Saucony Kinvara 3

Name: Saucony Kinvara 3
Brand: Saucony
Rating: 4.8 (11 reviews)

Daily trainer · Neutral · Road · 7.9 oz · 4mm drop · 23/19mm stack

Discontinued — we no longer see this shoe in stock. The Saucony Kinvara 4 replaced it

How it ranks

The Saucony Kinvara 3 is one of the strongest daily trainers in our data. Value and comfort are its strongest sub-ratings. Durability scores well below its other sub-ratings. The rating rests on 11 runner reviews and 14 other rated shoes in the Kinvara product line. One more review would set the confidence on this shoe's own reviews.

Excellent

97/100

Overall

Excellent 97

Value

Exceptional 99

Comfort

Very good 93

Appearance

Good 87

Cushioning

Decent 78

Durability

Bottom-tier 55

Confidence

How settled the rating is against every other rated shoe. A shoe can rate high on confidence with relatively few reviews of its own when its product line has a long record and external ratings from retailer sites agree. Confidence will score low when we have few ratings or when runners disagree.

See the product line's history

Confidence

92/100

High 92

What runners say

“Averages 350-500 miles per pair; owns over 10 pairs.”

5/5 Full review 40 mpw training for a marathon

“Decent cushion for low drop; good for cushion, bad for firm feel and ground contact.”

4/5 Full review 35 mpw training for a half marathon

“Light but sacrifices durability; foam sole wears down fast.”

4/5 Full review 35 mpw training for a half marathon

“Switch to conventional trainers and get aches in feet/ankles/achilles; go back to Kinvara and feel better.”

5/5 Full review 25 mpw training for a half marathon

“Never been injured wearing this shoe; was injured a lot in college.”

5/5 Full review 25 mpw training for a half marathon

“Raced last 3 marathons in Kinvara 3s.”

5/5 Full review 60 mpw training for a marathon

“Great cushioning whilst maintaining light weight.”

5/5 Full review 50 mpw training for a marathon came from the Brooks Ghost 5

“Extremely durable and reasonably lightweight.”

5/5 Full review 25 mpw training for a half marathon

“Best shoe (aside from the original Kinvara) ever run in.”

5/5 Full review 40 mpw training for a marathon

Prefer this shoe over another

21% 6/28

Where to buy

No offers available

Affiliate links included. They never affect our ratings.

Prices updated daily. Last checked Sep 14.

Pros

Reviewers find it comfortable and versatile, from daily miles to marathons.
Light at 7.9 oz with a 4mm drop, still cushioned.
One reviewer averages 350 to 500 miles a pair across more than ten pairs.

Cons

Durability averages 4.0 out of 5, the weakest dimension, and one reviewer says the foam sole wears down fast.
One reviewer warns it is the wrong shoe if you want a firm ride with ground feel.
Three of eleven reviewers report an injury while running in it.

Kinvara 3 rates 97. This shoe has high certainty. See how we rate shoes.

Better Shoes Rating of prior versions of the Saucony Kinvara

Each dot is one version of the Kinvara, placed by its rating and release year. The gold dot is this shoe.

Rating

40 60 80 100

58 97 2012 73 97 97 2015 98 89 2017 88 97 2019 71 87 2021 77 88 2023 82 88 2025

Release year

We use the reviews of past versions to inform this shoe’s rating. See why.

Kinvara 16

2025 · 2 reviews

88 Good

74 Confidence
Kinvara 15

2024 · 13 reviews

82 Good

84 Confidence
Kinvara 14

2023 · 49 reviews

88 Good

94 Confidence
Kinvara 13

2022 · 36 reviews

77 Decent

93 Confidence
Kinvara 12

2021 · 6 reviews

87 Good

84 Confidence
Kinvara 11

2020 · 7 reviews

71 Decent

76 Confidence
Kinvara 10

2019 · 51 reviews

97 Exceptional

98 Confidence
Kinvara 9

2018 · 55 reviews

88 Good

97 Confidence
Kinvara 8

2017 · 57 reviews

89 Good

98 Confidence
Kinvara 7

2016 · 21 reviews

98 Exceptional

97 Confidence
Kinvara 6

2015 · 8 reviews

97 Exceptional

94 Confidence
Kinvara 5

2014 · 128 reviews

97 Exceptional

100 Confidence
Kinvara 4

2013 · 129 reviews

73 Decent

99 Confidence
Kinvara 3 This shoe

2012 · 11 reviews

97 Excellent

92 Confidence
Kinvara 2

2011 · 3 reviews

58 Bottom-tier

75 Confidence

Reader Ratings

11 ratings

5/5 9

4/5 2

3/5 0

2/5 0

1/5 0

See written reviews Write a review

Specs & fit

Sizing and ride details at a glance.

Weight: 7.9 oz
Release: 2012
MSRP: $100
Stack Height: 23mm heel - 19mm toe
Drop Height: 4mm

Runner reviews

Write a review

Reader review

5/5

Overall

This is the 3rd generation of Kinvara I have trained in. Version 3i has been my favorite of the 3. I tend to average more miles than most seem to get out of these shoes. I have raced my last 3 marathons in Kinvara 3s.

ajlesser · Aug 28, 2014

60 mpw training for a marathon