Uniroyal RainSport2 (Anyone Tried Them?)

[ChimpofDarkness]

Sadly it looks like the Toyo T1-R is impossible to get hold of.

I placed my initial Toyo order with Tyre Traders a few days ago, and they have let me down badly.

I've just phoned Camskill only to be told Toyo UK have no stock of the T1-R and show no re-order date.

This popular TVR tyre has apparently been discontinued!

I was offered Uniroyal RainSport2, has anyone tried them?

Thanks, Dave.

Edited by ChimpofDarkness on Thursday 1st November 11:47

[phazed]

See other thread.

[ChimpofDarkness]

Anyone with Rainsport 2s on their TVR?

Your feedback would be much appreciated.

Dave.

[Sevenman]

Depends how much you want wet-weather focus given their rain orientation.

Uniroyal are Continental's second-tier tyre brand so make decent quality tyres.

If you want a T1-R replacement, try the new T1-Sport from Toyo. I had a set of these fitted to my Tamora in April and they have been working very well. Not a V-Groove design, but that seems to be falling out of favour.

[mad4amanda]

Not on a TVR but we put them on the wife`s civic this year and they are excellent good wet and dry performance , the only thingI did was increase the tyre pressures slightly as they felt like they were tucking under on hard cornering, made me wonder if the sidewalls were softer than the Michelins we had used previously .
Wear rate seams good and wet grip is as good as the name would suggest.

[ChimpofDarkness]

Sevenman said:

Depends how much you want wet-weather focus given their rain orientation.

Uniroyal are Continental's second-tier tyre brand so make decent quality tyres.

If you want a T1-R replacement, try the new T1-Sport from Toyo. I had a set of these fitted to my Tamora in April and they have been working very well. Not a V-Groove design, but that seems to be falling out of favour.

Thanks Gavin, this all got thrashed out over in the Chimp cage in the end:

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

Sadly & from what I can tell the Toyo T1-Sport aren't available in 205/50R16

So I went with the Rainsports in the end as I can't find a bad word about them anywhere, only praise.

At the end of the day they are RAIN - SPORT, which pretty much describes what I an looking for.

Ever since one rainy day when I witnessed a Tuscan aquaplane on the M1 and destroy itself into the central reservation I decided one thing.

"These cars are very light and need a good rain shedding tyre if they are going to be safe in the wet"

[Sevenman]

Just read that thread, shame about the sizes, but it sounds like a good decision on the tyres.

Grip is everything. For some people that means dry grip in warm conditions on the track, but there are going to be compromises elsewhere.

Having a tyre than is good for spirited driving but also has good grip in bad conditions is the best plan.

Doing a trackday at Goodwood on a day of continual heavy rain showed what a difference having good water dissipation makes.

[heightswitch]

Got them on our TFSi A4 Quattro, principally because the boss drives up and down Hartside pass most days. Tyres are a bit harsher with a little more road noise but very very good in the wet, particularly with standing water in ruts etc..still more than acceptable in dry conditions.

No doubt some will prefer a dry profile but for daily driving, especially in this country I don't think they can be beaten. Very competitive pricing as well when compared to the more blingy named tyres!!

[NiceCupOfTea]

Fitted a set to my Saab 9000 2.3T earlier in the year and am very impressed. Traction much better, handling much improved, much less understeer and great in the rain. I have run Toyos on my other cars for years (wife's Puma, my MX-5, and my Saab 900) which seemed decent enough, but it's not like I throw the cars about much on public roads and let's face it, most driving is done on damp roads. My TVR currently uses Bridgestones from the previous owner, but I think I will be slowly migrating over to the RainSport2s when ever any of the cars need new tyres.

[Andy JB]

Key point here we are all missing is the new T1Sport is not available in the sizes to replace 15-16 inch wheels on 80-90's TVR's for which the T1R satisfied very well.

A worrying prospect for the future without changing wheel & tyre sizes

[NiceCupOfTea]

The Rainsport2s are available in 16".

[ChimpofDarkness]

Andy JB said:

Key point here we are all missing is the new T1Sport is not available in the sizes to replace 15-16 inch wheels on 80-90's TVR's for which the T1R satisfied very well.

A worrying prospect for the future without changing wheel & tyre sizes

Well I didn't miss that point, in fact it's exactly why I created the posts.

