I have been reading a lot about which tires to put on next.
With the existing ones wearing out, I found myself being more 'trigger happy' on the gas pedal through turns, etc.
This, in my mind, was getting me closer to a new set of tires.

Through research and views of those who have had them before, I decided on the Vredestein Sessanta tires. Stock size 275/45/19.
Thought about going one size up in width (285) but in the end decided against. Would be good either way.
The stock size looks a little bit fatter than the old tires I had on there (michelin Latitude sports).

Have only got a few miles with these, but I can really tell less tire noise while driving (even when old ones were great condition).
Have not been testing grip yet, but I am sure it will come down to that soon (lol) - with the F1 coming to Austin in a few weeks, I am sure we will have tons of people day dreaming on highways here).

Here are some pics...

 

That's exactly what I have on mine and I've been very pleased. Quiet ride with excellent dry and wet grip. Looks cool too!

 

...so far so good...great traction in the dry. Awesome actually. no rain yet. Looks great, is quiet and translates power into grip well.

 

Where did you end up getting these from? Online or through a local reseller?

 

There was no local resaler close to me (Austin TX). I took to the web and found them for $257 shipped/tire from eBay.

I think his ID was cleanin out the garage or something like that. Shipped almost immedately and I got them within 3-4 days (shipped out of Cali).

I am really satisfied so far. I will post more after they break in.

 

are they uni directional tread? if not the pics shows you need to reverse mount 1 of them

 

Each tire has a very distinct 'INSIDE' pressed on sidewall, making it impossible to miss and thus mount improprely.
The main groove to inside of car and the wedges radiating out towards the outside.
Also, if you check the Vredestein site you will see same mounting for tires on cars (with main groove inside).
When you check the website for the tire, it also states the tread is non directional.

 

Well, today was the day I said good bye to the Vredestein Sessanta tires.
Awesome tires!!!!

I will post up my summary for historical purposes, reviewing what I liked and did not.
Will post up mileage from new to replace, etc. Hope this will help those who are looking at the tires for their Cayenne. I know I had a very hard time trying to find actual accounts from Cayenne owners on these tires.
I saw many accounts on these tires from passenger car owners, but torques/power car weight are so different, it is useless to try to compare them to the Cayenne and extrapolate longevity expectations.

See you back here soon (maybe today).

 

It weird because I see what rymo is talking about. The grove is on the inside but why would the outter tread v out in different directions? One v out downwards and the other v out upwards. Strange to me but maybe thats the design.

 

I thought it was strange but it appears part of the design.
Go to their web site and read/view videos. They specifically state non directional and when watching videos you will see the grooves there too.
The purpose is to channel the water from under tire, which the grooves do, regardless of their orientation. Otherwise they would have to design one tire tread for right side and another for left side (manufacturing complications vs. inventory vs. stock, etc.).
Either way, I used them and they kick ***. Literally.

 

Yeah see it on the site. Strange. Just got the NO continental s so ill have to wait till next time.

 

As promised, here is my final review of these tires, after replacement due to wear:


Make: Vredestein Ultrac Sessanta Giugiaro - XL (SUV)
Size: 275/45 19
Load Index: 108 (XL - 2205 Lbs or 1000 kg)
Speed Indx: Y (186 mph or 300km/h)
UTQG: 280
Traction: AA
Temp: A


Date installed: Oct 25, 2012
Date removed: Nov 13, 2013
Time used: 2 days shy of 1 years and 2 weeks of use

Mileage installed: 67862 mi
Mileage removed: 84919 mi
Mileage used: 17057 mi or 27291 km

Cost (Total - tires+install+balance+lifetime re-balance/rotations): $1180
Note: No tax - purchased online


REVIEW:

My suspension settings were probably 80% at low and sport, and 20% low, between normal and comfort (to give you idea of mapping used on car).
About less than 3% of the time of use would be in PSM OFF mode (majority when wanting to accel onto highway, or sometimes taking a nice turn, demolishing the occasional turd trying to show off, etc (early on times).

Tires were on the car 100% of the time (no winter/other tires). Rotated front-to-back every 4-5K miles and rebalanced each tire until replacement.

Initial impressions:
- very quiet ride
- great handling (stiff sidewalls - although when new and tread was at its tallest, very slight squiggle could be perceived - from flex of tread - at higher speeds)
- Looks are awesome (cant remember how many compliments I got)
- great rim protection lip on tire (extends past rim lip to protect against curbs, etc)


Impressions after use:
- This fricking tire sticks to road like nothing I have used before on the street.
Comparing to Michelin Latitude Sport (tires taken off for these), hard time even comparing - taking turns at about 85 with old tires, could be taken with new tires at about 118-125 ( )

- Tire super quiet when driving (fast or slow). Towards the end of life, noise level increased (not dramatically but noticeably).

