In this article we will be looking at independent tyre test data, and real world driver reviews of the Falken Azenis FK520 and the Vredestein Ultrac to find out which tyre is best for your own driving.
There are a few basic differences between the two tyres. The Falken Azenis FK520 is an Max-Performance Summer tyre designed to be fitted to Passenger-Cars, and the Vredestein Ultrac is an High-Performance Summer tyre designed to be fitted to Passenger-Cars
Independent comparison tyre tests are the best source of data to get tyre information from, and the good news is there have been two tests which compare both tyres directly!
Out of these two tests:
While it might look like the Vredestein Ultrac is better than the Falken Azenis FK520 purely based on the higher number of test wins, tyres are very complicated objects which means where one tyre is better than the other can be more important in real world use.
Let's look at how the two tyres compare across multiple tyre test categories.
Looking at data from two tyre tests, the Falken Azenis FK520 was better during two dry braking tests. On average the Falken Azenis FK520 stopped the vehicle in 3.93% less distance than the Vredestein Ultrac.
Best In Dry Braking: Falken Azenis FK520
See how the Dry Braking winner was calculated >>
2024 AMS Summer SUV Tyre Test 235/55 R18 |
✓ Falken Azenis FK520:35.2M | Vredestein Ultrac: 35.7M |
2025 Autobild SUV Off-Road Summer Tyre Test 255/55 R18 |
✓ Falken Azenis FK520:33.2M | Vredestein Ultrac: 35.5M |
Looking at data from two tyre tests, the Falken Azenis FK520 was better during two dry handling [km/h] tests. On average the Falken Azenis FK520 was 1.24% faster around a lap than the Vredestein Ultrac.
Best In Dry Handling [Km/H]: Falken Azenis FK520
See how the Dry Handling winner was calculated >>
2024 AMS Summer SUV Tyre Test 235/55 R18 |
✓ Falken Azenis FK520:93.7Km/H | Vredestein Ultrac: 92.6Km/H |
2025 Autobild SUV Off-Road Summer Tyre Test 255/55 R18 |
✓ Falken Azenis FK520:107.8Km/H | Vredestein Ultrac: 106.4Km/H |
Looking at data from two tyre tests, the Falken Azenis FK520 was better during one wet braking tests. On average the Falken Azenis FK520 stopped the vehicle in 1.26% less distance than the Vredestein Ultrac.
Best In Wet Braking: Falken Azenis FK520
See how the Wet Braking winner was calculated >>
2024 AMS Summer SUV Tyre Test 235/55 R18 |
Falken Azenis FK520:30.1M | ✓ Vredestein Ultrac: 28.7M |
2025 Autobild SUV Off-Road Summer Tyre Test 255/55 R18 |
✓ Falken Azenis FK520:48.4M | Vredestein Ultrac: 50.8M |
Looking at data from two tyre tests, the Vredestein Ultrac was better during one wet handling [km/h] tests. On average the Vredestein Ultrac was 0.37% faster around a wet lap than the Falken Azenis FK520.
Best In Wet Handling [Km/H]: Vredestein Ultrac
See how the Wet Handling winner was calculated >>
2024 AMS Summer SUV Tyre Test 235/55 R18 |
Falken Azenis FK520:73.8Km/H | ✓ Vredestein Ultrac: 75.1Km/H |
2025 Autobild SUV Off-Road Summer Tyre Test 255/55 R18 |
✓ Falken Azenis FK520:86.6Km/H | Vredestein Ultrac: 85.9Km/H |
Looking at data from one tyre tests, the Falken Azenis FK520 was better during one wet circle tests. On average the Falken Azenis FK520 was 0.2% faster around a wet circle than the Vredestein Ultrac.
Best In Wet Circle: Falken Azenis FK520
See how the Wet Circle winner was calculated >>
2025 Autobild SUV Off-Road Summer Tyre Test 255/55 R18 |
✓ Falken Azenis FK520:20.18s | Vredestein Ultrac: 20.22s |
Looking at data from two tyre tests, the Vredestein Ultrac was better during one straight aqua tests. On average the Vredestein Ultrac floated at a 1.83% higher speed than the Falken Azenis FK520.
Best In Straight Aqua: Vredestein Ultrac
See how the Straight Aqua winner was calculated >>
2024 AMS Summer SUV Tyre Test 235/55 R18 |
✓ Falken Azenis FK520:77.9Km/H | Vredestein Ultrac: 77.5Km/H |
2025 Autobild SUV Off-Road Summer Tyre Test 255/55 R18 |
Falken Azenis FK520:82.8Km/H | ✓ Vredestein Ultrac: 86.2Km/H |
Looking at data from two tyre tests, the Vredestein Ultrac was better during two curved aquaplaning tests. On average the Vredestein Ultrac slipped out at a 6.01% higher speed than the Falken Azenis FK520.
