It’s hard to think of a more apt use of the phrase “right tool for the job” than choosing tyres.
At a bare minimum they’re a crucial safety feature, keeping you on the black stuff when the British weather throws its worst at you. At their best, they’re transformative, getting the best from your steering and suspension – and your driving chops – whether you’re driving a hot hatch, a supercar, or anything in between. And, as all motoring enthusiasts know, pedigree matters.
Enter Holland-based Vredestein, which has applied its high-end tyre expertise around the world for more than 100 years. The company started making everything from tennis balls to shoes, before gradually turning its attention to keeping cars on the road.
Vredestein isn’t just another tyre manufacturer, churning out budget products to keep the big boys honest. A history of milestones and firsts place it at the cutting edge of tyre manufacture. It has form when it comes to taking winter driving to the next level – in 2005 it introduced the Wintrac xtreme, the first winter tyre with a W speed rating. That’s 168 miles per hour.
Less than a decade later Vredestein brought out the Wintrac xtreme S, a winter tyre with a Y speed rating – that’s a blow-your-hair-back 186 miles per hour, adrenalin fans.
Today, many of its car tyres are designed by Italian automotive design house Giugiaro. Giugiaro is responsible for penning some iconic motoring shapes (the VW Golf MK I, Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GT and the DeLorean are among its greatest hits), and the close collaboration between the two has been a sensational marriage of form meeting function. Four R&D centres worldwide ensures the company’s best tyres are ahead of it.
Vredestein is a company you’re going to hear much more about. For one thing, it sponsored the 2017 Autocar Awards, and with six factories around the world, including a just-open-for-business plant in Hungary that will manufacture over five million tyres a year, you’re about to notice Vredestein a whole lot more – whatever you drive.
For more information on Vredestein Tyres, click here.
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