Sorry tyres again

[Tvrstee]

Hi All
new to all this My first post
Time has come to, change my Toyo proxies t1r
Size 225 50 16 92w
Have seen the recommendations for the Uniroyal rainsport 3 but also see the rainsport 5 version are out now, anyBetter ?
But Also I’m thinking about replacing these with the Michelin primacy 4 as good wet rating A and rooling res C
Better than uniroyal ( A & E )
Has/ does anyone any experience of theses tyres on their chimearas
It’s a bit of a minefield and was hoping for all your expertise
Thanks in advance

[QBee]

I have Rainsport 3s on my Chimaera on 17 inch wheels, 215/45 and 235/45.
I also have 235/45 17 on my Saab estate.

Phenomenal grip even from cold, which I guess is where the poorer rolling resistance comes from.
However, the average TVR gets driven less than 3000 miles a year, so, given that a sensible person changes their tyres every six years max, prematurely wearing them out through higher rolling resistance is unlikely. I would happily exchange better grip and good wet grip for low rolling resistance.

My last Saab set did 21,000 miles on the front and 28,000 on the rears by the way. It is front wheel drive, hence the poorer life on the fronts.

The only very early reports I have heard about Rainsport 5s is that they are at least as good if not better than Rainsport 3s.

My only other comment is that Rainsport 3s have quite soft sidewalls, which suits the 45 aspect ratio tyres I use. I have no experience as to how they perform on 50, 55 and 60 aspect ratio tyres, but there's a good chance that Chimpongas will be along in his tea break with some insight, as I believe he has used them for a number of years on the standard wheels

[Tvrstee]

Thanks for the reply and very helpful expert content
All makes good Sense about sticking to the road but more resistance etc
Sounds like I can’t go wrong with either choice of the Rainsport Tyres , so now thinking might as well try the rainsport 5 as like you say may be a bit harder wall but just an update on the 3 and as good if not better

Thanks again 👍

[QBee]

The other thing to add about Rainsports is in the name.

The biggest problem with light weight, rear wheel drive TVRs, loads of power and no weight over the driving wheels, is found when you hit bad weather.
Sooner or later you are going to have an unexpected downpour, and then your car will start to do it's impression of Bambi on ice. It will try to swap ends on you and the nearest hedge becomes your resting place. Back in 2013 I had a 180 degree spin in mine in a downpour, before my Rainsport days. I got lucky - the traffic around me all stopped. But then, I was doing 15 mph at the time.

Rainsports do what it says on the tin - they let you drive with confidence in torrential rain. They also give you loads of grip when making that fast exit from a side road onto a main road in traffic in the dry.

[PhilF329]

Tyres obviously do matter but more important are appropriate driving style and tyre pressures for the conditions (and tyres). I have driven my Chim in snow / ice numerous times and my Cerby in torrential rain / greasy roads and had no problems, even though I don’t hang about, so I personally would be happy with any of the main brands allowing some time to figure them out.

[Belle427]

There isn't much in it when you read the reviews online so I'd go for whichever is cheaper.
Recently put some 3's on the front of mine.

[Classic Chim]

Belle427 said:

There isn't much in it when you read the reviews online so I'd go for whichever is cheaper.
Recently put some 3's on the front of mine.

This is the one.
As we just don’t put big miles into these cars tyre performance dulls off.
I think RS or soft compound tyres might just be better a year Into use after a cold winter stood!

You want race tyres brand new for a reason. Literally only a month old so old if you know your stuff.

so anything with a compound more akin to a car weighing 1.8 tonne will in time turn very very hard You can never really turn them on.
RS3 get warm or hot, they work with a car weighing one tonne and cheap enough to replace as part of maintenance and handling requirements every few years. Most Chims that slide about are on old or hard tyres that don’t get very warm. RS cut through water like a knife so you get a brill winter tyre thats excellent in the summer and not lethal in rain. My car grips like fook in rain now, I used to wheel spin in 3rd gear on old style tyres, that’s lethal on a motorway.

Lots of good tyres but just remember the miles you are likely to do and these winter style tyres make perfect sense, bonus my steering Wheel doesn’t bounce over bumps either

[ChimpOnGas]

My TVR Uniroyal story goes back years.

