steering or noise, with noise itself nearly evenly split. Repeat reviewers mostly remain favorable, but their scores and mileages do not show one consistent ageing trend. With an 81.4% average across 210 reviews, the strongest agreement concerns grip rather than long life or sharp steering.
What owners mention most counted across 207 reviews
I highly rate these tires especially at the price I paid. My Leon diesel is putting out 240hp and 365lbs and they handled the power in both wet and dry.
14,000 miles and still got about 2-3mm of tread left.
They are a great tire for the price and would buy again.
These tires were put in my Seat Exeo ST TDI170. Initially they were great, but they've now barely done 8000 miles and although still have 3mm tread left they inspire absolutely no confidence in the wet any more, feeling like they chronically understeer and scrabble for grip at even a moderate speed pull away. A puncture on one has forced my hand and they will be being replaced... for the sake of £10-15 per tire I'm going back to a truly premier brand like Michelin
Check out how the BEST all seasons tires perform against premium summer and winter tires!
These tires are quite sticky, I have to say changing from some previous sports tires I decided to go for these as a cheap alternative.
But, as it happens these were much grippier, people were asking me why I bought them, I said they're designed for wet grip and I live in England, what do you expect?
Which tires do you drive?
Researching the Uniroyal RainSport 2? Rate the tires you actually drive - and help the next buyer choose.
Had top name tires on the 330d msport it was terrible tram lining pull thought the car was faulty did a lot off research and went for rainsport 2 having fitted uniroyals to my cars years ago i cannot praise these enough rears need replacing 22k fronts still going strong the only thing i found was the side walls were soft so car seems to roll a little more in corners but doesnt loose grip wet or dry
Great tire but at a price due to the wear (lasted just 10,000 miles) also a bit noisy but they grip so well!! I can't afford them to wear so quick so I'm trying Michelin Energy Saver + due to their high ratings on the new scales so I'll see how they compare!
instantly smoother and quieter than the rock hard noisey bridgestone potenza's,which i replaced when still have plenty of tread,not driven far but instant improvement,the steering no longer feels over light on wet roads,can now trust the car and not aquaplane like the pots did with over half their tread left.
Having used Toyo T1R's for a long time on this car I thought I'd try the Rainsport 2's. Bad choice. The sidewall is too soft (which is what gives them good comfort and wet grip), so it makes the car feel like it's on a mattress. I had the same dry grip as a T1R, however I didn't feel confident turning in as quickly. The tire is not progressive and does not give good feedback of the road, causing you to back down earlier than you'd like. I have since put them in the back axle, with T1R's at the front and I am back to how it used to be, great. I do think these are good tires for this car for the BACK axle only, as it compensates for a light rear, providing that much needed grip.
Recommended
Excellent levels of grip
Fairly mid-range in terms of price
Confidence in driving in dry and wet conditions
Struggling to find a fault with them
Ofcourse, different cars and different set-ups will respond to different tires in different ways. Always keep that in mind. I would recommend this tire - I drive sensibly, allow myself to enjoy the 2.0L engine with the odd 'sprint' but my driving is dictated by the conditions - I can't, for instance, rate this tire on how safely it will go round a freshly snow covered incline corner at 100mph
I think I've had these fitted to my front wheels for about 18 months (or 15,000 miles) and I have just changed them. My car is a Fiesta ST..a 2.0L 16v FWD car putting out 150bhp and a lot (if not most) of my driving is done on national speed limit roads. So, when I was looking for tires I had some key factors in mind; a front wheel drive car; that I would once in a while allow the odd gear-box stretch; typical British weather; good wet grip but not at the expense of dry grip (and not winter tires).
I had these fitted for around £85-£90 each (inclu. VAT), and, quite simply, they delivered!
My Driving Style:
Like I said, most of my driving is done on national speed limit roads, so we're talking journeys of at least 60mph, but more often in the 70mph-80mph region. That said, I do a fair bit of driving around town too. I don't drive like a t**t nor do I push my car to the absolute limit; thats just stupid, but I do allow the 2.0L engine to enjoy itself every once in a while.
Grip:
Can't fault them in the wet or dry. Dry grip is very good. I've had tires in previous years that haven't been able to handle less power than I have now, I cannot think of a single time when these tires have let me down in any respect in the dry. The wet grip is very good also and gave me more confidence in the car should I ever need to perform any emergency manouvere in the wet or hit large amounts of surface water while travelling on the motorway - the latter of which has happened a couple of times - it takes a split second for the tires to adjust and they give you even more feedback (which is good anyway) and don't aquaplane.
