Vredestein Hypertrac All Season Review – Hanging Out with the Big Boys

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Vredestein Hypertrac All Season
Vredestein Hypertrac All Season

Dry

86%

Wet

85%

Snow

75%

Comfort

78%

Noise

74%

Treadwear

85%

Overall

81%

Pros

  • Excellent lateral grip in dry conditions
  • Strong braking and good acceleration on dry tarmac
  • Impressive wet traction and good hydroplaning resistance
  • Good behavior at the limit in rainy conditions
  • Easy to drive on light snow with good overall traction
  • Very smooth ride for a UHP all-season tire
  • Modest noise on the highway that never feels tiring
  • Excellent treadwear warranty for the category

Cons

  • The steering isn’t as responsive as its rivals
  • It doesn’t feel very agile at the limit (dry conditions)

Tires are classified into many different categories, depending on the performance/comfort you want, but also the surface. However, we reviewers also like to categorize tires by price and usually sort them by premium, budget, or cheap tires.

Of course, several manufacturers come to mind when we think of the premium category, like Michelin, Bridgestone, Continental, Pirelli, and Goodyear. Meanwhile, you have some near-premium “budget” brands like Hankook, Kumho, Yokohama, Toyo, Cooper Tire, General Tire, and Nokian.

But where would you put Vredestein? Can the Dutch brand compete with the big boys, or is it just another company firm in the budget category? After trying the Hypertrac All Season ultra-high-performance tire, I started viewing Vredestein differently.

Vredestein Hypertrac All Season
Source: Vredestein Tires

It’s a tire with many premium qualities. Yet, it will save you around $50 on average compared to the Michelin Pilot Sport All Season 4, Continental ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus, Pirelli P Zero All Season Plus, and Bridgestone Potenza RE980AS+. So, should you save some cash and opt for the Hypertrac All Season? It’s a question I’ll answer in more detail, as there are many nuances in this category, some subjective, some objective.

But I need to make a quick disclaimer here – the tires I’ve tried were produced in 2022, meaning they featured the upgraded tread compound designed to improve wet and snow traction. Vredestein started using an enhanced rubber compound from manufacture date 2721 (27th week of 2021), and from what I’ve heard (I haven’t tried the previous model), the improvements are quite significant.

Therefore, the tires you’ll buy will probably feature the upgraded compound, but if you buy used ones, they might not.

With that out of the way, let’s have a closer look at the Vredestein Hypertrac All Season and see whether it deserves its place on your rims.

What are the features of the Vredestein Hypertrac All Season?

The Hypertrac All Season is also Vredestein’s first ultra-high-performance all-season tire specifically designed with the North American market in mind. Hence, it features an advanced tread compound developed for temperatures most often present in the USA and Canada and a pattern designed to cope with the changeable weather on the continent.

Previously, tires from the Dutch tiremaker were primarily designed for the European market, but after being bought by the Indian company Apollo Tires, Vredestein started expanding into other markets. It’s a sign that the company is serious about these markets and wants to compete with the best. Simply bringing a European-designed model might have worked, but Vredestein wanted to set new standards in its price range.

But what makes the Hypertrac All Season’s tread compound so special? According to Vredestein, the specially-tuned polymer blend ensures the rubber sticks to the road better, particularly on wet and snow-covered roads.

Still, the compound also needs a carefully designed tread pattern to function properly, and Vredestein ensured that. Notably, the asymmetric design has every feature you’d expect from an all-season tire and even winter/summer tires.

For instance, the outboard tread elements are wider, like in a summer tire, aiming to improve steering response and lateral grip. Meanwhile, the zigzag sipes on the inner tread blocks increase the biting edges in snow, much like in a winter tire.

Furthermore, the Hypertrac All Season has a high void pattern, similar to most touring all-season tires. Notably, the four circumferential grooves, accompanied by multiple lateral grooves, channel the water out of the tread, giving the tread compound better contact with the road.

When it comes to the construction, the Hypertrac All Season features the usual twin steel belts with a two-ply polyester casing, along with a polyamide reinforcement ply bolster.

What are the Vredestein Hypertrac All Season’s maintenance indicators?

Vredestein utilized the widely adopted tread wear bars for the Hypertrac All Season. These indicators can only show the driver when the tread is worn to the lowest legal depth (2/32-inch), i.e., the depth at which the tire can’t provide meaningful wet traction anymore.

However, the wear bars can’t show you when the tire reaches the minimum depth for snow (5/32 inches). This is not uncommon in the category – apart from the Continental ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus, no other tire offers a more granular way of showing the driver how much tread depth is left. Not to mention, only Continental’s UHP all-season tire has alignment indicators.

