Haze

I just thought that I would post a review of my new Summer tires. As the title says, I got Vredestein Ultracs in stock size and mounted them on the stock rims. The tire rates as a Temp A; Trac AA; Treadwear 280 tire.

For those who don't know Vredestein, it is a small privately held Dutch tire maker who used to sell sports car tires in the US back in the 60's, 70's and into the 80's when they dropped out of the market. They have started returning to the US I guess about five years ago as a car tire maker (they also make bicycle tires), and I had good luck with their tires on a my '67 Alfa Romeo so when the time came for new tires I decided to give them a shot, pretty much just for fun. They cost me around $180 a tire. I mounted them onto the car in March and have driven about 6 thousand miles on them so far.

I have Koni shocks on the car (doing my best to support the Dutch economy I guess), and when I put them on the car, I adjusted them to about 1/4 firmness to best match the stock springs that I left on the car. They handle very well, but the Bridgestones always transmitted every small shock up into the chassis. The Vreds eliminated all small shocks into the chassis and absorb a fair amount of medium shocks while still allowing the suspension the better control of the Konis. On the downside, the Vreds mask a certain amount of road feel in cornering and in hard cornering they are a little more flexible than the Brisgestones. However, they still offer good control in hard cornering, but there is probably better out there. New, the tires had Zero, absolutely not a hint, of tram-lining, which was a nice surprise after having to break in the Bridgestones from new. The tread wear on the Vreds is considerably better than the Bridgestones in the so far observed driving. They are stickier to the road than the Bridgestones in hot weather,and far stickier in 50 degree weather than the Bridgstones could ever have imagined. I also believe that they are lighter than the Bridgstones, but I can't confirm this because I didn't weigh them before I mounted them, which in retrospect, was stupid. They shed water beautifully in hard and light rain and maintain their adhesion well on wet roads.

All in all, I am happy with them, but I would say that the lack of steering feedback is a negative for spirited driving although the control is still just fine, and I like them as a match to a stiffer than stock suspension. I would say that for on road driving, they work just fine and are far more comfortable and quiet to drive than the Bridgestones, which are the only thing that I can compare them too, which I guess is like saying that they roll better than bowling ***** for wheels, but it's all I've got. For any kind of track work, they are probably not what you want.

alnielsen

iTrader: (4)

I haven't heard anyone mention this brand in 30 yrs. I don't even know of an outlet for them.

Haze

They started moving back into the US I guess about 5 years ago. I read about it in the auto rags then someone posted here about buying the winter tires. I have no idea if those are any good, but I like the summer tires. They are leaps and bounds better than the Bridgestones that the car came with. I got mine from a guy in Allentown, PA.