If Goodyear was offering their new(ish) Eagle F1 Asymmetric in my size I probably would have just bought those, but they don't, & nether does Toyo offer their new T1Sport in my size either

I've always just assumed Toyo follow Goodyear, Toyo's tread patterns & sizes always seem follow two to three years behind a Goodyear new product release.

Toyo also seem to run their version of the Goodyear pattern two or three years after Goodyear have discontinued the original.

Have a look at a Toyo T1R, it's almost identical to the old Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD3, Toyo released the T1R three years after the Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD3 was launched.

When Goodyear ditched the Eagle F1 GSD3 three years ago in favour of their new Eagle F1 Asymmetric, the Toyo T1R continued.

Now the Eagle F1 Asymmetric is three years old, Toyo give us the T1Sport, which surprise surprise looks very similar to the Eagle F1 Asymmetric.

And the sizing issues seem to follow too, when Goodyear revealed three years ago that it wouldn't be offering their new Eagle F1 Asymmetric in 16", it made sense Toyo would follow suit with their T1R replacement.

Perhaps Toyo are just running three years behind Goodyear in the technology race, but there may even be some sort of licensing deal between Goodyear & Toyo.

Toyo get a three year old tyre design but cut out all the expensive development work, they then pay Goodyear a set figure per tyre produced.

Goodyear hold the licence back for three years before releasing it to Toyo, this helps protect their status as a technological leader is tyre design and helps them recover the development costs of the new tyre.

After the three year licence protection period a deal like this would allow Goodyear to effectively start accessing an untapped revenue stream within the discount tyre customer base, without devaluing their quality brand identity.

It's a common business model that would work for Goodyear & Toyo too, so everyone's a winner, who knows Goodyear may even own Toyo.

Any how, lets just hope Uniroyal continues with the Rainsport 2, interestingly the Rainsport 2 are actually made by Continental.

My new Rainsport 2's turned up yesterday, I've not tried them yet but I should be able to give an honest review of them over the coming winter months

Perhaps Uniroyal is just Continental's budget brand & the Ransport 2 will soon be replaced with something that looks like a tyre Continental released three years ago

Either way, as time goes on and the trend for manufacturers to build cars with ever bigger rims increases; I fear it's going to become increasingly difficult to find decent performance tyres in the smaller sizes.

Especially 15"

The fact I've got 16" rear Imolas on the front of my Chimaera (rather than the 15" ones TVR fitted) may only help my tyre choice options for a while.

[Sevenman]

ChimpofDarkness said:

Perhaps Uniroyal is just Continental's budget brand & the Ransport 2 will soon be replaced with something that looks like a tyre Continental released three years ago

I had a meeting at Continental's UK distribution centre last week (which is an impressive place).

Continental is their premium brand, Uniroyal is Continental's 'quality' brand and Semperit is Continental's 'budget' brand.

From the wikipedia page on Toyo tyres:
November 1986 Nippon Giant Tire Co.,Ltd. established.(J.V.company with Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company.)

So there may still be some linkage between the two, but they also offer some very different tyres (e.g. 888s) and I am not sure that the changes to / from V-groove mean there is a flow-down of tyres between them.

[ChimpofDarkness]

Sevenman said:

I had a meeting at Continental's UK distribution centre last week (which is an impressive place).

Continental is their premium brand, Uniroyal is Continental's 'quality' brand and Semperit is Continental's 'budget' brand.

From the wikipedia page on Toyo tyres:
November 1986 Nippon Giant Tire Co.,Ltd. established.(J.V.company with Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company.)

So there may still be some linkage between the two, but they also offer some very different tyres (e.g. 888s) and I am not sure that the changes to / from V-groove mean there is a flow-down of tyres between them.

Cheers Steveman, that's an interesting bit of Continental brand/market sector info.

Here's a who owns who in the tyre world.

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article/who-owns-what...

So it seems my suspicions are correct & Toyo are indeed a joint venture company with Goodyear.

Their 888 tyre is certainly an interesting product, but it's a niche market tyre that I wouldn't want on my TVR should I find myself in a heavy downpour.

The 888 has also just lost it's EU stamp, so it's effectively an MoT failure and illegal on the UK public highway.

If you have an accident wearing these boots, expect your insurance company to refuse your claim.