A long time ago I switched from Goodyear Eagles to Uniroyal Rainsport 2s, to be honest from there on I never looked back.

When the 2s needed replacing I switched to Rainsport 3s, these are excellent tyres again and also at a great price, the Rainsport 2s lasted longer than the Rainsport 3s but the 3s seemed to offer better grip so I'm assuming they are a softer & and more grippy compound.

I have no experience with the new Rainsport 5s and no idea why they skipped the 4 designation?, but I suspect I'll go 5's on the rear before MoT time in October as new rears are needed soon.

I'm 100% happy with the Uniroyal brand, so much so I'm sticking with them.

[indigochim]

I have RS3's all the way round and very happy with the grip wet/dry and the ride quality. A mate has just bought a set of RS5 and they look like the same tread pattern so I assume the same water shifting properties but if anything they feel softer in the tread blocks. We discussed that we'd both sooner swap tyres because we'd worn them out rather than them just getting old and ridged.

[Tvrstee]

Hi all
Thanks again for all your reply’s with valuable Info
Sorry I couldn't post back sooner as I’ve been locked out unable to post as a new member because of a message that other new members had been sending abusing post etc
Anyway update ,I’ve received this morning my new set of rainsport 5s got a great deal
£270 for the set of 4 ,back and fronts bought separately different companies and getting them fitted tomorrow morning from my local garage £10 a corner so £310 fully fitted . Getting laser wheel alignment done as well
£50 so very happy with this and can’t wait to try them out
Will give feedback when I’ve done a few good miles in all conditions 👍

[Jhonno]

Rainsport 5's or the MIchelins..

[QBee]

Tvrstee said:

Hi all
Thanks again for all your reply’s with valuable Info
Sorry I couldn't post back sooner as I’ve been locked out unable to post as a new member because of a message that other new members had been sending abusing post etc
Anyway update ,I’ve received this morning my new set of rainsport 5s got a great deal
£270 for the set of 4 ,back and fronts bought separately different companies and getting them fitted tomorrow morning from my local garage £10 a corner so £310 fully fitted . Getting laser wheel alignment done as well
£50 so very happy with this and can’t wait to try them out
Will give feedback when I’ve done a few good miles in all conditions ??

They will need 100 miles to scrub them in, (before you come back on here telling us there's no grip!!!)
That's because of the releasing agent.

[Tvrstee]

QBee said:

They will need 100 miles to scrub them in, (before you come back on here telling us there's no grip!!!)
That's because of the releasing agent.

Just had them fitted this morning
Thanks ,yes good advice , will Have them suitably scrubbed in Before I report back
I’m taking her to Blackpool next week To have a new back window and reupholstered roof
So that will give her a good near 300 mile rountrip
Looking forward to the drive already 😀

[Podie]

Morning all... Griff interloper looking at tyres.

500 non-PAS car currently shod with 205/55/15 and 245/45/16 on the orginal Estoril wheels

I can find Rainsports for the front, but nothing for the rear - so what would people suggest?

[QBee]

Podie said:

Morning all... Griff interloper looking at tyres.

500 non-PAS car currently shod with 205/55/15 and 245/45/16 on the orginal Estoril wheels

I can find Rainsports for the front, but nothing for the rear - so what would people suggest?

They do them in 225/50 16, which gives you almost exactly the same rolling diameter.
It depends on how wedded you are to the wider rear tyres?

I run my Chimaera on 215 front and 235 rear, just to get the rake. (they are 45 aspect ratio, 17 inch all round). I handles fine.
I have used 215 all round in the last and cannot tell the difference on handling

[Podie]

QBee said:

Podie said:

Morning all... Griff interloper looking at tyres.

500 non-PAS car currently shod with 205/55/15 and 245/45/16 on the orginal Estoril wheels

I can find Rainsports for the front, but nothing for the rear - so what would people suggest?

They do them in 225/50 16, which gives you almost exactly the same rolling diameter.
It depends on how wedded you are to the wider rear tyres?

I run my Chimaera on 215 front and 235 rear, just to get the rake. (they are 45 aspect ratio, 17 inch all round). I handles fine.
I have used 215 all round in the last and cannot tell the difference on handling

Looks like 225 is the sensible choice.

Toyos were ok, but was never over the moon with them anyway, so rainsports seem like the sensible approach. Seem to recall the Chims were shipped on 225 rears anyway?


