New Uniroyal Rainsport 3 tyres; quite an expense, but one of the most important features of a car. Tyres are the only thing that provide contact with the road, so you need to make sure you’ve got good quality rubber at all times – especially on a 4WD Subaru Impreza.

Update: 2019

I’ve now moved on to a more performance orientated tyre on my Prodrive PFF7 rims but I’m still more than happy to recommend the Uniroyals for a great every-day tyre. As the name suggests, they’re a great wet and poor weather tyre that didn’t let me down through floods and snowfall.

Update: 1 November 2016

Two years on from fitting my first set of Rainsport 3’s, I’ve decided to invest in another set.

This was a slight premature change as I had a serious tracking issue on the two front wheels leading to really fast wear. The tracking has since been fixed, and two new Uniroyal Rainsport’s fitted to the front!

The rears are still holding on fine, with over 5mm of tread remaining after two years of use. Impressive.

Original post follows:

Reading the reviews online the general consensus with the Uniroyal Rainsport 3 tyres was that they’re an overall good value tyre, with exceptional wet grip ability.

Uniroyal Rainsport 3 Tyres

They have a soft compound so naturally provide fantastic grip in the wet or dry, but the softer construction does typically lead to premature wear. But if I get a couple of years out of them I’d be satisfied

Uniroyal Rainsport 3 Tyres

I ideally wanted a set of the Uniroyal Rainsport 3’s for a good winter-type tyre to get me through the worst of the British weather. In hindsight, this was a very good decision.

Uniroyal Rainsport 3 Tyres

I picked up the set of 4 tyres from Camskill, an online retailer I’ve used for many years. They set me back around £250, including delivery, which is a very fair price. I opted for 225/45 R17 size to maintain the original rolling radius of the stock wheel/tyre.

Uniroyal Rainsport 3 Tyres

Uniroyal Rainsport 3 Tyres

Uniroyal Rainsport 3 Tyres

I had them fitted through a local garage. Depending on the mood of the engineer this can be done for around £5 to £10 per tyre. They also balanced them, and disposed of the old tyres.

Uniroyal Rainsport 3 Tyres

Uniroyal Rainsport 3 Tyres

As of writing I’ve had these fitted to my car for almost 2 years. They’ve held up very well, and still provide confidence on the road.

However my most recent MOT highlighted the tracking was out on my two front wheels, and as a result the inside edge of the tyres are wearing excessively.

I’ll need to get them replaced soon – but the Uniroyal Rainsport 3’s have certainly made a good impression, so much so that I will more than likely consider them again next time round.