Vredestein Ultrac Centos

[muckipup]

As a Scotsman living in Hampshire, I am used to the occasional communication error with the accent so when I returned after ordering 4 Vredestein Ultrac Sessantas to find that the boots fitted to my Octavia were in fact Vredestein Ultrac Centos, I wasn’t too surprised. :wonder:

I knew very little about these tyres and Google didn’t produce much info in the way of reviews either so I was faced with either giving them a shot or ranting at the tyre fitters. In the interests of enlightening forum members, I decided to ‘take one for the team’, keep them and write a review (well, that and also that I couldn’t be ar$ed getting them swapped over for the out of stock Sessantas! ).

I have to add the caveat that I haven’t had the chance to rag it and fully test out wet and dry performance but I have had enough experience now to give initial impressions and comparison with the Sessantas that were on before…

The first thing that I noticed on driving off was that the road noise was notably reduced. When I Googled later on, I read that these tyres were constructed to conform with some new tyre noise regulation coming in in 2011; they are definitely quieter!

Then came a pleasant surprise – I had a bit of opportunity to put the foot down in the damp conditions on the way home and suss out grip even in these unbroken-in tyres. The previous Sessantas would scramble for grip even in 3rd gear in the damp but the Centos did remarkably well. The traction control light still flickered but the loss of grip seemed to be less and the scrambling less pronounced than the Sessantas even when they were new!

A few days later and in bone dry conditions with the tyres reasonably broken in, I had the opportunity to ‘hoof it’ around a hairpin bend just off a slip road that I encounter on my way home every day. Again, there seemed to be more grip there with understeer being more controlled and gradual than with the Sessantas!!

In summary, these tyres seem to stack up pretty well against the beloved Sessantas and come in at a similar price which represents good value for money. I echo the point about these being initial impressions though.

OK, these are the pros but the Centos are not without some cons….

The reduced road noise has to come from somewhere and it comes at a price. I guess the price is with a softer construction and softer sidewalls than the Sessantas. Apart from reduced noise, my other initial impression was that these tyres made the drive feel floaty and ‘lollopy’ (OK, not a real word but I can’t think of another). I felt that the Sessantas twinned with Koni dampers gave a very slightly harsh ride for my every day commute and, although the Centos softened things up, it wasn’t a good feel at all. Additionally, the feedback through the steering wheel felt noticeably reduced. One of the first things that I did was to get some more air in and increased each tyre from the 30 psi given by the fitter to 34 psi. This helped a lot! However, it did not completely remove all of the observations above and it still took me a while to build up confidence in these tyres but confidence is growing by the day.

A minor point but I liked the funky tread pattern on the Sessantas. The Centos have a more familiar and conservative pattern.

In conclusion:

Simply getting more air in those Centos provided a nice compromise between the reduced road noise and the ‘lollopy’ initial feel of these tyres. Combine this with grip that, with these early impressions, seem to equal or (dare I say it ) better the Sessantas and we are looking at a very respectable tyre! If your driving style is normal road or a bit of fast road and your car is a daily commuter, then these tyres are certainly worth looking at. If you have complaints about road noise then they are definitely worth looking at as general grip and performance is still darned good. However, if you do track days or just drive around the streets like you stole it then I don’t think you’ll like the Centos – the reduced feedback/feel through the steering and the somewhat softer ride (even if not too bad at 34 psi but which would compromise the stiffened suspension that you are likely to be running) is likely to put you off.

As said earlier, there are not a lot of opinions out there on this tyre and the above is just my own opinion. It would be good to hear from others.

Edited 4 June, 2010 by muckipup

[KenONeill]

There wouldn't be a lot about them on the net yet; they only became available to anyone in the last month or so (source being the UK importers via a Vredstein dealer).

[muckipup]

There wouldn't be a lot about them on the net yet; they only became available to anyone in the last month or so (source being the UK importers via a Vredstein dealer).

Ah, that would explain it Ken. I hope Vredestein don't plan to replace the Sessantas but that road noise regulation or whatever it is sounds like a threat.

[vRS Carl]

I found the sessantas to be a good tyre but the PS3's are leagues ahead.

How much was it for the 4 tyres?

[muckipup]

I found the sessantas to be a good tyre but the PS3's are leagues ahead.

