Just to let you know, got a set of uniroyal rainsport 2's today, 205/45/16 v rated for £61.49 each fitted, balanced and valved, the lot - good service too. The w rated were £71.49 each.

Britannia Tyres, Coventry. They have branches in Hinckley, Derby, Bristol, etc too.

Great tyres too, handling, ride and noise improved over the OEM conties, not sure about mpg or wet weather capability yet though, will find out tomorrow I guess!

Hope this is of some help to someone.

just beware , there has been a thread on here recently about these tyres , they were splitting on the inner sidewall away from the tread surface, although maybe it was Avons , not sure

plus shouldn't you be using 'w' rated tyres on the VRS ?

Edited 23 October, 200916 yr by ric04vrs

W rated only?? Why? Are they all capable of 150mph??

Its unlikely..............

The speed limit is 70 and I never exceed it!

Honest!

i thought running on lower speced tyres than recommended can invalidate you're insurance?

I'm not an insurance company though so just speculating They seem very cheap though

:+1:

The rating is more associated with temparature.

Technically they are a modification from the original spec so you should check.

Good price however though

Took a jaunt on the M40 at 60mph, usually this shows 75-80mpg on the silly computer (with the old conties on)

I got 64mpg on the new rainsports - hope they wear in and this improves - otherwise a few quid buying them will soon disappear when filling up.............

The noise and comfort is WAY better tho - the silly section of the M42 between the M40 and the A34 was vastly more comfy and quiet. Tread pattern looks real mean too.

Will check the insurance thing - thanks.

Plus I could not find anything relating to a splitting issue on these, only with some nexens or nangkangs or something? But cheers for the heads up anyway ;p

Brittania tyres are very good, always come out the cheapest and following the Hinckley fire I went to the Nuneaton branch and they gave an extra 5% discount when they saw my address! Apparently they fill the tyres with Nitrogen also at no extra cost when fitting them, not sure if it gives any benefits but fun to know...

Also, I had two Pirelli P-Zero's fitted for around £65.00 each.

My tyre dealer told me that V rated tyres are thicker than R etc :confused:

thats probably true, as the fastest you go the higher the temp and air pressure in the tyre... so higher rated (letters closer to z) are surely either thicker, or a tougher rubber???

That doesn't mean more tread though if thats what you meant

Speed Rating

It is IMPORTANT that you check your speed rating before buying your tyres - as choosing a lower tyre speed rating could INVALIDATE your INSURANCE

:( was sure i read that somewhere

Just to let you know, got a set of uniroyal rainsport 2's today, 205/45/16 v rated for £61.49 each fitted, balanced and valved, the lot - good service too. The w rated were £71.49 each.

Great tyres too, handling, ride and noise improved over the OEM conties, not sure about mpg or wet weather capability yet though, will find out tomorrow I guess!

I had a set of 83W-rated Rainsport2s fitted to my Fabia vRS in June and agree with the comments about handling, ride and lack of noise. They are very good in the wet too. I paid £69.57 each at a local tyre depot.

With regards your noted difference in MPG, you have brand new tyres on with a full compliment of tread, so your MPG will be less even if you fitted the exactly the same brand/model/spec of tyre you had on before. There's more resistance.

Steve

thats probably true, as the fastest you go the higher the temp and air pressure in the tyre... so higher rated (letters closer to z) are surely either thicker, or a tougher rubber???

That doesn't mean more tread though if thats what you meant

Speed Rating

:( was sure i read that somewhere

So from that it seems that I am ok then? The car is not capable of 149mph is it? Even remapped it is unlikey a yellow brick will do 150.......... And it aint remapped.

It's less about the speed rating and more about the loading index number. For that reason I always make sure that is the same as the originally supplied tyres on the car. With the wrong rating the car will ride and handle differently, as the tyre may not be upto the job of supporting each corner of the car...

This link may help:

Car Bibles : The Wheel and Tyre Bible Page 1 of 2

(see the 'Load indices' section particularly)

Steve

Hello micklecats,

I got some cheapies and the rating's as you have discovered are higher than the more expensive tyres.

As with any tyre, you keep an eye open for wear and tear plus any defect that may occur.

Personally, I have found the cheapies are quieter, more grip and handle better in the wet, than tyres costing a hundred pounds more each, ie:- Continental Contact 2.

As these tyres have been discontinued and lasting 15,000 miles on the front, I tried cheapies as an alternative, and it's paying off all round.

Fitting the same brand/rating tyre on the same axle should combat any inbalance, with different brands /ratings on the same axle could give inbalance.

Ian. 27/10/2009. :thumbup:

Edited 27 October, 200916 yr by giandougl

The V rated rainsports are 83 load index, which seems fine from what I have read. 480+ kg loading, should be ample.

One would guess that using a tyre with too high a load index may lead to a harsher ride and more noise due to firmer rubber betwen rim and tarmac?

Giandougl - the brand of your cheapies please..................?

The V rated rainsports are 83 load index, which seems fine from what I have read. 480+ kg loading, should be ample.

One would guess that using a tyre with too high a load index may lead to a harsher ride and more noise due to firmer rubber betwen rim and tarmac?

Giandougl - the brand of your cheapies please..................?

Rear 'Roadstone' N3000 (87W rated) all-in £60 for the pair

Front ' Infinity' (87W rated) all-in £72 for the pair

As opposed to (83W rated ) 'Continental Contact 2' all-in £240 for a pair.

Ian. 28/10/2009. :thumbup:

Edited 30 October, 200916 yr by giandougl