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As some of you know I recently changed my tires to a relatively unknown company named Vredestein on the recommendation of Noah. Vredestein is a Norwegian tire company with very few vendors here in the states (from what I could tell).
I trust Noah, but I still wanted to do a little research about the tires on my own. I checked out their website, but just like any other company out there, everything on the site is going to be single sided. Then I started reading a few forums and discovered that there were some great reviews of these tires on the Corvette forums. I read a few reviews on there and noticed that a few of these guys had been using the tires for HPDE events. I was still a little skeptical, but thought what the hell.
After E-mailing to the company I was refered to a southern California company called AFS Wheel. Noah had recommended the Sessanta model of tire.
I picked the sizes of tires I wanted and I e-mailed AFS for a quote. When the quote was e-mailed to me I was shocked to say the least.
(2) 275/35-18
(2) 295/35-18
came out to $695.00. To top that off, they were only charging me $40.00 for shipping and THEY paid my tax. I placed my order and I recieved my tires 2 days later.
Just a little history of tires I have run on my car in the past.
-Bridgestone Potenza Pole Position
-Toyo T1-R
-Toyo T1-S
-Kumho MX
-Kumho ASX
On to the review:
These are a uni-directional tire so I was a little optomistic when I received them.
I had these installed over a rainy weekend here in San Diego so the roads were very slippery (lot of oil from the lack of rain on a regular basis). On the drive down to the tires shop I could feel my Kumho ASX's giving way to the rain and road so I stayed out of boost completely.
I was fully expecting to have to do the same once I got the Vredestein Sessanta's installed. Since every new tires I have installed required a break-in perdiod before.
These tires were different, they didnt slip and slide like all the other new tires I had purchased. I got very good, no I got great traction right off the bat with these. On the drive home I pushed the car and was very surpirised they kept sticking in the rain.
The next few days the weather improved so I decided to take a drive down by the boarder of Tecate. These roads are very winding and narrow. They make for a great drive.
First of all I noticed the responsiveness of these tires to be the best of any street tire I have ever driven on, the car just wanted to do exactly what I asked of it.
The side walls of these tires seem to be the best of any of my previous tires, very strong, very supportive and much stronger/stiffer than most of the others (Toyo's especially).
Once I got out past the mountains of the Tecate boarder and approached the dessert I did a few runs from a stop. These tires grabbed the ground for dear life. I still broke them loose under boost, but they were able to regain their grip very quickly. The more runs I did and they warmed up, the better they would grab.
So far I have about 400 miles on these tires and I have been nothing short of shocked as to how well they have performed up to this point. For the price, they have proven to me that they will out perform tires twice their price (and I can rotate them).
on a grading scale of 1-10 I would give these tires a solid 9/9.5 at this point. It is to soon to tell how they will wear, but even if I only get 10K out of the rears it is well worth the price IMO.
Thanks for taking the time to read this. I have never been much of a writter, but I wanted to let you all know about a new option in tires.
Update: 15Jan2008
I went on a cruise with a few members of the lotus forum through the mountain twisties of San Diego County this weekend. 3 Lotus Elise, 1 350Z, 1 G35, 1 Mazda Speed3.
If anyone has been through the mountains out towards Julian, they know the kinds of roads I am talking about.
These tires performed way beyond my expectations. Handling tight, twisty turns at 60-70 mph with ease. No matter how hard I tried I could not break them loose.
By the end of the day we had probably done 30 miles of twisty roads and I had a grin from ear to ear.
Next up: Drags 18Jan2008
__________________ 2004 Honda CBR 600RR current 2009 Suzuki DL650 V-Strom current 2009 Subaru WRX - current 2011 Nissan Pathfinder 4x4 current 1975 Datsun Fairlady Z RHD Project 2004.5 Nissan 350Z (gone, but not forgotten) 2008.5 Nissan Titan(Goodbye my monster truck)
Last edited by Mike Wazowski; 01-15-2008 at 01:16 AM.
Great review! Great price!! What is the wear rating?
280
__________________ 2004 Honda CBR 600RR current 2009 Suzuki DL650 V-Strom current 2009 Subaru WRX - current 2011 Nissan Pathfinder 4x4 current 1975 Datsun Fairlady Z RHD Project 2004.5 Nissan 350Z (gone, but not forgotten) 2008.5 Nissan Titan(Goodbye my monster truck)
__________________ 2004 Honda CBR 600RR current 2009 Suzuki DL650 V-Strom current 2009 Subaru WRX - current 2011 Nissan Pathfinder 4x4 current 1975 Datsun Fairlady Z RHD Project 2004.5 Nissan 350Z (gone, but not forgotten) 2008.5 Nissan Titan(Goodbye my monster truck)
I looked at their website, and to do a 245/35/19 & 295/30/19 would be pretty pricey through them, I bet if you found a shop like the one John bought his through it would be cheaper, but unfortunately they currently do not make a 285/35/19 which is what I would be interested in for the rear, and I wouldn't want to go down to a 275/30/19 (which they do make).
Maybe they do more sizes than just standard if its a special order? An east coast shop that sells these would be good to know about.
__________________
Somewhere between Summit Point and VIR
This time with a Twin Turbo Z32
yes they do, just contact a distributer for sizing information or look at their web site.
__________________ 2004 Honda CBR 600RR current 2009 Suzuki DL650 V-Strom current 2009 Subaru WRX - current 2011 Nissan Pathfinder 4x4 current 1975 Datsun Fairlady Z RHD Project 2004.5 Nissan 350Z (gone, but not forgotten) 2008.5 Nissan Titan(Goodbye my monster truck)
Last edited by Mike Wazowski; 12-20-2007 at 09:13 AM.
I will try to post some up this weekend. to busy with work right now and I start vacation on Friday YAY!!!
__________________ 2004 Honda CBR 600RR current 2009 Suzuki DL650 V-Strom current 2009 Subaru WRX - current 2011 Nissan Pathfinder 4x4 current 1975 Datsun Fairlady Z RHD Project 2004.5 Nissan 350Z (gone, but not forgotten) 2008.5 Nissan Titan(Goodbye my monster truck)
I just put on a 255/35/19 and a 295/30/19 on my car and I absolutely love them! I'm no longer scared of high boost.
exactly, they grab well.
__________________ 2004 Honda CBR 600RR current 2009 Suzuki DL650 V-Strom current 2009 Subaru WRX - current 2011 Nissan Pathfinder 4x4 current 1975 Datsun Fairlady Z RHD Project 2004.5 Nissan 350Z (gone, but not forgotten) 2008.5 Nissan Titan(Goodbye my monster truck)
Vredestein Sessanta Tire Review
12.3@ 115 mph