How much was it for the 4 tyres?

All in with balancing and disposal etc. I paid £413 for the four of them. Individually, they were £80+VAT

I had the PS3's initially and they are a great tyre but, as a Scotsman, I am always trying to find a bargain

I have to say that the Sessantas at the front needed to be replaced after about 9000 miles and I didn't thrash the hell out of them.

Edited 4 June, 2010 by muckipup

[vRS Carl]

I only paid £419 for 4 PS3's fitted etc :p

I found the Sessantas wore out fairly quick too.

However I doubt the PS3 will last any longer. If anything probably less.

Edited 4 June, 2010 by vRSCarl

[KenONeill]

The Sessanta has officially been dropped; same source.

[simonsheil]

I would be susprised as perusing the vredestein website the cento is only avilable up to 18" and not in their ZR speed rating.

[muckipup]

I only paid £419 for 4 PS3's fitted etc :p

Woot? That was a bargain!

[vRSy]

The Sessanta has officially been dropped; same source.

suprised, they seem to be very popular, and are always out of stock. looked at the PS£s but for the samemoney it looks like i can pick up kumho V70a Hrad compound track/road tyres

[Hedge]

Woot? That was a bargain!

But what he doesn't tell you is that was for 17's.

[cheezemonkhai]

The Sessanta is not replaced by this tyre as a few months ago i looked up over tyres and this was just being released by Vred.

They said it was more of a Primacy HP contender than a PS3 contender.

http://www.vredestein.com/Banden_Bandgroepen.asp?TaalID=1&UsersessionID=78888667&BandgroepID=1

[vRSy]

But what he doesn't tell you is that was for 17's.

everybody knows carl has at least 1" less than everyone else

[vRS Carl]

I might have 1" less than everyone else but the benefits of that are twofold

Firstly it means I am faster as have less weight

Secondly it means I can get better tyres cheaper thus improving grip

So your alllllllllllllll just jealous :p

[simonsheil]

What are the PS3s likes in the wet? I had exaltos in the past and was decidedly unimpressed.

[vRSy]

What are the PS3s likes in the wet? I had exaltos in the past and was decidedly unimpressed.

PS3 review

Edited 4 June, 2010 by vRSy

[vRS Carl]

I found them to be outstanding in the wet.

Leagues ahead of the vredesteins and IMHO better than Eagle F1

[Phil Mcavity]

Ive just purchesed 2 Vred's sessanta's today ,delivered for £190 from camskill.co.uk

Your running too soft on your pressures.Vredestein recommend 40psi in my case a GTi. 225/40/18's.

[vRS Carl]

40psi!!!!

Thats a bit high isn't it considering VW Recommend 34psi?

[Phil Mcavity]

Ive just purchesed 2 Vred's sessanta's today ,delivered for £190 from camskill.co.uk

Your running too soft on your pressures.Vredestein recommend 40psi in my case a GTi. 225/40/18's.

Vreds arent supllied via VW. Thats what Vredestein recommend with this tyre design

[muckipup]

Vreds arent supllied via VW. Thats what Vredestein recommend with this tyre design

Hey Phil, good to hear from you after the RR day at JKM. I may try upping the pressure on the Centos even beyond 34 psi to see how I get on. 40 does sound pretty high though.

[vRSy]

Hey Phil, good to hear from you after the RR day at JKM. I may try upping the pressure on the Centos even beyond 34 psi to see how I get on. 40 does sound pretty high though.

mine wwre fitted at 40PSI by the garage and it was like driving on ice skates. i dropped to 32PSI all round and it was spot on for on track

[Phil Mcavity]

agree, i would lower for track and quarter mile, but for day to day, my set pressures would always be lowest 36 to 40 and time of Season depending personally.

Good to see you also muckipup, roll on another RR day for sure

Edited 15 June, 2010 by Phil Mcavity

[benjamino]

Just checked on the Vredestein website (http://www.vredestein.co.uk/Onlineadvies_Advies.asp?AutomerkID=168&UserSessionID=27683222) and for the Octy vRS TDI they recommend the tyre pressure to be: front 2.9bar and rear 3.4 bar! This seems awfully high to me as I'm currently running front 2.0bar and rear 2.1bar. This can't be right, can it?