As long-time readers may now, I’m a huge fan of all-season tyres. I’ve used them on my cars and vans for years and consider them ideal for UK weather, especially in rural areas.

All-season tyres have gradually been gaining traction in the UK market over the last few years (sorry!). Well-regarded Dutch tyre manufacturer Apollo Vredestein has just released the Comtrac 2 All Season, a new version of its Comtrac All Season tyre for vans and light trucks.

The new Vredestein Comtrac 2 all-season tyre

As with other tyres in this sector, the Comtrac 2 All Season boasts a silica compound and tread design that are designed to provide good water dispersion and good grip in cold and snowy conditions.

The firm says improvements have been made in three specific areas:

• open lateral shoulder grooves and wider longitudinal grooves to optimize water dispersion;
• improved shape of footprint and new silica compound for better grip on wet roads and lower rolling resistance to reduce fuel consumption;
• increased tread stiffness and new sipe design for more balanced pressure distribution and reduced deformation under load.

These changes are said to reduce wet braking distance at 50mph by 11.7m compared to the original Comtrac tyre. Stability under heavy loads has been improved by 10% and rolling resistance reduced by 5%, according to Vredestein.

The new Comtrac 2 will be available from launch in ten sizes:

235/65R 16C 115/113 R
225/65R 16C 112/110 R
215/65R 16C 109/107 T
205/65R 16C 107/105 T
195/65R 16C 104/102 T
215/75R 16C 116/114 R
195/75R 16C 107/105 R
225/70R 15C 112/110 S
215/70R 15C 109/107 S
195/70R 15C 104/102 R

The Comtrac 2 will get receive its global launch at the biennial AutoZum show in Salzburg, Austria, from 18-21 January, 2017. For more information, visit www.vredestein.co.uk.