Sumitomo tyres - any good?

I've never been personally impressed with them - they bark and squeal a lot when pressed hard, and don't exhibit the grip I'd expect from a W or Z rated tyre, although the tread life is decent (sort of a catch 22, they were so unimpressive on some of my cars that I wished they'd wear out quicker so I could replace them) - I'm much more impressed with the Fuzion (Bridgestone private branding) for the money, and Kumho is always a good bet for a good budget tyre.

 

I've had good luck with the Sumitomo HTR+ on my wife's Mazda Protege. Smooth, quiet, good in wet or dry. It does howl a bit when pushed, but that's only when I drive! Replaced Kumho 712s, which turned in much better, were good wet or dry, but also were harsh and dodgey and wore out quickly. Bottom line: I think Sumitomos are good value for money.

Cheers, Mark

 

I use their HTR Z II's(235/45/17's) on my daily driver a modded 97 Maxima. They're not bad for the $$$ but they aren't quite as good as the slightly more costly Dunlop SP8000's they replaced. They do get noisier as they wear. Great in the wet and pretty good traction in turns but I would never put them on an F-car.

 

I would of thought they was a budget price tyre

 

When it was time to re-tire the 308's OEM 14" wheels, I looked high and low for a good 205/70 x 14 speed rated tire. Only one that I could find that seemed "right" was the repo Michelin XWX's, but at something like $200.00 USD per tire, I thought that they were quite overpriced. So, I picked up a set of Sumitomo HTR-200's for the grand sum of $39.00 each, and have been using them on the 308 for the past 18 months.

It's kind of hard to compare them to other tires on the car, since what came to me on the car were bald and thus I have no point of reference. But, so far I have to say that they have pleasantly surprised me. I've not yet been in any kind of a driving situation where I thought that they were a limiting factor.

Only drawback that I can think of is that these are H rated in lieu of the V rating of the XWX's, but I don't see myself driving for sustained periods of time at high speeds where this could be an issue.

Bottom line: These are cheap enough that they are sure worth a try. If you don't like them, just trash them as their cost is so cheap!

Good luck - DM

 

I have HTRZ II on my 308 (225/40ZR -18 & 285/35ZR-18. I was going to larger tires and wasn't sure they would fit, so I didn't want to spent a lot of money and bought the Sumitomos. I would say they are average tires - the ride is fair, not a lot of noise, average grip, and they wear much better than other Z tires I've owner. But, the good wear comes at the cost of grip, they are harder rubber than most sport tires. They are fine for any type of rational street driving, but at the autocross I find myself wishing they would just wera-out of I could buy stickier tires. I have another set of wheels, so I'll probably just put a set of DOT race tires on them and keep running the Sumitomos for general driving.

 

Yup.

They will work fine.

I had them on my Dino and still have them on my daughter's Volkswagen, and they work fine.

When I switched to XWX's on my Dino, my mechanic took my Sumitomo's home to put on his car, he liked them that much.

good tire, good value.

DM

 

I sell alot of them at my shop. They are a great bang for the buck. Most drivers wouldn't know the difference in performance anyway. And yes, Sumitomo purchased Dunlop in 1986. I was at Fuji Int. Speedway when the anouncement was made.
Again they are not the best but more than sufficient for most drivers.

Karl