Which Vredestein - Quatrac or Quatrac 5?

[Jambo Creek]

I could use a little clarification. I ordered a set of Vredestein Quatrac tires from Tire Rack, but maybe I made the wrong call. The tread patterns on the Quatrac and Quatrac 5 are very different. Which one is the right one?

 

[T.P.]

I could use a little clarification. I ordered a set of Vredestein Quatrac tires from Tire Rack, but maybe I made the wrong call. The tread patterns on the Quatrac and Quatrac 5 are very different. Which one is the right one?

The Q5's have been replaced by the QUATRAC!! Tire rack doesn't have the needed Spyder sizes for the Q5 anymore
Many Quatrac threads here on SL with support from BLUEKNIGHT911 and PETER AaWEN our resident tire experts.

T.P.

 

[EdMat]

I could use a little clarification. I ordered a set of Vredestein Quatrac tires from Tire Rack, but maybe I made the wrong call. The tread patterns on the Quatrac and Quatrac 5 are very different. Which one is the right one?

Q5's are the old reliables, but when my Q5's bite the dust I can't wait to try the Q's.

 

[YPILOT]

 

[troop]

Quite honestly, you won't go wrong with either one.

 

[Jambo Creek]

Thanks for the feedback. Now I can relax for the rest of the winter.

 

[RayBJ]

The Q5 is asymmetric pattern which pushes the ground water to the outside, not under the spyder.
Does the newer Q do that or is it symmetrical?

 

[thereverend]

that's the tire I am running, excellent tire in the rain.

 

[Adventurer]

For the front tires, is the Vredestein Quatrac 175/55R-15 the closet size to OEM? And does that size fit without modifying or shimming of the fenders?

 

[YPILOT]

For the front tires, is the Vredestein Quatrac 175/55R-15 the closet size to OEM? And does that size fit without modifying or shimming of the fenders?

They also make a 165/60/15 which may be a closer size to OEM
however both will fit and work fine.

 

[BajaRon]

The Q5 is asymmetric pattern which pushes the ground water to the outside, not under the spyder.
Does the newer Q do that or is it symmetrical?

The 1st picture is of the Q5 Tread (Asymmetrical) Older version.

The 2nd picture is of the QuaTrac (Directional) Newer version.

Though both can work well and are generally very good in the rain. In a perfect world, I prefer a Directional tire for the rear (Spyder/Ryker). And Asymetric for the front. But this is a bit nit-picky and not worthy of a defence here. BRP also prefers a directional tread on the rear of our machines. As with everything, it's a tradeoff. For a car, I'd go with Asymmetric.

This video does a great job of explaining the difference between Asymetrical and Directional tires. The Q5 is Asymmetrical, as you point out. And the QuaTrac is Directional.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXrEqGopV2I&ab_channel=auto123

 

[ks4hcoach]

I have both varieties of the Vredestein tires that Ron posted pictures of in the previous post.

I put a set of the Quatrac 5 tires (fronts and rear) on my 2009 GS. Noticed a big improvement in the ride and handling seems crisper as well. Not enough miles to see how they wear over time but expecting reasonable wear, even on the rear tire. Great tires so far!

I purchased a 2021 RTL this March and have managed to put 7000 miles on it this year. Front tires still look like new, while the rear is ready for replacement with barely any tread showing in the center...and very little wear on the outer sections. But this is expected for the stock Kenda rear tire. The OEM Kenda did the same on the rear of the much lighter 2009 GS. I got maybe 8000 miles from the Kenda on the back of the GS. Note that most of my riding is on rural blacktop and chip and seal raods. The chip and seal is much harder on tires than good asphalt or concrete with significantly faster wear. See the same on my Ducati as a top shelf sport touring rear tire is shot in about 7-8K miles as well.

Last fall I started to shop for a set of Quatrac 5 tires to have on hand for the RTL...but by then they were all gone in the sizes needed for the Spyders. I ended up getting a set of the new, directional Quatracs for the RTL but haven't gotten around to changing them yet. I like the looks and expect the directional Qutrac to perform well. I bought a second Quatrac for the rear, just to have an extra if needed. In any case, based on the three tires I have worn out on the 2009 GS, the rear tires wears much faster than the front, and when the option to buy an extra rear presented itself, I picked up an extra as a hedge for supply shortages later.