Best In Curved Aquaplaning: Vredestein Ultrac
See how the Curved Aquaplaning winner was calculated >>
2024 AMS Summer SUV Tyre Test 235/55 R18 |
Falken Azenis FK520:8.32m/sec2 | ✓ Vredestein Ultrac: 8.58m/sec2 |
2025 Autobild SUV Off-Road Summer Tyre Test 255/55 R18 |
Falken Azenis FK520:2.32m/sec2 | ✓ Vredestein Ultrac: 2.74m/sec2 |
Looking at data from one tyre tests, the Falken Azenis FK520 was better during one gravel handling [km/h] tests. On average the Falken Azenis FK520 was 0.66% faster around a lap than the Vredestein Ultrac.
Best In Gravel Handling [Km/H]: Falken Azenis FK520
See how the Gravel Handling winner was calculated >>
2025 Autobild SUV Off-Road Summer Tyre Test 255/55 R18 |
✓ Falken Azenis FK520:60.8Km/H | Vredestein Ultrac: 60.4Km/H |
Looking at data from one tyre tests, the Vredestein Ultrac was better during one gravel traction tests. On average the Vredestein Ultrac had 0.94% better traction on gravel than the Falken Azenis FK520.
Best In Gravel Traction: Vredestein Ultrac
See how the Gravel Traction winner was calculated >>
2025 Autobild SUV Off-Road Summer Tyre Test 255/55 R18 |
Falken Azenis FK520:10530N | ✓ Vredestein Ultrac: 10630N |
Looking at data from one tyre tests, the Vredestein Ultrac was better during one sand traction tests. On average the Vredestein Ultrac had 2.24% better traction in sand than the Falken Azenis FK520.
Best In Sand Traction: Vredestein Ultrac
See how the Sand Traction winner was calculated >>
2025 Autobild SUV Off-Road Summer Tyre Test 255/55 R18 |
Falken Azenis FK520:10050N | ✓ Vredestein Ultrac: 10280N |
Best In Grass Traction: Vredestein Ultrac
See how the Grass Traction winner was calculated >>
Looking at data from two tyre tests, the Vredestein Ultrac was better during two noise tests. On average the Vredestein Ultrac measured 1.34% quieter than the Falken Azenis FK520.
Best In Noise: Vredestein Ultrac
See how the Noise winner was calculated >>
2024 AMS Summer SUV Tyre Test 235/55 R18 |
Falken Azenis FK520:70.9dB | ✓ Vredestein Ultrac: 70.1dB |
2025 Autobild SUV Off-Road Summer Tyre Test 255/55 R18 |
Falken Azenis FK520:63.9dB | ✓ Vredestein Ultrac: 62.9dB |
Looking at data from two tyre tests, the Vredestein Ultrac was better during one rolling resistance tests. On average the Vredestein Ultrac had a 0.68% lower rolling resistance than the Falken Azenis FK520.
Best In Rolling Resistance: Vredestein Ultrac
See how the Rolling Resistance winner was calculated >>
2024 AMS Summer SUV Tyre Test 235/55 R18 |
Falken Azenis FK520:7.5kg / t | ✓ Vredestein Ultrac: 7.1kg / t |
2025 Autobild SUV Off-Road Summer Tyre Test 255/55 R18 |
✓ Falken Azenis FK520:7.15kg / t | Vredestein Ultrac: 7.45kg / t |
Tyre Reviews also collects real world driver reviews for the Falken Azenis FK520 and Vredestein Ultrac.
In total the Falken Azenis FK520 has been reviewed 34 times and drivers have given the tyre 85% overall.
The Vredestein Ultrac has been reviewed 22 times and drivers have given the tyre 76% overall.
This means in real world driving, people prefer the Vredestein Ultrac.
In conclusion the Falken Azenis FK520 performed better in dry braking, dry handling [km/h], wet braking, wet circle and gravel handling [km/h], while the Vredestein Ultrac performed better in wet handling [km/h], straight aqua, curved aquaplaning, gravel traction, sand traction, noise and rolling resistance.
Which tyre is best for you depends a lot on your driving style and situation, plus what you want from the tyre. Comparing all the data in the tyre reviews database, on balance Vredestein Ultrac seems to be the best tyre overall.
However, it's important to note that both tyres have their strengths.
Remember, the best tyre for you might depend on which of these factors are most important for your specific driving needs and conditions.
Looking for more tyre comparisons? Here are other direct comparisons involving these tyres:
This page has been developed using tyre industry testing best practices. This means we are only comparing tests which have had both tyres in the same test.
Why is this important? Tyre testing is heavily affected by things like surface grip levels and surface temperature, which means you can only compare values from the same day. During a tyre test external condition changes are calculated into the overall results, but it is not possible to calculate this between tyre tests performed on different days or at different locations.
As a result you will see other tests on Tyre Reviews which feature both the %s and %s, but as they weren't conducted on the same day, the results are not comparable.
Lots of other websites do this sort of tyre comparison, Tyre Reviews doesn't.