| 27.10.2020 from sleekitwan | Note 4.85 |
| (12,000 km driven) | |
- Grip in dry conditions
- Braking in dry conditions
- Grip in wet conditions
N/A
- Braking in wet conditions
- Grip in snow
- Driving comfort
- Internal noise level
- Tyre wear
- Fuel consumption
Tyre size and vehicle make
165 / 65 14 T
RENAULT Clio 1.2
Result: Would you buy again? Definitely
Comment:
As a motorcyclist, I take an especial interest in tyres on our cars. I would point out that almost any tyre in my experience, is fine in the dry including worn-out ones. The only issue might be a very soft-compound tyre (eg a winter tyre) and my experience of that is it wears like crazy and the car drifts in hot weather (I had no other tyres at the time). So for me it is all about wet-weather performance in terms of grip.
The Rain Expert 3 and the similar tyre by the same manufacturer we have on our more recent Clio Tce 90, are both decent in the wet. They are however, the end of a suspension system, comprising springs, shock absorbers, arms and bushes, etc etc, so if say your shocks were worn, these tyres won’t hold your line through a rain-soaked bend with ripples or pock-marked surfaces underneath.
We’ve found these tyres to be excellent in that we have not experience of better for grip, or really any other aspect except tyre wear. This aspect, manufacturers of cheap tyres can increase the life of by thousands of miles/kilometres, by using compounds in the rubber, that make it harder and have less tread wear, but this is always at the detriment of grip especially in wet conditions.
So, overall, I rate these tyres in a real-world way, as the best I have driven on. The best overall, including much more expensive tyres. Price does not really seem to indicate quality or performance, except at the low end. If all that matters is longevity, you can probably just buy cheap tyres and get that. I dare not do that, because I have had for example, high nylon content tyres, and they feel lethal in poor conditions.
The other thing to bear in mind, is ice and snow. Again, like with dry weather, some stuff here just does not matter. In dry conditions, almost any tyre but very soft ones, are fine, as mentioned. In ice and snow, you need a tyre with a slightly softer compound, but the only tarmac you will get to ride on, may well be wet at best, so we end up needing wet-weather performance again.
The only big ice and snow feature I can see, after 50 years of driving/riding experience, is the block-tread style, and the ‘clear-away’ characteristics, so that clods of sticky snow are easily thrown off, but then again, it’s got to be capable of sinking into the stuff, to get any grip at all. You want a bit less than hard compound, but really soft compound, moves you into winter tyre territory in terms of being susceptible to warm-weather wear/melting, rapidly using your tread depth up.
So an all-season tyre choice like this, is a compromise, and although these are said to be summer tyres, I consider them all-season for the UK where we live, almost exactly in the middle of the country. Plenty of snow, ice, rain, wet leaves on the road, and we drive a mix of through-the city commutes as well as doing the odd 100-mile jaunt in the countryside, and also 250-mile trips on the motorway occasionally.
I really cannot say anything bad about these tyres. I would hoever, maintain your tyre pressures, and adjust them especially at the rear of the car if you carry extra rear seat passengers and luggage. It really does make a difference to how the vehicle drives. 7 extra psi at the rear (half an atmosphere is it?) is what will mostly be recommended, to keep the steering from being ‘ignored’. Just remember, higher pressures means ‘less influence’ on the driving. Hence, when you have a heavy load at the rear, it in effect means the rear tyres are too soft if you use normal pressures, then the rear, ‘steers’ or has too much influence.
That’s how it feels as the driver, so keep the tyres at the right pressure, and raise by 25% or so, if heavily laden, at the rear. Also remember, as you pump the tyres, they get hot - and so the air pressure reads HIGH - so put 5% more in, because the next morning you will measure and find the pressure has been slightly ‘lost’ as the tyres cool. Yes, they get hot when you hit the hiway, but that’s all taken into account with setting the pressures cold, by the manufacturers.
Lastly on pressures, bear in mind sidewalls have become much flimsier in the last decade or so - some older vehicles especially, have recommendations by the car maker, that are a little on the low side, meant for the old days of stiffer tyres. If you find the tyre wearing in the middle it is pumped up too much, if wearing on both outsides, it is not pumped up enough. A SINGLE side of a tyre worn, means something in the suspension setup is not quite right, or the steering, so beware of replacing tyres where this has been the reason - tyre wear like this, means you must find the suspension or steering issue, otherwise your tyres will last about a third the time they should!
That’s my half-century of experience, rolled into a few paragraphs. These tyres are fine - oh lastly, always get a tyre with a protective bead around the outside edge. This not only protects the wheel from scraping badly if hitting the pavement, but also stops the tyre tearing the sidewall open, if you strike some sharp object like a rock or brick, as I did, and it glances off the sidewall. A ripped sidewall, is not repairable, and I had just bought that cheap tyre, a week earlier!
Take care, these tyres are as good as it gets all year around, and if you take care of the aspects I mention above, they will safeguard you and your loved ones, that’s why we have them on both cars of ours.