My biggest reason to purchase the Quatrac 5, or later it's replacement, the Quatrac was that they are a sports touring, all season automotive tire with the Mountain Snowflake, Severe Snow Rating. These type of tires have a softer rubber compound with lots of small sipes for good traction in snow (not that I plan on riding in the snow!!) and very good wet traction with the many channels to move the water away from the contact patch effectively. Both of these tires have the same Severe Snow Rating and both have the UTQC rating of 400AA, or, a Treadwear rating of "400", a Traction rating of "A", and a Temperature rating of "A". In general terms this translate to a softer tire with good traction in wet and snow, but one that isn't expected to wear as long as a "600" rated tire such as the often cited General Ultimax RT43 for rear tire use. Note that there have been several posts of the Ultimax being "easier to spin" than the stock tire, especially as tread wear increases. This is often the case with a harder tire more biased to tread life at some expense of traction.

While I don't intend to go out in the snow (that would be a disaster on the Spyders), I feel that either of the Quatracs will give exceptional wet traction if I get caught out in the rain and this gives peace of mind and better safety. There is a huge difference in wet performance on car tires. I expect the same on the Spyders, thus the purchase of the Vredesteins. Doesn't hurt that they come very highly recommended on the forum but a large group of satisfied users. Thanks guys!

In closing, a real world example from my past: Ten years ago, I drove a 2wd Ford Ranger to work. It had a set of Goodyear Wrangler tires, which literally wore almost forever (100K miles) but had marginal traction in snow and on wet pavement. I replaced the Wranglers with a set of the original Goodyear TripleTread tires on the Ranger. The TripleTread was a direction tire with a Mountain Snowflake rating. It was somewhat similar to the new Quatracs. The traction on snow or wet pavement was much better than any tire I had EVER driven on any vehicle. They were amazing tires for traction...but they were worn out in 40K miles of of paved driving. I loved the traction but couldn't afford to replace a set of tires every year as I drove over 100 miles per day in my commute.

For the Spyders, the extra safety from the Vredesteins with their great wet road traction is at the top of my list as it does rain here in the midwest too.

 

[CloverHillCrawler]

View attachment 194175
View attachment 194176

What size are you using on the rear?

 

[BajaRon]

I have both varieties of the Vredestein tires that Ron posted pictures of in the previous post.

I put a set of the Quatrac 5 tires (fronts and rear) on my 2009 GS. Noticed a big improvement in the ride and handling seems crisper as well. Not enough miles to see how they wear over time but expecting reasonable wear, even on the rear tire. Great tires so far!

I purchased a 2021 RTL this March and have managed to put 7000 miles on it this year. Front tires still look like new, while the rear is ready for replacement with barely any tread showing in the center...and very little wear on the outer sections. But this is expected for the stock Kenda rear tire. The OEM Kenda did the same on the rear of the much lighter 2009 GS. I got maybe 8000 miles from the Kenda on the back of the GS. Note that most of my riding is on rural blacktop and chip and seal raods. The chip and seal is much harder on tires than good asphalt or concrete with significantly faster wear. See the same on my Ducati as a top shelf sport touring rear tire is shot in about 7-8K miles as well.

Last fall I started to shop for a set of Quatrac 5 tires to have on hand for the RTL...but by then they were all gone in the sizes needed for the Spyders. I ended up getting a set of the new, directional Quatracs for the RTL but haven't gotten around to changing them yet. I like the looks and expect the directional Qutrac to perform well. I bought a second Quatrac for the rear, just to have an extra if needed. In any case, based on the three tires I have worn out on the 2009 GS, the rear tires wears much faster than the front, and when the option to buy an extra rear presented itself, I picked up an extra as a hedge for supply shortages later.

My biggest reason to purchase the Quatrac 5, or later it's replacement, the Quatrac was that they are a sports touring, all season automotive tire with the Mountain Snowflake, Severe Snow Rating. These type of tires have a softer rubber compound with lots of small sipes for good traction in snow (not that I plan on riding in the snow!!) and very good wet traction with the many channels to move the water away from the contact patch effectively. Both of these tires have the same Severe Snow Rating and both have the UTQC rating of 400AA, or, a Treadwear rating of "400", a Traction rating of "A", and a Temperature rating of "A". In general terms this translate to a softer tire with good traction in wet and snow, but one that isn't expected to wear as long as a "600" rated tire such as the often cited General Ultimax RT43 for rear tire use. Note that there have been several posts of the Ultimax being "easier to spin" than the stock tire, especially as tread wear increases. This is often the case with a harder tire more biased to tread life at some expense of traction.

