The Primewell Valera H/T is one of Primewell’s top five most popular tire models today.
It probably has to do with the fact that while the brand has a wide selection of good tires spread across many categories, the Valera H/T is one of their top tier models when it comes to all-season performance. And while this tire is primarily designed for SUVs, vans, and light trucks, it’s much closer in price to a passenger tire.
It does great in all weather conditions with its design features such as open slotted shoulders and four ribs to make for better hydroplaning resistance, while also minimizing vibration and noise levels. It also boasts of excellent carcass tension to enhance your stability and give you a smoother ride quality on uneven roads.
A short review of the brand
First things first- let’s talk about the brand. Primewell Tires is a fairly new, mid-tier tire company operating under Firestone (US) and Giti Tire (Singapore)- major international companies where famous brands like Bridgestone and GT Radial come from.
Hence, while the Primewell brand may have only been around for a handful of years, their tires come from technologies that have been refined for several decades. This is why Primewell tires are exceptionally great for their pretty affordable price.
And, their tires are not dirt cheap that you can’t really expect anything out of them. These tires manage to perform as well as those from other brands such as Firestone and Nitto.
The company even offers a diverse catalog with a wide range of tires for different vehicles such as SUVs, and crossovers, as well as a few off-roaders, buses, and heavy duty trucks. That said, the brand’s focus seems to be with tires for passenger cars and light trucks, with a sizable collection of all-season, summer, and winter tires.
Primewell Valera H/T key features
What you have to know about this tire is that while it’s an all-season tire, it’s designed more for quiet and comfortable rides on the highway, and less for sporty street driving. This is evident in its symmetrical tread design and the featured four-piece circumferential ribs.
Its tread block also makes use of active noise-canceling technology in its design to deliver a supremely silent performance no matter what kind of road you drive on. And, the open slotted shoulders ensure excellent dry and wet traction. This superior tread design makes for excellent handling and guarantees a smooth and noiseless ride.
The Valera H/T is available in 15 and 20 inch models, and is suitable for most SUVs, 4 by 4 pickup trucks, and small to midsize crossovers.
Comfort
Like we said, one of the best things we can be commend for this tire is its driving comfort. You get to enjoy comfortable and supple rides even on rough and bumpy roads. The tire also rolls like a dream on the highway as long as you keep things within the speed limit.
Noise
Along with a smooth ride quality, the tire is also pretty much hushed as you drive at average speeds, which isn’t really something you can say for most cheap highway terrain tires where road noise is the least of the manufacturer’s priorities.
Sure, it’s nowhere near silent, and the noise does get louder as you reach highway speeds, but it’s definitely not as bad as a cheap highway tire nor roaring like a standard off-road tire.
Dry traction
The traction of the Valera H/T when it comes to dry road conditions is, for the most part, phenomenal, especially when you’re driving at slow to moderate speeds. The grip is there, you don’t feel like you’re always about to careen down the street, and basically, the tire holds ground to rubber contact really well.
Now, there’s a chance that you might lose a bit of the steering feel if you go really fast, but at that point, traction isn’t the only thing you’re bound to lose. Besides, you wouldn’t go with this tire in the first place if what you’re looking for is high-speed stability and traction, as it’s nowhere near like a racing tire.
Wet traction
Its wet traction is also just as commendable. It grips the soaking road well at slow to normal speeds, there’s some decent hydroplaning resistance, and little to no risk of slipping. That said, if you somehow decide to push your vehicle past speed limits, which isn’t something anyone should be doing under the rain, you do need to grip the steering wheel tightly with both hands.
Snow traction
To complete the trinity of traction, the Primewell Valera also does pretty well on light snow since it has that open slotted design on the tire shoulders, which lets you safely travel on snowy and icy roads, as long as the snow is not too thick or packed.
Treadwear
Now, when it comes to treadwear, the Valera H/T technically isn’t the best. In fact, it’s quite like many other cheap tires that wear a little faster than your liking. That said, it does come with some form of treadwear warranty, and buying two sets of these tires will still cost you significantly less than if you buy higher-end, longer-lasting tires from more premium brands.
Pros
DESIGN
- Superior tread design with optimized patterns
- 4 circumferential grooves and open-slotted shoulders
- Made with innovative silica tread compound
- Revolutionary carcass tension technology
- Advanced noise reducing technology in the tread block
PERFORMANCE
- Superior handling with outstanding grip at normal speeds
- Maximized comfort, stability, and ride quality on uneven surfaces
- Great traction, maneuverability, and braking performance
- Solid performance in dry and wet conditions
VALUE
- More affordable option when compared to similar quality models
- 50,000 mile (65,000 kilometer) treadwear warranty
Cons
- Limited performance at high speeds
- Reduced road feedback and responsiveness in certain situations
- Not completely noiseless (especially at highway speeds)
- Relatively poor tread life
Primewell Valera overall performance
All in all, this all-season tire is a reliable model that delivers great overall traction, grip, and handling in both wet and dry conditions. It also guarantees a smooth and comfortable ride quality even when driving over road bumps.
Moreover, it works fine in light snow and a bit of ice. Its overall tread design and construction technology are also commendable. All in all, even with the few downsides, it’s a great budget choice for owners of SUVs and light trucks.
Final Verdict
If you drive an SUV or crossover for daily commutes and other regular passenger needs, and if you’re working with a limited budget but would like a set of tires that perform well without compromising on quality, the Primewell Valera H/T is a great option.
It promises and delivers in terms of all-season handling and road comfort. There are a couple of issues with treadwear and road noise, but these are minor compared to all the advantages you can get out of this tire model, especially when you factor in the really cheap price.