Vredestein Wintrac Pro Reviews - Page 2

Great winter tyres, needed a short period of bedding in but great in snow/ice plus good wet and dry performance, in a tyre that you can still drive relatively hard with if you want. This is my winter tyre so I accept that it's going to compromise performance for snow/ice grip so you have to decide whether you want to swap every year between summers and winters, if not I wouldn't run these all year round, they would wear out too quickly as they're seriously sticky for snow and ice. If you do need winters, look no further, for the price (they were almost the cheapest quality winter tyres @ £91 each) they're quite a bit less than the competition and performed so well on snow/ice I can't recommend enough. Bedding in period is around 50 miles or so where the wet grip was quite bad, I was starting to regret buying them, but after this they're great that's quite important to remember. Also they are quite a soft tyre with a soft sidewall so I've found I can't use all the power (340bhp in my m140i because the rear of the car sqirms around and is quite unnerving. It will roll left to right until you back off. Its not the speed that is the problem, they're V rated to 150 mph so no problem they're, it's just the power or torque flexing the sidewalls I guess. If you don't have a powerful car like the m140i you'd probably never notice it, I can still accelerate quite fast, just not full throttle. At a guess I'd say up to about 260bhp you probably won't notice it and certainly not a reason to avoid buying these tyres. If you're using winter tyres you have to expect some loss in total performance, and I paid nearly half what something like a Michelin Alpin is, and around £30 per tyre less than Bridgestone and Goodyear alternatives. I was genuinely shocked at how good they were in the snow/ice. The road was Kirkstone Pass, it snowed over night and we went over the pass to see the snow and test out the tyres. So many cars were getting stuck, turning around, and 1 even crashed and was waiting to get recovered. I watched for about 20 minutes while I decided if these snow tyres were actually good enough as I didn't want to crash my new (to me) m140i! Didnt need to worry at all, going down first I was doing lots of brake tests to make sure I wasn't just sliding on ice and it stopped very well, no slipping. Then coming back up the steep hill it didn't even slip, I then slowed right down and accelerated gently to see if I wasn't just on the edge of the grip or something, still no slip. I had to really give push the throttle to get any slip, I definitely couldn't have made it slip without going over the top on purpose with the throttle, so impressed. Using these from now on as Winter tyres on my m140i which has Michelin Super Sports fitted in the summer. One more thing specific to my car, it comes standard with 225 50 18 front and 245 35 18 rear (something like that), but for winter tyres it's perfectly safe to fit 225 40 18 92Y all round, it even says that tyre size on the sticker beside the drivers door, I was trying to figure this out for ages so for anyk e else wanted to know winter tyre sizes for an m140i on standard 18's it's 225 40 18 92Y all round. 88Y load rating isn't good enough so don't buy those (I also read that somewhere).

I bought these tyres in November 2019 and had them fitted to my 2019 Ford Fiesta ST. There was very little choice for winter tyres when it came to the wheel size on this car so I was limited to only this one or the very overpriced Pirelli Sotozero 3s. For the first winter that I had them fitted it was mostly just cold and wet (no snow) but the level of grip that this tyre offers over the Michelin pilot super sports (fitted to this car as standard) in temperatures below about 5°C is worth it even if you don't get any snow. Fast forward to December 2020/January 2021 and I can confirm that in the snow these tyres are extremely capable. A full three inches of snow is no problem for these tyres. I have also used these tyres on icy roads and they hold up well there too, with abs breaking coming on when you slam the breaks but it stopping the car some several meters shorter than if you had summer tyres on. The tyres also preform equally as well in slushy/wet snow. If I had to rate the handling/breaking for fresh dry snow I would say 10/10, for slushy/wet snow 9/10 and icy roads would be 8/10. It's also worth noting that even after 6000 miles on these tyres there is very little wear and they probably still have another full winter in them if not 2. Overall a fantastic tyre that significantly improves the safety of your car during the winter.

Bought these last year for my then new-to-me Facelift Audi S3 to replace some General Tyres(!) summers that the dealers fitted before I bought the car. I was impressed with the Vredestein Wintrac Extremes I'd run a good few years ago on my Yeti, so thought I'd give these a go as they are UHP rated. They were a definite improvement over the Generals, but as I didn't know the car, it wasn't really a good comparison. During this summer however, I ran Michelin PS4s on the S3, & they didn't seem the big step up from the Wintrac Pros I was expecting, & now I've refitted the Vreds I noticed straight away that the steering's actually better, the car's slightly quieter & ride's better than it was on the PS4s. I found the Wintrac Pros really good in the wet & in cold, dry conditions but I didn't get the opportunity to drive on snow or much ice last year so can't comment on that yet, & I'm not really expecting great wear, but dynamically & subjectively these are a great winter tyre & good value. If we get proper winter weather this year, I'll update accordingly & it'll be interesting to compare them to the Dunlop Wintersport 5s that are currently on the Yeti (which subjectively & for grip in all conditions have been really impressive) but so far, highly recommend these Wintrac Pros.

The tyres need a short warm up phase to grip on slippery road around freezing. City driving is not really enough to get them to grip well enough, that you don't experience slip at acceleration from a stand still. Once moving, they quickly bite into the road surface when dry, wet and snowy roads are a little more tricky. The confidence you build on snow and slush is phenomenal though. As long as you drive smoothly, the tyres keep you on track even in tight corners. Bumps and pot holes are transfered to your bum quite directly, but not as harsh as with the 245/30 summer tyres. Aquaplaning sets in at closer to 100km/h with nearly new tyres. Thread wear is great. Over the 20000km in mild weather on motorway and city streets, they still look almost as new. Smooth driving and no hard exeleration or braking are key for long thread life. Cornering feels a little less direct than on the 245/30 summer tyres and I wouldn't recommend track use. Though rated up to 270km/h, sporty driving is possible. Long distance driving is okay. Road noise is acceptable, comfort is good. Comfort setting goes best with the Wintrac Pro for everyday driving, if your car has different driving modes. They do take emergency manouvers very well though. Though I have no experience, if they do well under repeated manouvers. The tyres quickly tell you, when they lose traction, gaining it back quickly as well.

There tires are AMAZING. Let me start by saying that obviously this tire has been judge keeping in mind we're still talking about a winter tire: so for example when I give it a 9/10 on dry grip it's not the same as a 9/10 summer tire, but for being a winter tire it's very very good. Wet grip is great which again is to be expected on a winter tire. Road feedback is one of the strenght of these tires, honestly they feel better than the summer Michelin Primacy that were previously fitted. Handling is good (again compared to other winter tires). When it comes to comfort and noise there are definitely more compliant tires out there but considering the feel they give you it's a very welcome compromise. What really amazed me the most is snow and ice grip: in these conditions they are OUTSTANDING. With my RWD car I've gone through incredibly deep snow (while bottoming out) without a problem while other FWD cars with winter tires were completely stuck. Even starting from a complete stop on a hill was no problem. I know that might compromise wear if you use them only on tarmac but if you need to drive on snow these are just incredible.