While I don't intend to go out in the snow (that would be a disaster on the Spyders), I feel that either of the Quatracs will give exceptional wet traction if I get caught out in the rain and this gives peace of mind and better safety. There is a huge difference in wet performance on car tires. I expect the same on the Spyders, thus the purchase of the Vredesteins. Doesn't hurt that they come very highly recommended on the forum but a large group of satisfied users. Thanks guys!

In closing, a real world example from my past: Ten years ago, I drove a 2wd Ford Ranger to work. It had a set of Goodyear Wrangler tires, which literally wore almost forever (100K miles) but had marginal traction in snow and on wet pavement. I replaced the Wranglers with a set of the original Goodyear TripleTread tires on the Ranger. The TripleTread was a direction tire with a Mountain Snowflake rating. It was somewhat similar to the new Quatracs. The traction on snow or wet pavement was much better than any tire I had EVER driven on any vehicle. They were amazing tires for traction...but they were worn out in 40K miles of of paved driving. I loved the traction but couldn't afford to replace a set of tires every year as I drove over 100 miles per day in my commute.

For the Spyders, the extra safety from the Vredesteins with their great wet road traction is at the top of my list as it does rain here in the midwest too.

There is almost always a direct correlation between tread wear and traction. Longer tread wear, less traction. I'm always willing to give up some distance for more bite. I figure tread wear longevity won't mean much if I'm in the ditch or up against a guardrail. That is why I am getting rid of my nearly new Falken's. Very greasy in wet, and not that great in dry. Probably fine on a car with a few thousand pounds more weight. But not what I'm looking for on the Spyder.

 

[Adventurer]

I figure tread wear longevity won't mean much if I'm in the ditch or up against

Perfect logic from you as always. I developed a similar philosophy for decision making years ago, for instance when my kids were traveling fairly long distances to come home or go back to college many times in less than ideal weather I spent quite a bit more for good tires on their vehicles than my penny pinching side of me wanted to, but I never wanted to have to say if I’d bought better tires that accident might not have happened. Fortunately that situation never arose, but I do not regret NOT trying to save a buck. That way of thinking has served me well over the years.

 

[T.P.]

SUPPLY CHAIN will continue to be mucked up again this year, PLAN AHEAD!! if you have 9,000 miles on your OEM Kenda's your just about at the end.

T.P.

 

[YPILOT]

What size are you using on the rear?

Presently the OEM on the rear. However I have

205/50R-15 YOKOHAMA ADVAN FLEVA V701 SL

ready to go on soon.

 

[BajaRon]

SUPPLY CHAIN will continue to be mucked up again this year, PLAN AHEAD!! if you have 9,000 miles on your OEM Kenda's your just about at the end.

T.P.

I agree. On just about every level, the supply chain is struggling. We've had issues, off an on, with steel, aluminum and the specialized nylon components we use on our products. I won't go into 'Why' because that will get me banned for sure! But it looks like my Kenda Kanines will be in soon (if estimates hold true). I know there are still some concerns about this tire. I had a few sets ordered early last year for my Spyder. But customers kept buying them from me before I got the chance to mount them. Not paying attention, I didn't realize a shortage was coming and didn't prepare for it. So I ended up stranded do to my ignorance. But the customers who did purchase them were very happy. And I've heard others with good reports.

I intend to carry these tires (I ordered several sets, we'll see how many I actually get). I have high hopes for them. But I don't want to personally recommend them until I've had a chance to run them myself.

Bottom line. If you see something you want. Don't wait. You might end up stranded like what happened to me. It's the "New Norm" I guess.

 

[T.P.]

Not paying attention, I didn't realize a shortage was coming and didn't prepare for it. So I ended up stranded do to my ignorance.

Bottom line. If you see something you want. Don't wait. You might end up stranded like what happened to me.

RON, If I would have known that, I would have ordered you a set of QUATRACs to keep ya riding.
T.P.

 

[cyclerambler]

will the 175's produce "crisper" cornering?