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

 

Great review, thanks!

 

Great review! Great price!! What is the wear rating?

 

280

 

now aren't u glad I told u to get them?

 

they are great

 

If they only made a rear size I could work with! 295/30 19 isnrt gonna cut it for me...nice review

 

how is the road noise?

 

good review and thanks for taking the time to write one up, 99% of us would have never known about these tires before.

 

+1

 

would you know if they have tires for 19"s?

 

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.

 

not loud at all.
yes they do, just contact a distributer for sizing information or look at their web site.

 

Nice review! I also wish they made a 285 or 295 in a 35.

 

Great review! Any pics of them on your car?

 

I will try to post some up this weekend. to busy with work right now and I start vacation on Friday YAY!!!

 

Thanks for the review. Looks like something worth looking into later when I need new tires.

 

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.

 

how much did that setup run you, if you don't mind me asking?

On the mfg site it was something like 1340 without shipping.