- Sticky level was superior until tire was near worn down to flat. That is when in turns under power, tire would start breaking traction. Very evident when starting from stop and making turns under throttle, so be careful in those times.

- OMG - this tire seemed to perform just as good in rain as in dry weather!!! CAN THAT BE POSSIBLE?! Seriously, with pretty hard rain, I was very cautious at first , but eventually got more and more confidence, ultimately deciding not to push my luck, but was astonished with the grip I had - like it did not rain at all!!!
In my state had to wait for rain quite long time to perform these tests.. lol.

- Looks awesome throughout life of tire (again, cant remember how many people came over to ask what these are, and admiring looks.

- I was a little disappointed from distance of use - just over 17k mi or 27k km, was kind of hoping for 20-25k mi, but understand reasons for this, so no biggie here.


DRIVING BEHAVIOR WITH TIRES ON:

Well, the reason I got about 17k mi on these was due to following:
- initial period (about 3 months or so), I was very aggressive on tire (loving every tight turn), accelerating when wanting to feel it, generally driving to enjoy the traction (WOW - let me say it again). So for this period, my driving would be considered hard on tires. Of course, was relatively new to car, so this played a factor in the driving habit as well.
Would say about 40% normal driving and 60% handling/accel oriented (getting to know that car...lol).

- period after 3 months to about 6 months, driving pattern stabilized and was more of typical driving with occasional bursts of enjoyment/speed/power. Some turns on way from work taken hard to put a smile on a face - before having to go home ( ).
Majority of driving though was normal or elevated normal, if you will.
Would say 60% normal, and 40% elevated normal.

- Period after 6 months to replace, I would consider driving habits as very typical of urban driving. Still liked that one turn on way from work, otherwise, pretty typical of any average driver though. Would say 80% normal, 20% still enjoyment of speed/power/handling.


OVERALL:
- I am so glad to have experienced this tire
- only reason I switched to something else was to try it to compare to this tire
- if not satisfied enough, I will be back to these on my next set for sure
- tire installed after these: Nitto NT420s 275/45 19 (XL).
- My recommendation would be: Get these suckers for sure
- if living in cold regions (where it snows), be careful, as they will not handle well in the ice/snow (from reviews, not first hand experience though)


If you are considering this tire for your C/CS/CTT, my opinion will be:
- the C will get more mileage (due to power)
- the CS will get less mileage
- the CTT/CTTs will get even less mileage
- if your driving habits seem harder than what attempts above to describe, this will likely lower tire expectancy as well
- mods, other performance done to your car will affect mileage too


Including pics of what the tread looked like at replace time (compare with pics from first post - new).
Thanks for reading. Now, maybe those who are looking for tires will have a decent info to try to compare to.

I will post my reviews on the next tire as well, to add to the pool of info for Cayenne users (maybe other SUVs too).

 

I've been touting these tires longer than anyone on the board.

Europeans rate their tires differently. There is no treadwear rating number. Though the tire is about a 280 translated. Europe has no governing body like the US's NHTSA.

DFW performance tire can get you these to Austin in 1 day using UPS ground. Obviously if you live in TX. you pay sales tax, bummer. They will price match though if you ask nicely.
Group A wheels in NY has the best prices on these tires ANYWHERE, by far.
$283 per tire for a 295-35-21. IF you run 21's and your not buying these, send me some money because you are wasting yours.

Ciaka's evaluation is near spot on. These tires kick ***. In ALL aspects.

The directional tread pattern has one purpose according to the designers,
noise cancellation. One side cancels out the other side. That's why when mounted it looks as if one side is backwards. The tire is not directional but does have only 1 inside Don't worry, you will get over it.

I get about 12k per set. Its not going to get better. I drive hard. Usually my tires are worn on the inside from camber and the CTT's design. It's going to happen if you drive like granny, it's going to happen faster if you drive like Andretti. The wider your tires are, the more the insides wear. When my inside edge is worn, there is usually about 3mm tread left across the tire. I'm over it, you should be too.

The ONLY 1 downside I have noticed on this tire compared to others with larger shoulder blocks on the inside edge of tread, is that with the smaller shoulder blocks and that circumfrential groove, Inside edge wear seems to be faster than say.....the michelin lattitude with much larger shoulder blocks.

I've been through 7 sets of tires in 100k, and a bunch of used conti's and michelins.

 

Your math is slightly off.

 

...lol, pressed 1 but 2 came out - fat finger syndrome?
...that's OK though. I bet it is also covered under Obamacare, so I'm covered.