Given
64%
while driving a
Hyundai Accent
(195/65 R15)
on
a combination of roads
for 8,000
average miles
These tires are my third brand of all season tires, previously using two sets of Michelin Crossclimates and Continental All Season Contact. They served me quite well, while also giving very good longevity (Continentals especially) and reasonable performance.
Inspired by vastly positive reviews of Vredesteins I decided to give them a go as my next tire set. After a break in period of 500 km I started noticing mostly disappointing performance of the tires compared even to my old summer sets that I used during the whole year (my area of the country rarely gets snow even in winter, but on a few occasions I ended up having to drive in snow with a summer set). Compared to Continentals dry grip and handling are noticeably worse and road noise is more pronounced (this doesn't really bother me). Lateral wet grip is so bad to the point that my hand is always ready to pull the handbrake while turning, even in the mildest corners in city driving well within urban speeds (read as low as 20km/h). Only area that seems on par with the Continentals is longitudinal wet grip (as in straight line braking and aquaplaning).
Moving from stop in city traffic is comically bad even on small slopes and travelling using highway speeds is uninspiring to say the least (and borderline scary in wet conditions). Road feedback is about average. On the positive side, during the 12 000 km I've been using these tires, thread doesn't seem to be wearing fast, so longevity could be good. As I said before, my area doesn't get snow or ice in the winter so I can't speak in terms of handling and performance in those conditions. Truth be told, after performance shown in regular conditions I wouldn't dare to use the car even for the shortest of drives in snow. I tried varying the pressure to try and remedy some of the problems, but to no avail as the tire performance gets even worse.
To conclude, this review is based entirely on MY experience with MY car, so take it with a grain of salt. I suspect the main problem with these tires is that they are probably made market specific and in this case, to a lower quality standard (these are made in Hungary, but I believe that sets for, let's say "more western" parts of Europe, are made in Netherlands - I live in Croatia for what it's worth). I had similar experience using identical models of Michelin Energysavers, one set made in France and the other in Romania. You can hazard a guess which set caused a slowmotion crash turning into a wet corner while driving 20 km/h.
With all things considering, to me these specific tires I have on my car are a total disappointment and under no circumstances would I buy them again. I got into a few dangerous situations as a result of bad performance from them and will probably change to another brand despite tires being only a year old. You may have a totally different experience, as a lot of users do so it seems. but to me these tires are a big no-no...
