Vredestein knows that Grassroots Motorsports knows a thing or two about performance tires. And they know that our readers do, too. That’s why they came to us with a simple request: Find five readers worthy of a set of Vredestein’s latest performance tires, their Ultrac Vorti and Ultrac Vorti R. Over the next six months, you’ll be seeing feedback from these readers in the form of regular blog posts on our site.
Story and Photos by Kevin Abel
I’m a car guy. We car guys have lots of opinions about things car-related, and tires are no exception. I set out to simply provide a genuine and honest evaluation of these Ultrac Vorti tires as someone who drives on them every day. Though my focus was really on their performance as a daily driven tire, I felt like I was a good candidate for this because I do have experience with autocross & track and I understand driving dynamics and what role the tire plays in that equation. Of course, I do have a fun car and I do take a "spirited" approach to my daily drive; I mean, I drive a MX5 Miata, is there any other way?
After six months the tires are still reasonably quiet given the various road conditions. They still give me the grip I want when I get the chance to exercise my spirited driving.
I fell a little short on the total miles I expected to put on these tires in the time I’ve had them. Real life interjected a few surprises, lots of travel for work, and I traded out my 2016 MX5 for a 2019 MX5 RF right about at the three-month mark. But I still logged just under 7000 miles and it is hard to visually detect any significant tread wear.
My only criticism is the manufacture does not offer them in the recommended size for my OEM wheels. So, the tires were a plus size, and I felt that contributed to some overall squirmy feeling when pushing them hard from sidewall flex. I mentioned it in the three-month review as well, what most impressed me about these tires has been the wet weather performance. We've entered the rainy season here in Florida, which has provided a variety of rainy conditions to drive these tires in.
From damp roads to torrential downpours on the highway I have high confidence in them now.
I think when you read the other reviews on these tires you will see a common thread. These are a very capable tire for enthusiasts (and non-enthusiasts alike). Reasonably quiet, very good dry grip, very good wet grip, capable of dual duty as a daily driven car and the occasional autocross or track day.
In today’s market it seems the tire manufactures are churning out high grip, high tread wear compounds that outperform what one’s expectations might be based on the treadwear rating and at reasonable prices. The Vredestein Ultrac Vorti certainly seems to fit that description. I think that is all good news for the enthusiast. Thankfully we have a group of motor heads at GRM that sponsor testing as many as they can so we all can make an informed purchase.
If I just daily drive these Ultrac Vorti, I’m sure I’ve got thousands of miles let on them.
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