Put the new Vredestein Quatrac 5 (185/60r14) tires on the front today. My first impression on my drive home from the tire shop:
They're squishy, soft feeling tires, like halfway between my rock-hard RE92s and my floaty, squishy Nokian Nordman snow tires. They didn't wallow on my drive home despite feeling like they should. They're a bit quieter than RE92s, but the pitch is different, easier on the ears as well. NVH was better. Steering was noticeably heavier, and it felt like there was more turn-in on moderate cornering, rather than having neutral handling with a slight tendency to understeer. Surprisingly, they have less grip on acceleration than my low-treat RE92s, though it's probably not fair to compare brand new tires to worn ones. Overall I was unimpressed, as my reason for going wider was to improve grip.
After getting home I aired them up from 32PSI to 50PSI and after a short test drive, decided I do in fact like them. Handling sharpened, coasting seems subjectively as good or better than RE92s but I have no data so far to confirm this, and ride quality is a
lot better than RE92s with that pressure. It looks like these tires squish less, my headlight beams are up a bit.
The one thing I didn't get is more grip, they still spin in 1st gear. But maybe that'll improve as the surface layer of rubber wears off.