Vredestein Hypertrac All Season 10
Source: Vredestein Tires

If you want to measure the remaining tread depth on your Hypertrac All Season, the only option is a tread depth gauge. It’s an inexpensive tool that takes almost no space in your trunk, yet it can be helpful if you live where it frequently rains or snows.

What is the Vredestein Hypertrac All Season warranty?

The Vredestein Hypertrac All Season comes with an 8 Year/50,000-mile treadwear warranty, which is among the best in its category.

This implies that you can use these tires for three years with an average annual mileage of 15,000 miles before you reach the minimum legal tread depth of 2/32 inches. However, the tires will reach the 5/32-inch tread depth recommended for driving on snow sooner, so you might need to replace them a year earlier or use another set of winter tires.

Hypertrac All Season’s premium rivals offer similar warranties; the Continental ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus, for example, comes with a 6-year/50,000-mile warranty, while the Bridgestone Potenza RE980AS+ has a 5-year/50,000-mile warranty.

Therefore, for the price, the Vredestein Hypertrac All Season has the longest warranty of its rivals, although it’s hard to say how that translates into real-life treadlife. Since I’m from Europe and have extensive experience with the brand, I can tell you that Vredestein’s tires are very high quality and usually last as long as models from the premium competition.

How does the Vredestein Hypertrac All Season behave on dry roads?

The Hypertrac All Season is one of the best performers in the UHP all-season category in dry conditions, with excellent overall traction. Still, in my testing, I found that it’s not as controllable at the limit as its rivals, as it’s slower to respond.

But regardless of that, you’ll be having a great time with the Hypertrac All Season, especially if you’ve never driven a UHP all-season tire before. The steering is slower than the rivals offer but still more responsive than any grand-touring tire. More importantly, it’s direct and precise, meaning you can position your vehicle right where you want in the corner. Also, its straight-line tracking is excellent, so keeping your vehicle in the line on the highway is not an issue.

Vredestein Hypertrac All Season
Source: Vredestein Tires

Vredestein’s UHP all-season tire will also back you up with some amazing grip; currently, the Hypertrac All Season is the closest to a summer performance tire in the lateral grip – there is no other UHP all-season tire that can go faster through a corner. The stopping distances are also very short, but more importantly, your vehicle will be very stable under braking. Acceleration traction is also exceptional – no issue there at all.

At the limit, the Hypertrac All Season performs admirably and gives you control, though its rivals feel more agile. For instance, the ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus is easier to drive fast, and the same is true for the Bridgestone Potenza RE980AS+.

Still, I was impressed with how Vredestein’s first UHP all-season tire designed for the North American market handled fast driving. It’s very stable, provides excellent grip, and can put a smile on your face. Sure, I would’ve liked it to be more responsive and agile, but that’s nitpicking. Besides, the differences are only measurable when pushing the vehicle to the limit, which you probably won’t do on public roads.

How is the Vredestein Hypertrac All Season on wet and slippery roads?

The Vredestein Hypertrac All Season is one of the best rain tires in the UHP category, with excellent traction, good hydroplaning resistance, and very balanced handling.

Cheaper tires usually fall apart in rainy and snowy conditions, but here Vredestein again shows that it has excellent engineers under its belt. Thanks to the upgraded tread compound, the 2022-2023 Hypertrac All Season has some excellent grip on wet tarmac, accompanied by a balanced behavior at the limit.

Compared to its rivals, it falls slightly short of the Continental ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus, which set new standards for the category. Still, it’s comparable to Bridgestone’s, Pirelli’s, and Michelin’s UHP all-season offerings and beats most of its similarly-priced rivals, like the Yokohama ADVAN Sport A/S+.

Tesla Model S With Vredestein Hypertrac All Season Cornering
Source: Vredestein Tires

What you need to know is that the Hypertrac All Season is perfectly safe on public roads, with very short stopping distances and high lateral grip. Driving at the limit, i.e., when you need to make an evasive maneuver, also feels natural because the Hypertrac All Season always offers good rotation without completely losing the rear end. In other words, there is a good balance between understeer and oversteer.

The hydroplaning resistance is also very good for the category, thanks to the large void area. So, you won’t have issues with losing stability during a rain storm or driving through deep puddles of water, unlike with extreme summer performance tires, for example.

With that being said, how is the Vredestein Hypertrac All Season on snowy roads?

The Vredestein Hypertrac All Season is an excellent performer on light snow as far as ultra-high-performance all-season tires go. It provides solid traction in all directions, but more importantly, it’s easy to drive and correct, even for a novice driver.

