The summer passenger tire Vredestein Sportrac 5 is one of the novelties of the popular Dutch manufacturer in our country. It replaced the Sportrac model, which not so long ago became the winner of the summer tire test conducted by the experts of the German automobile club ADAC. The number four in the name was decided not to be applied to avoid confusion, as buyers may think that this is an all-season model. This tire, like its predecessor, belongs to the UHP category, i.e. it is a tire with ultra-high performance. At the same time, it is produced in several dozen sizes for wheels with a landing diameter from 14 to 17 inches, which limits its applicability to passenger cars of small and medium class.
Design by Giugiaro
The asymmetric directional tread pattern was developed in close cooperation with the world-famous Italian company Giugiaro Design, which has been helping the Dutch tire manufacturer in working on new tires for almost two decades.
The tread design is made in a classic style and features five longitudinal ribs. The participation of Italian designers affected the appearance of the sidewalls, which were given maximum effectiveness, with the placement of the company logo near the wear indicator in the shoulder areas. In addition, at the bottom of all four drainage grooves, there are special "shadows" that emphasized the sportiness and asymmetry of the tread pattern design.
Asymmetric tread pattern
Unlike its predecessor, this model was equipped with an asymmetric directional tread pattern. Thanks to this design solution, the Dutch tire manufacturers were able to significantly improve all the main operational characteristics.
The three longitudinal ribs located in the central part of the tread are characterized by increased stiffness, which allowed the Vredestein Sportrac 5 tire to have excellent directional stability at any speed. In addition, these tread elements significantly reduced the tire's response time to steering wheel turns, which introduced sports features into the handling character.
In all four drainage grooves, there are so-called "bending points". These tread elements improve the flexibility of the tire, allowing the tread to more closely fit the irregularities on the road surface. As a result, the external pressure became distributed much more evenly, which, in turn, led to an improvement in resistance to uneven wear. In addition, this technical solution had a beneficial effect on the stability and reliability of traction in various driving modes and on any type of coverage.
Handling Tuned Sidewall
Like the previous model, the Vredestein Sportrac 5 tire was developed using the Handling Tuned Sidewall technology. The task of this technology is to give the tire sports handling. This was achieved by significantly strengthening the shoulder areas of the tread. Each of them represents a series of separate rectangular blocks. Their long sides are located almost at a right angle to the direction of movement, which made it possible to significantly increase the effectiveness of braking, especially on wet surfaces. In addition, their massive size gives this part of the tread additional stiffness, which increased the resistance to dynamic deformations, which, in turn, led to an improvement in traction when cornering. It is also worth noting the arrangement of the blocks of the shoulder areas of the tread with a different step relative to each other. This solution significantly reduced the likelihood of resonance noise and vibration, which increased the overall driving comfort.
Main features of the Vredestein Sportrac 5 model
- The asymmetric design of the tread pattern, developed with the participation of Giugaro, is distinguished not only by a sports appearance but also by excellent traction characteristics in any road conditions;
- The Handling Tuned Sidewall technology, thanks to the reinforced design of the shoulder areas of the tread, gave the tire sports handling and sharpened reactions to steering wheel turns;
- A low level of resonance noise and vibration, due to the optimized shape and arrangement of all tread elements;
- Excellent resistance to aquaplaning even at high speeds is provided by the high-performance drainage system;
- Three rigid central ribs allowed to significantly reduce rolling resistance, while increasing directional stability.
Enlarge 
НИДЕРЛАНДЫ