Rim protection is virtually none existent. As far as handling is concerned it feels really planted with plenty of feedback and not any more noticeably harsh ride either, saying that my only previous experience of tyres on this car was when purchased a budget set of UHP tyres fitted by previous owner for resale which aquaplaned quite scarily or the winters I had on the first year so comparing to others is hard for me . But believe me I did a hell of a lot of investigation into the F1 supersports compared to the other top rated tyres before buying and considering how close they rate to them on most tyre tests it was a no brainer at the reduced cost to fit all four, As far as fuel consumption I probably have lost maybe 20 miles to a tank if I'm honest but that could just be down to the heavier foot with the new confidence they give me in the dry and definitely in the wet compared to before