Vredestein adds winter, all-season tires to lineup

EDINBURGH, Scotland (June 26, 2014) — Apollo Vredestein B.V., a subsidiary of Apollo Tyres Ltd., debuted its Quatrac 5 all-season passenger car tire and Snowtrac 5 snow tire June 23 during a media ride-and-drive event in Edinburgh.

The Vredestein Quatrac 5, the fifth generation tire in a line originally launched in 1993, was developed at Apollo Tyre's global R&D center in Enschede, Netherlands. It will be available in North America this fall in 12 H- and V-rated sizes, with wheel diameters ranging from 15 to 17 inches.

Vredestein said the tire is characterized by a sleek, asymmetrical tread design featuring a “summer side” and “winter side.” The summer side is designed to ensure excellent handling, steering precision and lateral grip on both dry and wet road surfaces, along with an asymmetrical outer longitudinal groove with edges placed at different angles in the tire tread. The firm said this helps to optimize the stiffness of the tire, resulting in greater stability and handling on dry surfaces.

According to Vredestein, the winter side of the tire features advanced sipe technology. It also includes the company's new 3D Grip Claws, which are arranged between the sipes in the middle of the tire to improve grip during cornering, even on snowy and icy roads.

In addition, the Quatrac 5 features low-rolling resistance, short braking distances on wet surfaces and low-rolling noise, helping it to gain the European Union's (EU) “green” tire label, the company said. The tire also features the Three Peak Snowflake symbol and M&S (mud and snow) coding, making it a recognized winter tire in countries where they are compulsory.

The Snowtrac 5, available in North America this fall in 17 T- and H-rated sizes ranging from 14 to 16 inches in wheel diameter, features a V-shaped tread design with a solid central zone for extra firmness. Vredestein said its unique geometric angles in this center zone create a continuous central groove, which Vredestein said provides extra stability, steering precision and driving comfort.

A network of non-parallel sipes and a total sipe length that is more than 30-percent longer than the older-generation Snowtrac 3 allow the film layer created by ice, water and snow to be more easily broken, Vredestein said. The sipes are of different shapes and depths and have been placed on the tread in varying directions.

Vredestein said its tread design also insures very low interior noise levels, as the V-shape tread, longitudinal and lateral grooves work together to minimize vibrations and absorb sound.

Both tires feature Vredestein's Full Silica tread compound mix, which is characterized by a special polymer composition to ensure a high degree of wear resistance, even wear and low rolling resistance.