Installed the new (front two) Vredestein Spotracs today, in the same 185/60r14 as the old Vredestein Quatracs. I inflated them to 44psi for breaking in, whereas the old ones had been inflated to 48. Max sidewall is 51psi.
I drove to the tire shop with two of my winter wheels on the front. It's a highway trip I make very frequently (to roughly the same area) and compared with the bald Quatracs, the winter tires seemed to deliver 3-4% lower fuel economy, in both directions, despite being 1.3% smaller (assuming full tread depth on both tires), or more likely nearly identical in size due to the summer tires being worn. With those winter tires I had not seen a significant decrease in fuel economy over RE92s, though I had never had a perfectly back-to-back comparison.
Initial impressions:
I made a similar trip today with the new tires, and got nearly the exact same fuel economy (52.5mpg, without P&G or EoC) as I would have with the worn Quatracs. The new tires may have a larger rolling diameter due to not being worn. I can't say for certain they're identical in revs per mile to the Quatracs, but my math shows a 1.3% difference in circumference between a completely bald and a brand new tire.
In other words, early data is very promising for fuel economy. I may put in another 7psi in a week or two.
They're a lot less squishy than the Quatracs, and very much quieter too. Both Sportrac and Quatrac tires are quite light for their size (14lbs), likely due in part to having very soft and thin sidewalls. Handling is very sharp. Early traction testing (
) did not show an improvement, but 1) the old tires had basically become slicks, and 2) the new tires have less than 25 miles on them.
Overall, I have a very positive first impression. And, at $86 each, I find it pretty hard to complain.