In the ultra-high-performance all-season tire category, you’ll find both Vredestein Hypertrac and the Michelin Pilot Sport All Season 4 with impressive traction and steering responsiveness. Yet, it’s crucial to understand their unique characteristics. So, lets get this started.
Table of Contents
Main Highlights
So overall, the Pilot Sport All Season 4 is better at:
- Superior Linear Grip and Braking: Due to an optimized contact patch and efficient tread design.
- Enhanced Wet Road Performance: With its denser siping pattern, ensuring shorter braking distances and improved handling.
- Effective Winter Traction: Providing solid grip on icy roads and snow due to its numerous siping, and snow-vices.
Whereas the Vredestein Hypertrac AS is better at:
- Lateral Traction: Demonstrating greater side-to-side grip, as seen by lateral g forces, on my conducted tests.
- Noise Reduction: Minimizing in-groove resonance.
- Ride Comfort: Thanks to its more pliable rubber composition and greater tread depth.
- Tread Longevity: Due to its specialized rubber composition, mitigating heat better.
Tread Design
The Vredestein Hypertrac AS is characterized by an asymmetric tread pattern with five distinct ribs or block columns.
The central rib showcases a continuous-running design, forming consistent rubber-to-road contact.
This rib is laced with sharp longitudinal (slanted) notches and lateral siping, enhancing grip.
Moreover, you also see notches facing outwards here as well.
Adjacent to the central, are two ribs with distinct designs.
One of them, mirrors the siping pattern of the central (most) rib.
While the other rib is differentiated by its offset edges and wave-like siping, contributing to a unique traction profile.
The shoulder lugs on the tire also vary in a similar manner on each side.
In contrast, the Michelin Pilot Sport All Season 4 also features an asymmetric tread pattern with five ribs, but these are more streamlined.
These 3 ribs basically form more straight forward circumferential channels, which aren’t laterally connected to each other.
Now, each rib here has a distinctive design.
The central-most rib is equipped with lateral in-block notches.
While the ribs on either side, though similar in notches, differ in siping patterns.
I mean see how one rib features V-shaped sipes, while the other comes with circular ones.
The shoulder lugs of the Michelin tire also display a similar variety.
One side features linear lateral siping that forms a “T” shape with thick longitudinal grooves.
While the other side exhibits a slightly different siping pattern, as seen in its tread design.
A small suggestion: Start with my main page to navigate the all-season tire landscape like a pro.
Info on Sizes
The Vredestein Hypertrac comes in 16 to 20 inches rims. And these sizes have following specs.
- Speed ratings: W and Y only.
- Load ratings: SL and XL.
- Tread depth: 10.7/32″ on all.
- Weight: 20 to 40 lbs.
- UTQG: 500 AA A.
- Treadwear warranty: 50k miles.
- Internally, the tire offers 2 ply polyester casing with twin steel belts, reinforced by a single ply polyamide layer on very top.
Detailed Review Vredestein Hypertrac tire.
The Michelin Pilot Sport All-Season 4 comes in 16 to 22 inches wheels. These sizes have following specs.
- Speed ratings: Y on all.
- Load ratings: SL and XL.
- Tread depth: 10/32″ on all.
- Weight range: 19 to 35 lbs.
- Treadwear warranty: 45k miles.
- UTQG rating: 540 AA A.
- Internal Construction: Two-ply polyester casing, two steel belts and a nylon cap ply.
Read full review of Pilot Sport AS4.
Dry-Road Performance
There are three major aspects of dry performance: dry grip, handling, and steering response. I will delve into each of these aspects separately.
Linear Grip
When you look at tire traction, especially how the tire moves forward, it’s mostly about what’s happening in the middle part of the tire’s tread.
This bit is super important because it takes on most of the load/weight pressure, especially when you’re driving straight.
That’s why to make this (tread area) better, tires usually have compacted up lugs right in the middle, more so than on the sides. That’s why it makes sense that both tires here, have continuous running ribs making consistent rubber-to-road contact.
Though still, the Michelin Pilot Sport All-Season 4 excels by offering an average of 0.7 feet shorter braking distances, (as seen on my tests).
Why? Well, because it offers a well optimized contact patch, with a lot more biters, those strategically positioned V shaped notches I talked about (in the tire’s tread design section).
In this context, the , a critical factor in assessing directional grip. Although both tires in question have continuous central ribs, the Pilot Sport boasts a more efficiently designed contact patch.
On the other side, the HyperTrac, has its central rib which is equipped with longitudinally arranged in-block biters. They don’t help much in terms of straight line traction, but they do when it comes to lateral grip.
For Your Info: Just so you know, the Pilot Sport has been ranked in my top ultra high performance all-season tires list due to its superior linear grip.
Overall Handling
When it comes to taking corners, a tire’s shoulders are key players since they’re the ones hugging the road the most, (because of the centripetal force). Its the same reason, why you feel like you’re being pushed to the other side of the car when it turns.
In this regard, while the Vredestein Hypertrac All Season offers superior lateral traction, though its still not the best for overall handling.
Why because effective handling is a combination of grip and steering response, and Vredestein lacks here in later.
Basically its less precise, and understeering- prone characteristics is due to its softer rubber composition and slightly deeper tread depth.
On the flip side, the Michelin PSAS4 is taking the lead, literally, as it comes out with almost half a second faster on handling lap test times (on average).
It’s got better directional grip that helps it stop quicker before each turn on laps, and it offers a better cornering feedback, and a great on-center feel. So its great in all parts of the cornering here, entry, mid-corner, and exit.
Wet-Road Performance
When it comes to how well a tire does on wet roads, it’s all about how good it is at getting rid of water from its tread.