In the snow we had at what must have been the start of 2012, these tires saw me through! of course, grip was a lot less than usual (one day of especially poor weather conditions sticks in my mind); driving in non-stop slush/snow/ice which had already settled on the road and continued to fall, and I drove accordingly (just like everybody was!)and these got me through dual carriageways, up hills, round bends and through town from work to home. For a large part of the dual carriage-way driving in this instance I was making the tracks in the snow and others were following - these tires were cutting through and were covered in snow but still offered a degree of grip
Wear:
Its all relative. I think the wear was reasonably good given the distances and speeds at which I generally travel. If I had spent £150 per tire then I would expect more, but I didn't - I spent almost half that per tire, and as such, I can't complain.
Comfort:
I did notice that these were slightly softer and not quite as rigid as the tires I replaced. But the grip was phenomenal; it felt like I was stuck to the road! If you feel for it, these tires will feedback everyting about the road to you. However, its subtle enough that it can go un-noticed if you want. Noise wasn't an issue, I suppose they got slightly nosier as they came within having to be changed but don't all tires?
Buy again?
Well I did, just yesterday (Jan 16th '13) at £98 per tire - slightly more expensive than last time so I'm guessing people are slowly catching on that these are good tires. I read so many reviews about so many tires leading up to changing mine and I honestly could not find one with a better review. Yes - you will find tires that display the same characteristics and last longer - but they'll cost you more also. Or will be better in one (perhaps non-essential) characteristic but at the expense of another.
VERY NOTEWORTHY POINT
A couple of days ago my nearside tire was punctured (they needed changing anyway but this sort of forced things along!). When I took the wheel off, the inside side-wall was in ruins. I don't know whether it burst or was a normal puncture made worse by the fact that I must have driven on it for about a mile and a half before I noticed the flat (I stopped twice but it was so dark and given that they're relatively low profile anyway it was very difficult to see). Now, you may jump to the conclusion of 'no thanks, not if it might burst' BUT bear these points in mind....
- these tires were probably passed their limit and needed changing anyway (thus quite thin)
- it has been incredibly cold and i've no doubt this made the tire more vulnerable (combined with the fact that it needed changing already)
- whenever and however it punctured, it didn't pull or impact the handling in any way, the car was still stuck to the road.
- Up to about 40mph there was barely any difference in handling, just a bit more noise
...and I just replaced them with exactly the same tire
I had never purchased uniroyal before but given that they were £30 (fitted) a corner cheaper than the next nearest top brand tire (conti) I cannot fault them at all. Wet grip is outstanding (as you would expect from a tire marketed as "the rain tire") but dry grip is also very good. They are very progressive an take some serious abuse to unstick them giving plenty of feed back in the process along with low road noise. The Tires themselves also look good with an agressive tread pattern, which is another bonus! As for wear I cannot comment as they have only been on for 2000 miles so far, However there is no discernible wear at the moment.
In summary these are well worth a look and compare in my opinion very well with other main brands that I have used but with the added bonus of very favorable pricing. The only downside
I can see is that the sizing is alittle limited but unless your running 19"s or some obscure rim
you should be able to find them in a suitable size. Overall these have to have a 9 out of 10.
Excellent, replaced Bridgestone Turanza ER300 and much prefer these. The bridgestones werent worn out (50% ish) but hit a brick in the road and blew one out. Always replace as a pair and these were great looking and a good price. Massive front end grip, car is FWD and 127bhp, but very light so its very easy to sping the fronts up on greasy British country roads. These show a marked improvement in wet weather traction off the line and cornering grip. As the name suggests! They did however take about 200miles to scrub in. The Puma is a superb handling car and these compliment the car very well indeed. They also ride a little softer than the Bridgeys. They so a soft sidewall so on a light car they are great, maybe not so great on a heavier car though. Having said that, the Conti Sports on the front of our A4 Audi are nearly done, so I will give these a shot on the front of that too and see how they perform on a heavier car. They also look brilliant which is a plus of course! Very much recommended. Shop around and they arent even expensive, the ones on the Puma cost £105 fully fitted for a pair including a free alignment check from F1AutoCenter, great value. As for wear, cant comment but who cares really unless its like 5k miles, our cars all get driven enthusiastically so just replace them when done, simple!
I had GY eagle F1's on my fiesta zetec s and absolutely loved them, I decided never to use another tire until they stopped making them in my size. The Rainsport 2 replaced them and I am just as pleased with them- in the wet they are fantastic, I actually look forward to it raining so I can blast round a roundabout and be amazed by how well they stick.
The sidewalls are very soft, even when inflated slightly higher than the normal psi. However I have grown to like this, it compliments my firm suspension and smooths out the road. There not an overly sporty tire and I do miss the goodyears in the dry, but everything considered and with the constant Northern Ireland rain I am very impressed and intend on using them again.
