Drivers generally report the Uniroyal RainSport 3 delivers standout wet-weather performance, with excellent aquaplaning resistance and strong wet braking/traction that boosts confidence in heavy rain. Many also find it good-to-very-good in the dry for normal road use and strong value for money, often with a comfortable ride. The most repeated downside is rapid wear, and a notable minority mention soft sidewalls that can reduce steering precision or feel unstable when pushed hard (especially on heavier or more powerful cars).
What owners mention most counted across 257 reviews
Have now replaced the Rainsport 2's with 3's on the rear of my vRS so now have 3's all round. Great reduction in road noise.Directional stability greatly improved. Recent rainstorms have proved to me that this tire is an excellent rain tire with superb grip giving confidence in corners and fast straights.
Awesome tire 235/35/19s FWD car is running at 320bhp, more importantly with a tire a balding 550nm of torque. They replaced the excellent Goodyear eagle Assy 2s with a disappointing 2.4mm at approx 7000miles, no real noticeable difference for me.
Also one of the best looking tires I've ever had. Cost £254 fitted for the pair, £60 cheaper than the Goodyear F1s at the time.
Cant say say much about comfort due to the low 35mill profile.
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Not long replaced the Uniroyal RainSport 2's for the 3's and they have definitely improved on an already great tire. For the money you can't get a better tire. Excellent in all conditions!
I recently purchased a Mercedes SL320 for summer use. It came with 275/35/18 Dunlop SP9000 sports on the rear and 225/40/18 Three A tires on the front. The car had only covered about 10000 miles in the last 13 years and while there was plenty of tread on the Dunlop's they were obviously old and were showing signs of cracking. The Three A's were new when I bought the car and had been put on so it could pass it's MOT. Being a budget brand I had never heard of I was not happy keeping them on what is a heavy car with reasonable performance.
I decided the only option was to replace all the tires and having done some research and looking at the various reviews I decided to go for the Uniroyal Rainsport 3 as these seemed to be a good compromise between quality and price. Due to the sizes available I opted for 265/35/18's on the back and 235/40/18's on the front. OK this car will never do a high annual mileage but in the 700 odd miles I have done since having them fitted (taking advantage of the great summer weather) I can make the following comments:-
The car tracks in a straight line!
The tires are far quieter
The ride is more compliant
It now corners and grips far better
It has been driven in a thunderstorm and I could not detect any discernible difference to the dry weather grip.
So overall I am very pleased and even though my mileage on them is and will be limited I feel they are exceptional value for money.
I can only compare these to the Avon ZV5 tires that were on the car before, but I hope this is helpful to someone. I've put that I wouldn't buy these again because on balance I would be going back to the Avons. There's not a huge amount of difference and they're definitely good tires, but it's the nature of the differences that bothers me.
The Uniroyals are called "rainsport" and have a very cool looking tread pattern, but they're really not very sporty. In comparison with the Avons they feel like they have a lot of lateral "sloppyness" - when you corner hard it feels like the tires are sticking to the road OK, but the tire cross-section is now not so rectangular and is more a parallelogram so the back moves out like you've got rear wheel steering. The Fiat Croma is probably not the best example of a car that corners on rails, but this is subtly like cornering in a boat. The tires are also a little under damped - they "boing" like a space-hopper. If you hit them like a drum, they ring - this is actually really annoying: I thought a bearing was going because there was a droning noise. I've just jacked up the car to check and the bearings are fine, but the tires "ring" and you get a background drone on most surfaces - particularly around 30-40mph - the pitch stays constant with speed so I'm convinced it's the tire resonance and not a bearing. I imagine this could be worse on my car than most because of the rear wheel camber angles and the nature of the tread on the outside of the tire, but it's been bothering me and the Avons didn't do it. Also, if you push the car sideways while stationary, it "squishes" side to side more than the Avons did (at the same tire pressure).
On the plus side, droning noise apart, these tires are quieter than the Avons on rough road surfaces (they take small ruts and bumps like cats-eyes particularly well). They are quieter on the motorway and are generally more "comfortable" - presumably a consequence of being that much more pliant.
These ones have got the rubber flange that protects your alloys from kerbing, they're safe and sensible tires. They may be just what you're looking for. I get almost identical fuel economy and the wear rates look good so far - on target for around 24k miles on the back. I just don't like the way they handle or the droning noise.
89%
Member
Audi
225/45 R17 W
4,000 miles
A Combination of Roads
Easy Going
Driven 6000km in 3 months, absolutely perfect.
Even in highway when road suddenly ended and had to make emergency stop from ~90km/h between lorrys and cones, they had unbelivable grip for that price range. Car just stopped like it was glued to tarmac.
In wet drove throu some big puddle and nothing, car went straight, no aquaplaning or nothing.
Still have 8 - 8,5mm tread left. Like new.
Best tires for this price. Yes they feel little soft but on the other hand they are pretty quiet and for 225/45R17 tires they are very comfortable.
Just fitted four Uniroyal Rainsport 3's to my 20022 Saab 9-5 HOT aero estate. Previous tires where Uniroyal Rainsport 2's which I was pleased with but these Rainsport 3's are fantastic and have transformed the car. While writing this I've only just had them fitted and done about 20 miles but I am extremely impressed at how quiet they are. Dry grip and steering response seem fine in the dry hot July weather so I can only report that I am impressed with the grip and braking in the dry. If they perform as well in the rain and the wet, I'll be well pleased and I'll report further. I'll also report again at how well they last but for the moment at least I'm very pleased and very glad I chose them - and they weren't that expensive either!
Great tires. Amazing in wet and also in dry. But wet it is amazing; You can almost hit a puddle of water at high speed and they will almost act like brakes. No aquaplaning. Highly recommended if you live somewhere where it is raining nonstop. The down side is that after 6 months, they only have 2000-3000km left. I do do a lot of km (Ive done over 21600km in these tires)
Just fitted this tire all round - Previously praised Unis rainexpert tire for sorting out my Mx-5 wet handling & these have vastly improved my Z3 handling feeling a lot more secure - have not tested yet in really bad rain but v happy so far!
What an awesome tire! My previous tires where rainsport 2, and they where good enough,abit numb but ok. These rs3 are in another league of performance! Absolutely stick to the road in the dry, and wet grip is amazing! Can take corners in the rain like you can in the dry..very impressed..can't really judge wear as not had then long..seem to be wearing on the sides...having said that I drive pretty hard.
