Trust me, those Dutch know winter, and they know winter tires too!
Written: Dec 07 '04 (Updated Dec 07 '04)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Sticky on snow, ice & wet roads. Quiet, nice looking, not bad on dry roads
Cons: A bit expensive.
The Bottom Line: European tires for European cars. Vredestein, developed in the harsh winters of Northern Europe, makes hands down the best winter tires for your European car. (Nokians are nice too.)
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| betamale's Full Review: Vredestein Wintrack Non-Studdable Passenger/Perfor... |
Why I chose them
I grew up in far upstate NY. Almost Canada, really.
I remember vividly about 10 years ago riding in a friend's rear-wheel drive wagon during a snowstorm, through about 5 inches of unplowed snow, with seemingly limitless traction. I asked him what kind of tires he had and his answer sounded like a sneeze.
"Vredesteins," he said, "my mechanic raved about them so much I didn't believe her, but I think she was telling the truth."
When it came time for me to get some snow tires this year (After years of living south of the Mason-Dixon line), I couldn't escape that moment a decade ago.
Tracking down a dealer
Vredesteins are not easy to find in the United States. It is more well known for its bicycle tires than it is for automobile tires. It has almost no US web presence for automobile tires.
A phone call to Vredestein's US headquarters, whose number I found on the home office's website, resulted in a very quick call back with some dealer suggestions. The nearest dealer to my home was over 60 miles away, and I live in New England, not exactly a sparsely populated part of the country.
I asked if they dealt with any mail order tire houses and the Vredestein representative suggested and praised Eurotire ( http://eurotire.com ), a Fairfield, NJ based tire store & mail order center.
Ordering
Pain free, I called and was quickly and courteously given a quote for a set of four 205/55R-16 Wintrac H's mounted on OEM VW steel wheels. The price included balancing, and I was given a more than reasonable shipping quote.
Two days later I came home to find a stack of new tires on my porch.
I mounted them myself in the third week of November.
Initial impressions
I only have about 1,000 miles so far on my Wintrac's, but in that time I've had several occasions to try them on snow and ice. So far I have only positive things to say about them. In my front wheel drive VW they provide wonderful starting, stopping and cornering traction on any surface.
For such sticky snow tires they are very quiet.
Not that I'd ever drive this fast in the winter, I find it reassuring that these tires are rated to be safe up to 130mph.
They work pretty well on dry roads too, so long as you keep them properly inflated.
PROPER INFLATION IS CRITICAL
Due to the construction & material differences between Vredestein Wintrac's (actually, all snow tires) and summer/all-season tires, it is critical that you inflate these tires to the pressure levels listed on Vredestein's website. After a recent oil change I found that the ride seemed pretty bad on my Wintrac's, a quick check showed that the mechanic has set all the tires back to 32psi, far below what is recommended by both VW and Vredestein for snow tires.
Check tire pressure when the tires are cold, both in the sense that the air outside be cold and the tires not have been driven on for a while before checking.
Follow the inflation guide that is available starting in the lower left hand corner of its webpage: http://www.vredestein.com/autobanden/Index.asp?TaalID=3 .
For example, here's the inflation guide for my 2003 VW GTI with the 1.8T engine: http://www.vredestein.com/autobanden/Page_fitguide_result.asp?mark=186&model=27&type=34&uitv=202368&UserSessionID=93708003 .
Failure to properly inflate these winter tires will not only make the ride of the tires stink, it'll make the tread wear out faster, and it may compromise the tires ability to provide adequate traction.
Summary
Wonderful, sporty H-rated snow tires that'll work great and look tight on any Eurocar.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 122
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Epinions.com ID:
betamale
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Location: USA
Reviews written: 19
Trusted by: 1 member
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