Vredestein Ultrac Cento

Did some research and compared these to the Bridgestone's I had on before. Bridgestone's were quite and grippy but £50 a tyre more expensive.
So I wanted the Sessantas but there are none suited to my Alfa. I was advised to give these a go. I cover a lot of miles and did 1000 in the first week on the new Centro's (design by the stylist for my car coincidentally).
The tyres took a while to bed in and as a result MPG suffered failing to get above 46MPG compared to the usual 50. Since then and in mixed conditions they have added an extra 4mpg (54mpg) compared to the Bridgestones.
The weather is getting worse and I read some other reviewers concerns about these tyres in snow and ice so will update when the weather reaches that stage.
Overall great tyres so far, would say slightly more road noise than Bridgestones but it's not too bad considering the cost saving

Excellent!!!! (if slightly noisy)

Was after a set of Sessantas after they came so highly recommended, but they were unavailable from local stockist so took a punt on these instead and i can say i've never looked back! Worth every penny, handling and grip is outstanding in all conditions, road noise is extremely low and they have out standing durability, looking as fresh as they did the day the were fitted back in December 2010.

Good tyres!

The Vredestein Cento does what it says; a very good all round tyre.
I replaced the Continental Sportcontact 3 which where on the car with these tyres.
The Conti Sport 3 is a very good tyre for handling and braking in both the dry and wet. However, it has a few drawbacks:-
Expensive
Poor wear rate
Increased fuel consumption; around 2 MPG less.
Tram lining
Tyres aged and went soft causing an acceleration lag

The Cento is virtually as go as the Conti Sport 3 for handling in the dry and wet.
Like the Conti, it is one of the few tyres which can cope with the Golf's torque in the wet.

Cento plus points:-
An all rounder.
Good handling in dry and wet.
Refined and comfortable, for a directional reinforced high performance tyre.
Strong tyre so very little acceleration lag.
Sit well on narrower width rims.
Reduced fuel consumption.
Reinforced tyre in 225/45 R17 is standard.
Very good value for money.

Cento lesser points:-
Feedback is acceptable, however, room for improvement.
Braking is good, just not excellent like the Conti Sport 3.
Limited availability.

Will I choose the Vredestein or Conti next time?
It would mainly come down to cost.
The Conti is the slightly better performer; just not worth the premium price, and then some more for the reinforced option.

I've replaced the front set of Vredestein Sportrac 3 with these new Ultrac Centos on my SAAB 9-3 Turbo. These new tyres offer exceptional refinement and low road noise something which makes them ideal for long distance highway driving. Keeping up with the Vredestein tradition, the Ultrac Cento offers respectable grip in the wet which translates into a reassuring and sure-footed handling in adverse weather conditions.

The downside that comes at the cost of refinement is reduced feedback and average dry grip. Specifically, under hard acceleration in 1st and 2nd gear my car torque-steered excessively, something which was almost completely absent with the Sportrac 3. The same can be said for the roadholding which, although progressive, is nowhere near as good as before.

Overall, the Ultrac Cento seems an ideal choice for someone looking for a refined, quiet and sure-footed tyre. Any spirited driving will not be rewarded accordingly with this tyre.

I have had these tyres for a few months now and the tyres are awesome for motorway cruising...and excellent rain grip and awesome on handling and cornering...We've had some crazy snow and ice and they are bad, probably the worse in snow and ice i've ever had i think its due to the tread pattern...but overall i am happy with them...hence i have noticed my fuel consumption to have increased... but i dont think i would buy them again...probably try something different...dunno yet

Fitted these tyres as replacements for Continental Premium Contacts which were on the car and half worn when I bought it.
I immediately noticed how smooth and quiet they were compared to the worn-out Contis.
My only issue with them is the fuel consumption. Part of the reason for buying them was their low rolling resistance claim. I have found that my fuel consumption has been worse since they were fitted which is disappointing.

I haven't driven many miles with these yet but so far i'm reasonably impressed with them. I've gone from Uniroyal Rainsport 2's (which i still have on another set of alloys) as i wanted a smoother ride over the amazingly sporty Rainsport 2's.
These Centos' are unbelievably quite.
It's a very smooth ride even in a MG ZR 160.
I'm not 100% confident of them in the wet (again, my only comparison are the rainsport 2's): i think there straight line characteristics are very good but i'm not yet so sure about cornering/handling characteristics. BUT, i need to do more miles.
So far i would say these are worth a punt: vredestein have a good reputation and this is a flagship product for them and so far i can see why. It's not, in my opinion, a sports tyre, more a saloon executive tyre. I could easily see these on Mercs & BMW's with lots of straight line speed, smooth cornering but not out & out sports cornering & aggressive driving. A pleasant compromise between smoothness & quite versus grip & handling (not that i've had a problem with either).
Will post more feedback after a few more thousand miles. Costs ?95 a corner.