The Wintrac 4 Xtreme is the next generation in the Wintrac Xtreme range, and is Vredestein’s high performance SUV/4×4 winter tyre – and it’s superb!
Its products like this that make this website worthwhile! I think it’s more than fair to say that the Wintrac 4 Xtreme is the best SUV/4×4 winter tyre on the market. However many people in the know are aware of this already, especially drivers on the Continent where Vredestein are one of the most respected winter tyre manufacturers.
Because of this, demand is always really high for these tyres. Vredestein are only a relatively small company based in Holland so whatever they make always sells out. So as a company they don’t tend to put these forward for testing or reviews because they really don’t need to promote them further – not a bad position to be in! Therefore you are not going to find a great deal of test data to look at to help you make your decision and we hope our site will give you all the info you need!
So you would expect that a 4×4 or 4 wheel drive SUV would be pretty good in the snow right? Well these modern vehicles are quite heavy and often fitted with wide tyres that simply slide about at the first sign of the white stuff. Therefore winter tyres make a huge different to these vehicles and the Wintrac 4 Xtreme should be seriously considered, here’s why:
Excellent all round winter performance – whether you are driving on dry, cold British motorways or twisty, snow covered roads in the Alps. Great traction in snow, slush and ice, with a fairly aggressive directional pattern which self clears really well.
Available from 16″ up to 20″ in diameter, click for the full size range.
Speed ratings: H (136 mph) & V (149 mph)
Suitable for: SUV’s of all sizes and 4×4’s
Great value – this premium winter tyre also happens to be one of the cheapest tyres on the market, when compared to products like the Pirelli Scorpion Ice & Snow or Continental 4×4 winter contact the Vredestein are a fraction of the cost. Trust me spending more on the well known branded tyre does not get you a better tyre!
Incredible longevity – many people expect winter tyres to wear out quickly, this is certainly NOT the case with the wintrac 4. We have a local customer that has used these for many years on a VW Touareg and he gets around 40,000 miles out of a set. This type of mileage is absolutely typical for many of the customers that we speak to. Once they have fitted these to their vehicles, it is very rare they go back to another brand.
Year round use suitability – many, many of our customers fit these in the winter months and never take them off, unless they have dropped to a smaller wheel for winter. This product works great for UK year round use, all the negative aspects that you would expect are simply not the case with this tyre. The wintrac 4 xtreme offers very little road noise and has low rolling resistance so is good on fuel. In the summer months this is still the case so long motorway drives can be done in comfort. The big boss man at our retail site switched from Bridgestone summer to this tyre and found them to be quieter, again they lasted great too.
Light 4×4 use – because they have the semi-aggressive directional pattern this tyre also has light off road uses. It’s not going to offer all out all terrain traction for deep mud but is totally suited for country tracks and fields.
Any downside? We have sold lots of these and feedback is nearly always incredibly positive. I have heard once or twice that users haven’t been overly impressed with wet braking performance, but such comments are rare. All in all this is a great winter tyre, offers incredible snow traction, is great value and lasts a long, long time – happy days!
Looking to buy? Tyremen offer the UK’s cheapest prices, great stock levels and free delivery or nationwide fitting on the Wintrac 4 Xtreme.
Give the team a call on 08456 807808 if you would like any more information.
Over to you, what are your thoughts of this tyre?
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Total agreement with the review on the Wintrac 4 Xtreme. Got three winters and two summers out of a set on an Audi Q7; a total of 40K miles. Always a nice comfortable ride, good wet weather breaking performance and fuel economy. Hands down beats the 13K miles life for the Michelin 21″Summer tyres at £300+ a corner vs £170 for the Vredsteins.
Thanks for your comment Simon, the first on winter tyre reviews! It’s appreciated.
I’ve had these on a Hyundai Santa Fe for 2 winters, 20k miles and looking like 40k+ is easily possible so after this winter I’ll run them all year and if they work well enough in summer I’ll wear out my summers and then stick with these all year round. Grip on snow is brilliant and the braking is shockingly good just doesn’t seem right to bring a large SUV to a stop so fast. My part time 4wd only kicks in when the front wheels lose traction and with these tyres it only ever happens when starting on a very steep uphill otherwise the car stays in 2wd 99% of the time the grip is that good. I’ve used Nokian and Avon winter tyres and the Vredesteins are in a different league. Also very good in the wet and dry, comfy in the cold and no noisier than my Pirelli summer tyres. Low price is a real bonus.
I have these on my Discovery 4 as my winter set. Sadly last Feb in Scotland all the snow was higher up and the roads were clear so I had no chance to see what they were like in the snow. They were very good on road, little noise, no increase in fuel consumption and I could not tell if wet weather braking was any different .
However I have a 1.5 mile track to where we stay in Scotland and in mud ( not deep ) they were very poor – even compared to the OE tyres – Wranglers. I always run summer and winter tyres and personally would not run these all year round if I was doing quite a lot of off roading in temperatures above 10C.
Wanted a set of winter tyres for my Disco V8 and settled on these. No regrets. They never slipped or slid, always gripped well and were quiet too.
Very little wear showing and waiting for later this year when they will go back on again.
Great choice of winter tyre at a very good price.
Bought a set of 255/50/20 Wintracs from Tyremen for my Range Rover 2 years ago and normally change them over to summer tyres around April time but last November put the wintracs back on and just kept them on all year. Believe me these are fantastic all year round tyres and I still have 4-5mm after 17000 miles which should easily take me through another winter…a big thumbs up from me!!