Tyres are the first thing the assessor will look at, because statistically it's one of the most likely components on your car to contribute to an accident, especially when worn.

And it's no secret tyres wear out, I for one want decent rain shedding tyres on my TVR, not semi-slick illegal track day specials.

Whatever the tyre industry back story is I'm just glad I no longer run 15" wheels on the front, 15" tyre choice is getting very limited these days with only the budget brands still bothering with it.

I don't know about everyone else, but I wouldn't want budget tyres on my 150mph plus TVR

Lets hope my new Uniroyal Rainsport 2 tyres are as good as they say they are, pleasingly along with all the prais on PH I've just found out they won a "Which" best tyre award.

Fingers crossed, they'll suit my Chimaera, if so I'll bung a set on the rear too.

You should never skimp on brakes or tyres.

Edited by ChimpofDarkness on Tuesday 6th November 20:18

[davep]

Bridgestone are still offering a 15 inch quality tyre with their Potenza Adrelanin RE002, they've even taken the trouble to include TVR in their website's tyre selector feature:

http://www.bridgestone.com.au/tyresearch/TyreResul...

[Sevenman]

ChimpofDarkness said:

Cheers Steveman, that's an interesting bit of Continental brand/market sector info.

Here's a who owns who in the tyre world.

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article/who-owns-what...

Steveman?

Agree about the 888s. I have a number of friends who use them. Some people keep them on all year, but this release from Toyo (link below) shows what a bad idea that is. Unless they were on a separate set of wheels for track use I wouldn't use them.

Toyo notes on 888s in cold temperatures

Useful info on who owns who in the industry.

[ChimpofDarkness]

Sevenman said:

Steveman?

Agree about the 888s. I have a number of friends who use them. Some people keep them on all year, but this release from Toyo (link below) shows what a bad idea that is. Unless they were on a separate set of wheels for track use I wouldn't use them.

Toyo notes on 888s in cold temperatures

Useful info on who owns who in the industry.

Lol, Sevenman not Steveman, sorry about that mate

That 888 cracking issue looks very scary

Funny how things work out, I've just discovered one of my cousins was involved in the Uniroyal Ransport 2 launch.

[RedSpike66]

ChimpofDarkness said:

You should never skimp on brakes or tyres

Some very interesting & valuable information in those wonderful posts guys. If I had to take one thing from it all, it's that - Don't skimp on brakes or tyres. Amazing how people can spend £40k on a car like a Sagaris, and then cut corners with tyres and brakes.

I've put Hankooks on my Sagaris at the moment - they had very good reviews everytwhere I looked, regularly came in the Top Three in many tests, and are certainly not a budget brand - £200 each - Hankook have come a long way.

Probably nobody has tried Hankooks on a TVR, but I thought I would give them a try, as someone has to be first. If they're rubbish, my loss, if not, then it's another option to consider for the future for everybody else.

Have to say I'm really, really, pleased with them, in both the wet and dry, country lanes, motorways and track days. I'll certainly consider Rainsport2's in the future too.

Edited by RedSpike66 on Tuesday 6th November 21:45

[spartridge]

ChimpofDarkness said:

The 888 has also just lost it's EU stamp, so it's effectively an MoT failure and illegal on the UK public highway.

If you have an accident wearing these boots, expect your insurance company to refuse your claim.

Edited by ChimpofDarkness on Tuesday 6th November 20:18

Just FYI this is incorrect. I was recently persuaded off R888 as I was told this. I was unhappy with my choice of replacement (Yokahama AD08s - OK, but I need a pretty grippy tyre!) so I picked this up with the tyre retailer and also Toyo UK direct. Turns out there was some confusion but bottom line is that they remain legal and will be for the foreseeable future. My insurance company also confirmed there was no issue. I'll be going back onto R888 next spring.

I can, however, confirm they are crap in standing water or cold temperatures so will keep the AD08s on for the winter!

[alanj9]

Hi all,

Just to clear up the confusion regarding Proxes T1R.

T1-Sport has replaced T1R but only in 17" rim diameter and above. The T1R is still available in 14" to 16", and will continue to be for the foreseeable future.

205/50R16 T1R are available and in stock.

Best regards

Alan Meaker

Technical & Motorsport Manager
Toyo Tyres (UK) Ltd

01933 414537