Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing Just had Vredesteins fitted

Ruut, This thread may help.

Ruut, at least my T-Track 2 are in the dimension 165/80/15 which should be the original size.

On the subject of tubeless vs. tubing. If the old rims can't take modern tubeless tires you have to ride with an inner tube, because otherwise the tire can jump off the rim in a curve.
But in general it is safer to use a modern rim with a tubeless tyre. The advantage is that the air usually escapes slowly in case of a damage. This is a safety plus because you gain time. If you have to use an inner tube because the rim flange requires it, there is a risk that an inner tube can burst. Then the tire can also jump off directly. However, whether the tyre jumps off or not, the air escapes with a single blow which can be very dangerous.
Our old Alfa Giulia has steel rims that require an inner tube. That was too dangerous for me and therefore we changed to Cromodora aluminium rims for tubeless tyres.

Vredestein's Sprint Classics are sold at a much higher price than T-Track2
Has anybody noticed a quality difference or is it just the classic look which costs the premium?

I'm curious how others here will answer your question, Hannes. My observation is that besides the vintage look of the Sprint Classics there is - according to members of different forums - also a difference in wet performance. The Sprint Classic seems to have a reputation for not so good wet performance at least there are voices in German vintage Mercedes, Porsche (912) und VW forums. To be fair those users never had a direct comparison with the T-Trac 2.
I would be happy if you report later on because both tyres are happily in use with many 4/4 here but I know no one like you, Hannes, who can compare them both directly.

I personally attribute the price difference between the two Vredestein products to the marketing of the Sprint Classic, because it was deliberately positioned for classic car drivers. They like to spend some money on their sweetheart. Naturally this tyre has a relatively small market share (concerning all tyres including modern ones) which is in addition divided into many tyre dimensions which are no longer in use today. For example, for a W107 SL Mercedes of the first series the dimension 205/70/14. So it is understandable that the Vredestein Sprint Classic is not cheap.

The T-Trac 2 comes from a completely different planet and has been developed for different needs. It is primarily found on cheap small cars and in commercial use, from trailers to vans, and is therefore involved in a strong price war with its rivals. It has good to very good modern running characteristics, which of course cannot be compared with tyres available in dimensions such as 245/40/18, e.g. a Yokohama AD08r. But the T-Track 2 was in its class and especially as 165/80/15 for a long time the only tyre with a Euro-certificate "B" in wet conditions which is second best possible as its USP.. All competitors are literally greased and landed on C, D or worse. The Conti CT22 which was OEM on new 4/4 always had an E in the wet evaluation. (Suddenly and for reasons I don’t know, it also has a B, but not at all dealers), anyway it remained to be the same ... tyre.
It seems to be simply a happy coincidence for the 4/4, Beetle and Porsche 912 driver that the dimension 165/80/15 is still in use somewhere on trailers or vans. and therefore we can have a good cheap tyre without the marketing premium but also without the vintage look of a Sprint Classic.

I think that's an excellent summary Heinz. Although personally I have no problem at all with the wet-weather performance of the Sprint Classic, I am quite happy to accept that the more advanced tread pattern of the T-Trac 2 will perform better.

At the end of the day I guess it comes down to looks really. I vastly prefer the appearance of the Sprint Classic and I'm happy to pay the premium whilst I can afford it, but should there come a time when I couldn't I'd be happy to accept the T-Trac 2 as an alternative. I'd certainly never go anywhere near Conti CT22s again.

I recently had a set of T-Trac 2’s fitted by Paul Harris Tyres and am totally delighted with them. The grip level is perfectly OK for me and on the only occasion I have pushed it to slide (Andy will be amazed it’s taken this long!) it was a very progressive break away and controlled slide. More hooligan behaviour than anything else.

Not pushed it in the wet to explore the limits and probably won’t but all round I am totally happy with them.

BR
Colin (car is a 2012 4/4 Sport, remapped and AR exhaust system)

As a supplement, Tim, I didn't mean to imply that the Sprint Classic is one of the tyres with the bad EU label in the wet. It is a modern vintage tyre, an exception that has no EU testing. But even without a label it can still be very acceptable in the wet.

Thanks to you all for all the information. I did not know that Vredestein had a current 165/60-15 available. That seems an attractive option. I just swapped my Vredestein Sprint Classics this year for Michelin XZX 165/80-15, as I had troubles with the Classic Sprints in the wet. But there are different opinions / experiences on that matter.At this moment I'm quite happy with the Michelins which perform and look good. As for the look I prefer the Michelin XAS at most, but I think they are to expensive at the moment!