deke

I recently replaced my RE92s (at 20k) with Vredestein SportTrac tires. I paid about $125 each. Now I know a lot of you guys REALLY know your tires and I freely admit I don't. Maybe I got ripped off, maybe not, but my local tire guy had tons of tires to choose from and he said he really really liked these for their performance (for an all season V rated) and mfg. quality... so I said what the heck. I have friends who said save a little and get Dunlop all seasons (S5000s?), but on previous cars I had Dunlops twice and the Dunlops never really did do much for me. (Plus the two friends are obnoxious snobs about their Saabs - until they drove my car - why they don't buy big bucks tires - who knows?).

Any way, after the RE92s it is like owning a whole new car, but maybe that could be said if I had Dunlops or any other decent all season? The the car (WRX wagon) does handle significantly (I mean way way) better in wet, snow and dry and I have noticed my ABS don't kick in nearly as often too.

I know I should have come here first, but then again, there about 1000 contradicting opinions on any tire here! :-), so feel free to tell me if I made a bad choice or not - seriously I'd like to know what you think if you know anything about these tires.

Here are some links:
http://www.vredestein.com/english/index.html
http://www.peters-auto.dk/sportrac.htm
http://www.tiresunlimited.com/vred_sportrac.htm

P.S. I swear my dealer said these were all season - Vredesteins own page says summer! I just got these, live in CT and they are better than my RE92s ever were in snow - and I have driven these tires in a ton of snow (20 in storm a few weeks ago) and I have to climb/descend 600 feet in 1 mile to get in/out of my neighborhood every day. I felt much safer and sure of myself on hills, turning, stopping... in all the snow, but maybe I was just psyching myself out? Should I be worried? Weird.

deke

FYI, here I am replying to my own post over a year later.

20k later and the Vredesteins are bye-bye with wear, but I am not sure I could go to any other tire. I actually bought the Sport Tracs which are summer tires, but they blew away the RE-92s on snow, and I have to climb 600 feet in 1 mile with many very sharp turns to get to my house (I suppose we can all guess about where these tires experienced their wear in the dry weather). Now I know that their Quad-Tracs are all season and I may give them a shot, but I simply had too much fun with these tires despite the price and wear.

deke

It is kind of sad isn't it!

You know, I balked, listened to my friend, saved some money and just got a set of Continental ContiExtreme Contacts and, well, they seem okay, but it is just not the same. I'm just not a real pro like some of the guys here who have driven all kinds of things, but now I know, those Vredestein Sportrac tires were fantastic and recommended for anyone looking for a great summer tire that is also great in rain and can handle snow better than a RE92.

DaWorstPlaya

iTrader: (1)

What about going with summer tires for summer and snow for winters ..... its the best of both worlds but yeah its a hassle to have to change and store tires .... but you only have to do it twice a year .... plus if you are worried about the cost of extra rims, people are selling their stock rims for way less than they are worth (that means cheap)

deke

Thanks - believe me I thought about it, but we are moving to a city/town house kind of place and will probably have no garage! I suppose if, and this is a BIG IF, my wife would actually throw something away once in a while I might have room in a basement for them, but hope is dim... :-)