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Smart roadster Tyres

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9 Tyre Reviews
69% Avg Rating
Tyre Reviewed Dry Grip Wet Grip Feedback Handling Wear Comfort
Uniroyal RainSport 3 (288) 84% 92% 79% 78% 64% 83%
Hankook Ventus V12 evo2 (83) 87% 81% 78% 79% 73% 77%
Bridgestone B340 (1) 80% 70% 70% 70% 100% 80%
Dunlop SportMaxx RT 2 (92) 84% 78% 77% 77% 75% 79%
Dunlop Sport BluResponse (191) 88% 84% 79% 75% 61% 83%
Nankang NS2R (64) 88% 66% 81% 85% 72% 55%
Nexen N Blue ECO (36) 82% 77% 75% 76% 65% 73%
Nankang SV2 (30) 83% 77% 74% 74% 83% 74%
Toyo T1R (288) 83% 69% 75% 75% 63% 70%
Star Performer TNG HP (1) 90% 70% 50% 70% 50% 80%
Smart roadster Tyre Review Highlights
Writing about the Nankang NS2R given 70% (205-45-16)
Initial impression was in the greasy cold (~0°C) and not overly bad, definitely daily driveable if you're sensible.
Track use was moderate but good, be it dry, damp or gravel (you can get out of a trap or drive a flat road without washing away easily).
Wet grip is fine, as in pure chinesium dry handling fine. You'll get there, you can slide it if you want, it'll be slow.
Feels very progressive, but definitely needs some slip to be quick. Feels somewhat understeery and loaded feedback is great, very suitable for mountain roads and bumpy tracks.
Slides are very enjoyable, transitioning between grip and sliding smoothly, confidence inspiring.
Noise is absurdly loud and vibrations are harsh, I had people wonder if a bearing blew out but that's to be expected. Once did 900 km of highway and by hour 5 when I stopped, the combination of the loud tyres and very loud wind noise in the car literally deafened me for a good 15 minutes (~60% wind noise).
Rolling resistance is high, averaging a good 1-1.5 extra L/100 km fuel consumption on both regular gas and E85 as well as a noticeably reduced top speed.
Front set is barely used, while rear had to be replaced at ~12K km despite not seeing much abuse, so be careful about weight and balance for maintenance (power is not the issue on this car).
Grip levels didn't noticeably change thoughout, except once where they felt noticeably slower but I suspect a bad previous heat cycle when I lent it, as it came back to normal after 2-3 proper cycles. Haven't used it in full wet conditions past half-life though.

Available in a good range of sizes, definitely recommend it as a cheap fun tyre, or if a high speed index is needed for inspection on older cars.
tyre reviewed on 2026-02-10 08:20:33
Writing about the Dunlop Sport BluResponse given 74% (185-55-15-)
Driving on a combination of roads for 15000 spirited miles
Great tyre in the dry, lateral acceleration is high! Road feedback is great. The tyre is soft however and doesn't last long. I managed 15k mi out of a set of rears and 20k mi out a set of fronts (rear engined car). They suit a light sportscar very well. Fuel economy is good too. Biggest downside is performance in the wet at end of life. I have 2mm of tread left on all 4 corners and a slightly damp roundabout is terrifying. So I am replacing them ASAP.
tyre reviewed on 2022-11-09 03:52:43
Writing about the Nankang SV2 given 79% (205-45-16-)
Driving on mostly country roads for 5000 average miles
I drive a very light car (800kg), so this review might not apply to all cars. Bought these tyres second hand very cheaply even thought I was rather sceptical about Chinese tyres.
I was actually amazed about how good values these are, especially compared to the Vredestein Snowtrac 5 I used to have on another car.
Driving on snow was great, no problem at all (even with rwd), in mud an dirty roads as well.
Handling on hotter days wasn't indeed all that great, but for a winter tire, I guess it's fair to say its ok.

All in all, I would definitely recommend these, as they have great value for the price (Heard different mechanics saying these were rubbish, turned out they had never even tried these, just said that because they are Chinese)
tyre reviewed on 2019-06-07 16:45:04
Writing about the Bridgestone B340 given 79% (205-45-16-H)
Driving on a combination of roads for 40000 spirited miles
Exceptional durability with very good grip. I suspect this durability/grip combination might not work this well with heavier or bulkier cars.
tyre reviewed on 2016-12-01 10:07:15
Writing about the Dunlop SportMaxx RT 2 given 0% (225-45-17-)
Driving on a combination of roads for 1500 spirited miles
Had 11 year old BF Goodrich before I switched to these ones (Smart Roadster just does not eat the tyres, they had 7mm left!). So the previous tyres were really hard as they were old. Consider this for the rest of this comment.

These felt very soft compared to the older tires, meaning less feedback from the road. Dry grip in curves is just the same as the old tires or even less so I'm a bit disappointed. Also, if the tyres need to warm to grip well.

However they are rather comfortable and quiet and work well in the rain, but I would buy some other model next time at least for the Roadster.
tyre reviewed on 2016-10-08 01:56:32
Writing about the Uniroyal RainSport 3 given 79% (205-45-16-W)
Driving on a combination of roads for 15000 spirited miles
I had a pair of these on the rear of my smart Roadster as the Proxes they replaced would step out in wet weather. They are not lying when they say these are THE wet weather tyre. They just would not lose grip in the wet. And were pretty phenomenal in the dry too. The only real down side was the wear time. 15k in a not particularly heavy or powerful car and they were done. Going to try the Hankook Ventus V12 Evo 2 next as I've heard good things about them.
tyre reviewed on 2015-12-19 11:10:38
Writing about the Hankook Ventus V12 evo2 given 90% (225-45-17-)
Driving on a combination of roads for 0 spirited miles
Dry grip and braking is excellent. Wet braking is excellent beyond belief for a summer tyre. Comfortable tyre and pretty quiet also. I have driven Bridgestone potenza r050, Falken FK452, Yoko C and S , toyo T1R, Kumho KH31 so far and this tyre beats all of them in all aspects of the game apart from the precision on the limit. Unfortunately i cannot comment on the wear yet

It feels like a TOYO TIR but 2 steps ahead in everything.
tyre reviewed on 2014-12-08 06:47:52
Writing about the Toyo T1R given 80% (225-45-17-)
Driving on mostly country roads for 5000 spirited miles
Put these on the Roadster as a summer tyre (was using Toyo Snow Proxes over the winter) and have found them to be rather excellent.
I went up an inch in width from standard and down 5% in profile and can say the car feels much more planted than ever before and just grips and grips and grips where in the past it would have been starting to slither about (compared to previous Goodyear summer tyres).
At the price (£50 per corner plus fitting) they've been astounding.
tyre reviewed on 2014-05-21 09:45:08
Writing about the Star Performer TNG HP given 69% (205-50-15-W)
Driving on mostly country roads for 5000 spirited miles
not sure if i would buy again .... they are very good for the cost and are not dangerous like some cheap tyres i have bought previously. i have not really had the courage to test them at the limit in the wet, but they are very good in the dry and brake very well in wet and dry. appear resistant to aquaplaning. they have covered 5000 miles and show no signs of abnormal wear. They are not particularly noisy but also don't transmit much 'feel' from the road. They do give excellent value for money being 50% of the cost of mky preferred premium choice.
tyre reviewed on 2013-09-29 17:04:48
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