With this tire, Vredestein again shows that a performance all-season tire can work on snow-covered roads. The Dutch tiremaker might not be the first brand producing a usable performance tire in the winter, but as they say, the more, the merrier, right?

Overall, I was impressed with how this tire handled light snow. The longitudinal traction is very good, meaning strong acceleration off the line and good braking.

Jaguar F-Type With Vredestein Hypertrac All Season Tires
Source: Vredestein Tires

But the Hypertrac All Season also performs well in the corners, with enough grip to keep you planted at legal speeds and a very natural behavior at the limit. Put differently – you won’t have any issues keeping your car planted with these tires on light snow.

The Hypertrac All Season remains pliable in freezing conditions thanks to the advanced compound. As a result, it also provides some traction on the icy parts, enough so you can regain control. It also accelerates and brakes pretty well on ice, at least for the category.

Still, much like its main rivals, the Hypertrac All Season isn’t suited for driving in very harsh wintry conditions. Namely, there isn’t enough traction in deep and unpacked snow, and you can’t really push your car on roads with too much ice. Therefore, I strongly recommend using proper winter tires if you live in areas with winter storms and generally harsh winter weather.

Is the Vredestein Hypertrac All Season suitable for off-road driving?

No – the Vredestein Hypertrac All Season is only designed for paved roads. The tread pattern is simply not aggressive enough to give you meaningful traction, and the casing isn’t resistant to cuts and punctures.

Sure, you could drive on gravel or dirt roads, as not every road is paved, even in 2023. Still, I’d avoid larger rocks because they could easily damage the tires and lead to an expensive replacement. Also, drive more slowly on these roads, as strong impacts can damage the tire’s tread and casing.

Is the Vredestein Hypertrac All Season a run-flat tire?

No – the Hypertrac All Season is not a run-flat tire. Vredestein offers some run-flat tires in Europe but still not in the North American market.

If you want a run-flat UHP all-season tire, the best options currently on sale in North America are the Michelin Pilot Sport All Season 4 ZP, Pirelli P Zero Nero All Season Run Flat, or Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric All-Season RunOnFlat.

How are the Vredestein Hypertrac All Season’s road noise and comfort performance?

With the Hypertrac All Season, Vredestein showed that ultra-high-performance all-season tires could also be comfortable, with a smooth ride and less noise on the highway.

I was actually impressed with the comfort qualities of the Hypertrac All Season. The ride is sublime for a performance tire and makes me forgive the slightly less responsive nature of the tire. If making the tire slightly less sporty gives me a better daily ride, I’d surely be okay with that.

Bmw M3 Equipped With Vredestein Hypertrac All Season Tires
Source: Vredestein Tires

And the Hypertrac All Season isn’t overly soft, as that would’ve made it unrefined over repetitive impacts. Vredestein found the perfect middle ground between stiffness and softness – this tire rides well over roads of various qualities, including smooth, rough, and broken pavement. You won’t find a UHP all-season tire that dampens the road so well in 2023!

The Hypertrac All Season is also pretty quiet for a performance tire. In urban scenarios, it’s almost silent and only slightly audible at higher speeds. Crucially, the noise is lower pitched and blends with the wind noise, making it less intrusive for passengers.

Should I buy the Vredestein Hypertrac All Season?

The Vredestein Hypertrac All Season makes a strong case for itself. It combines class-leading comfort with excellent traction on dry, wet, and snow-covered roads and costs less than its premium rivals. Thus, if you are in the market for an ultra-high-performance all-season tire, you should definitely put it on your shortlist.

If you aren’t prepared to pay that much for a Vredestein tire, you could also look at the Continental ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus, which is currently the best UHP all-season tire overall, though it’s more expensive than the Hypertrac All Season.

Bmw M3 Equipped With Vredestein Hypertrac All Season Tire
Source: Vredestein Tires

Meanwhile, the Michelin Pilot Sport All Season 4 will give you the best snow traction, but it costs even more than the DWS 06 Plus. Finally, the Bridgestone Potenza RE980AS+ is the sharpest UHP all-season tire to drive, but it also comes at a price premium.

You could also save some money and go for the much cheaper Sumitomo HTR A/S P03, which provides solid overall performance on dry, wet, and snow-covered roads, though at the expense of some on-road comfort.

What sizes does the Vredestein Hypertrac All Season come in?

The Vredestein Hypertrac All Season comes in 50 sizes, ranging from 16-inch to 20-inch wheel diameter, and W or Y speed ratings. With all these dimensions, Vredestein covered many compact cars, sports sedans, mid-size cars, executive vehicles, sporty crossovers, performance EVs, and even some supercars.

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