And this highlights two key performance areas, we traction, and resistance to hydroplaning.
Let’s analyze each aspect.
Wet Grip and Handling
Now, water evacuation (from tread), mainly comes down to the design of the tire’s sipes and grooves.
To break it down, grooves do most of the work in moving water away. And then come the sipes, which take care of any leftover water.
Basically sipes function as miniature water reservoirs; they flex and create a suction effect, pulling in water particles and thus improving wet traction. This efficacy is closely linked to their flexibility.
In this area, the Michelin Pilot Sport All Season 4 really shines, especially when it comes to braking, where it consistently achieves shorter braking distances by over 1.5 feet compared to Vredestein’s tire in averaged tests.
FYI, its actually the best when it comes to braking, in its ultra high performance all-season category.
So what makes it better?
Well, simply put, it comes with a more denser siping pattern, having multi-directional orientation.
Whereas on HyperTrac, its sipes are are more laterally arranged, not able to grip from all directions (on wet road), like the Michelin PSAS4.
And yes, the tire also falls short in steering response as well, where it feels a bit too light and can lead to a bit of oversteering.
Resistance to Hydroplaning
Hydroplaning is like when your tire just can’t get rid of water fast enough and ends up skimming over the water instead of the road. To stop this, tires come with wide grooves that are all about moving water out of the way, fast enough.
When you’re going faster, this whole, “would the tire float” thing really gets tested.
This explains the superior performance of the Vredestein Hypertrac All Season. Its interconnected circumferential grooves and slightly open shoulder design effectively prevent hydroplaning.
On the other hand, with continuous-running, unbroken ribs, the Michelin Pilot Sport All-Season 4 hampers lateral water flow.
And yes it also has relatively less tread depth, affecting how much volume of water can be taken out in a given time.
Winter Traction
Winter tire performance is assessed in three key areas: snow/ice braking, handling, and acceleration.
Now, although the Michelin Pilot Sport All-Season 4 doesn’t hold the 3-peak mountain snowflake rating, like its competitor, the tire is actually pretty awesome in all these areas.
Why? Well, the primary factor for effective winter traction is the tire’s ability to promote snow-to-snow contact.
Basically, the tire is great at picking up and holding onto snow particles, which is key because snow sticks to other snow way better than it does to tread or rubber.
Plus, it’s got a bunch of siping, deep slits on the sides, and these things called snow vices (I talked about in design section), giving it a really good grip, both side-to-side and front-to-back, on icy roads.
In comparison, the Vredestein Hypertrac AS is although an appreciable performer here, it falls short overall, again with its laterally arranged biters.
They surely offer a notable snow traction (acceleration), that’s actually very close to Michelin, its lacks of multi-angled biters, slightly reduce its performance in other key areas.
Though this goes for its newly updated rubber composition, which is more thermally adaptable, meaning its biters are less prone to hardening in freezing temperatures.
So if you want to go for Hypertrac, its best you make sure the tire with a DOT TIN manufacture date of 2721 or later.
Ride Quality
Driving comfort hinges on two essential factors: the noise from the tire tread and the tire’s capacity to soften the impact of road imperfections.
And both of these performance metrics are seen better on Vredestein All Season tire.
Noise Dampening
The tread design of a tire is crucial in determining the amount of noise it produces while in motion. And this noise is primarily a result of air particles colliding with the tire’s surface.
Typically, air enters the tread through shoulder voids, and upon impact, these particles create noise that echoes within the tread grooves, a phenomenon known as in-groove resonance.
Now, in this context, the HyperTrac stands out with its superior performance in minimizing noise, mainly because of its tread pattern which is intricately designed to create variable tones. Let me explain.
Basically, its tread is engineered such that air particles striking different areas generate a range of tones and frequencies. These varying frequencies interact to counteract each other, effectively reducing in-groove resonance.
On the other hand, the Michelin tire falls short in this regard. It produces multiple tones that, while not overly pronounced, are still more noticeable in comparison.
This results in higher overall decibel readings in tests, making it a louder tire.
Vibrations Comfort
The comfort of a ride significantly depends on a tire’s ability to absorb road irregularities, which is closely related to the tire’s composition and tread material.
And here, the Vredestein Hypertrac AS stands as a better tire, based on subjective evaluations.
Its superior performance in this area is attributed to its relatively more pliable rubber and greater tread depth, providing more cushioning between the road’s bumps and the vehicle.
MPG Efficiency
Fuel economy-wise, neither tire is a clear winner since they both have stiffer structures and are rated for high speeds, up to Y.
Generally, higher speed ratings mean better grip but also more rolling resistance, which can use up more fuel.
Though if we’re splitting hairs, the Michelin Pilot Sport All-Season 4 has a slight advantage.
The tire offers a lighter structure (on a lot more size, in comparison), offers a stiffer rubber composition, and has a shallower tread depth on average, compared to HyperTrac.
Why that’s important?
Well, because a lighter tire reduces stress during rotation, and a shallower tread depth, and stiffer rubber composition enhances tread stability, leading to less lug bending.
And lug bending is significant as it indicates energy loss to heat and reshaping of the lugs, among other factors.
Bringing It Together
As we near the end of our comparison, let’s review how both tires fare against each other.
The Michelin tire stands out for its superior braking performance, particularly in both wet and dry conditions. Actually this aspect of the tire is its strongest of all suits.
But yes, it also excels in overall handling in both these areas too, compared to HyperTrac.
Moreover, although you get varying results on winter performance, things are still slightly better on Michelin tire.
Though Vredestein takes the lead in terms of overall road comfort, where it offers better noise reduction, and dampening against road bumps.
And yes the tire also provides you with slightly better tread longevity too.