ETA - looks like Rainsport 5, in 205/55/15 and 225/50/16 will be ordered later. Cheers

Edited by Podie on Saturday 4th July 17:09

[Tvrstee]

Hi all
As promised here is my update on the uniroyal rainsport 5 tyres
Been a while since I posted but have given enough time to sufficiently bed them in driving in all weathers ( not intentionally may I add ) and road types doing approx 700 miles
I’ve been really impressed by them, they seem well suited to the car ,handling seems more precise and better grip when cornering especially in the wet ,no tram lining etc .I do think they are definitely an improvement on the Toyos and also think they are slightly softer in the tyre wall helps you stick to the road although does give out a little more road noise but hey ,when you have that V8 sound track playing ,who cares !
I’m really pleased I decided to go with these and would definitely recommend them
thanks again for all your help and advice
Cheers all

[never_thought_id_buy]

Replaced my (17 years old!) Toyos in June 2020 with Rainsport 5s. My '98 Chimaera is running 205/50 R16 fronts and 225/45 R17 rears - no idea what the wheels are as they're what it came with but the width and offsets are as per the factory wheels. Admittedly comparing rock hard old tyres with new ones doesn't tell you a lot but I found the Rainsports instantly more confidence inspiring both in the wet and dry.

There seemed to be a bit of wander at motorway speeds but other than that I've no complaints. Except that they foul the bottom rear of the wheel arch at or near full suspension droop, which the Toyos never did despite still having ~6mm of tread (yes, I know, clearly not trying hard enough for them to still have so much tread). That will be an MOT fail, so some fibreglass removal is called for...

[QBee]

It isn't difficult, just do it carefully.

[geordiepingu]

never_thought_id_buy said:

Replaced my (17 years old!) Toyos in June 2020 with Rainsport 5s. My '98 Chimaera is running 205/50 R16 fronts and 225/45 R17 rears - no idea what the wheels are as they're what it came with but the width and offsets are as per the factory wheels. Admittedly comparing rock hard old tyres with new ones doesn't tell you a lot but I found the Rainsports instantly more confidence inspiring both in the wet and dry.

There seemed to be a bit of wander at motorway speeds but other than that I've no complaints. Except that they foul the bottom rear of the wheel arch at or near full suspension droop, which the Toyos never did despite still having ~6mm of tread (yes, I know, clearly not trying hard enough for them to still have so much tread). That will be an MOT fail, so some fibreglass removal is called for...

I did a recent swap from 8 year old Toyo T1Rs that started splitting to RS5s, and can definitely agree with you with regards to the wet grip. It's phenomenal. I've never had the confidence to make as much progress in the TVR in the wet until I put RS5s on. I do however notice a significant more bit understeer from the front now, and the dry grip is definitely not as good. The bigger complaint actually is the sidewalls feel a lot tougher than the T1Rs - so much that the ride feels noticeably stiffer. My car is due in for its 12,000 service next weekend so I'll see about getting an alignment done with a bit more toe in and camber to see if that cures the understeer.

The car is on the standard 15/16 Imolas with a Nitron damper & Eibach spring fast road setup, factory roll bar, 205 and 225 respectively with it being a non-PAS car. Whilst it's more stiff than most Chims, I felt like the RS5s were almost borderline uncomfortable, whereas it was reasonably comfortable with the T1Rs. I wouldn't say adjusting the damping to be softer would fix this as the pre-rebound hit of a bump is quite jarring.

RS5s an improvement over the T1Rs? On the road yes.
Could I corner faster in the dry with T1Rs? Yes.
Were the T1Rs more likely to kill me being dry rotted to hell? Yes, get rid of ANY old tyre!
Is buying T1Rs the answer? No
Overall thoughts? Mixed. I like a proper fast road car that I can occasionally track, I think by personal preference I need to find a dry tyre and keep the RS5s for a rainy day. We'll see how a geometry tweak goes. I suspect if I go to a proper dry tyre, I'll end up back where I started having dismal wet grip. Had a friend recommend me some R888s - I have them in mind if I still have gripes over the RS5s.

Wouldn't be PistonHeads unless one of us had a controversial opinion

Edited by geordiepingu on Sunday 21st February 20:17