Tyremen offered me these when the more famously branded tyres I asked for weren’t available. They have been used on a LandRover Freelander over the last UK winter (long, fair amount of snow and ice, generally a bit grim) and two very snowy and icy trips to the Alps. I agree with all the review: these tyres proved to be simply outstanding in all respects. I cannot recommend them highly enough.
Have had these on a 3.0sd BMW X5 (twin turbo diesel) for the last two winters. Echo the feedback from others – faultless grip, more comfortable than the standard run-flats on this car and minimal wear to date. Why go anywhere else?
I have used Vredstein Wintrac winter tyres for the last 8 years, initially on my XC90 and was sceptical as it was not a name I knew, but recommended from a supplier in Northampton and have never looked back. These tyres stick to the road like glue and noticed an immediate improvement with road grip. We use them on our Range Rover and now I have recently purchased 4 for my mini one. I personally would not buy any other tyre and use them all year round. Great service from Tyremen who provide competitive prices and customer service.
I used the Wintrac 4 Extreme last winter for the first time, having had others previously. Really no comparison. Like the difference between a Rolls Royce and a Ford Escort. The Wintracs go back on in around a month, end of October. I feel safe with them on, never lost traction, powering through deep snow, very steady on ice, just a great feeling. Quick footnote, just back from Lisbon on holiday, saw a car parked outside the hotel, with the wheel turned on full lock. I couldn’t help but notice the Wintrac Extreme pattern. I had to look and it was. In the middle of Lisbon in September!! Just shows they can be used anywhere.
I was prepared to be blown away by these tyres, I have a second set of wheels with them fitted on a D3, this year I will keep my GGAT’s on year round.
The vrederstein is very good on fuel, very quiet and very comfortable, however I find the car tends to roll a lot more with them fitted, directionally not great in the snow – and I found the GGAT’s better at cutting through large ammounts of slushy snow.
Thanks for the review Craig, could you just clarify what a GGAT is?
General Grabber AT maybe? My wife has used them and found them to be excellent
Very impressed when used on our Kia Sportage. Changed to 215/70R16 of the base model, rather than the Hankook 235/55R18s the car came with. Needed new alloys, but this makes it easy to change the tyres when the weather changes. The ride is not surprisingly better on the higher profile tyres, and the grip is probably better with the narrower tyre in the snow. Needless to say the grip was phenomenal in the few days of snow we had last year, but I had no trouble climbing and descending our local hills. It is not as exciting driving though, when the car doesn’t want to slide, but safer. Taught my son handbrake turns on a snow covered empty car park. We used his Punto on Marangoni winter tyres, and were surprised at how much speed was needed to get the back to break away.
I’m on my second set of the Wintrac 4 Extreme, love these tires. Have them installed on my GMC Acadia, got slightly over 50,000 miles with some tread to spare. Didn’t want to push it going into winter. Ran with them year round including two very hot Chicago summers. Excellent traction wet or dry, real cuts through the wet roads well, very secure.
I just put a set on my range rover and drove it from UK to the Arctic circle (Swedish lapland) and they were great! Fantastic grip on snow and ice and very decent on the motorway. Now back in UK they don’t seem to be wearing bad on British roads having read these reviews I’m going to run them all year I think. Thanks. Recommended.
Hi, I fully agree with the review. I have a set of these tyres on my Jeep Commander. They are still on the car and it is July. I purchased them in 2010 when we had the big freeze, It is now 2015. I had them in storage for 4 years at ATS in Horsham but put them on last winter as it was predicted to be a bad one. I regularly drive over the north downs to get to work and when the roads are icy the standard Goodyear tyres are worse than useless, and they are M+S rated! I got the Vredesteins after reading a review and they are still going strong. I have done about 20K miles on them and they still look brand new. Very little road noise, good fuel consumption and to be honest I cannot feel and difference in grip during summer. Last week it was 37 degrees here in Sussex and I had no issue.
Thanks for the feedback Jeff. When you finally wear them out, you might want to try the new Wintrac Xtreme S. I have them on my 10 year old Touareg, still running them now. Few trips to London, run great and low road noise for a big tyre.
Tyremen sell probably more Vredestein products for winter than any other brand, we always say, the best tyres you haven’t heard of!
Jason, Winter Tyre Reviews
Jason I’m interested in your comment about the xtreme s version. The 4 xtreme are great and this year I’m looking at getting the xtreme s for my disco 4, but are they better or do I stick with another set of 4 Xtremes? Thanks Ed
Hello
I am thinking of buying winter tyre plus or minis winter wheels for my Mercedes c class , Can you suggest anything.
This is the first time hence I bit confused reading all the reports and tests.
Any suggestion welcome ,
I have recently put the new Wintrac Xtreme S on my Hyundai Santa Fe. I had the previous generation Wintrac4 Xtremes recommended to me by a 4×4 independent specialist over ALL other tyres. They were exceptionally good on all surfaces. The level of grip and traction even on ice is almost unbelievable and on snow, slush and water the car behaves impeccably. Only had the S tyres on for a few weeks but they seem a bit more comfortable and quieter than the Wintrac 4s and on the few icy roads we’ve had here in Hereford they have been reassuringly brilliant. I’ve ditched the summer tyres and keeping these on all year. I am a Vredestein fan and have bought from Tyremen who offer a good price and service. I’m not connected to them in any way.