Sumitomo HTR Z III

[mikefocke]

for the one time in a tires life you have to react in an emergency mode. For that one time, the characteristics of a tire may save your life...or may not. May save your car, or not.

I've had tires cost me a Boxster and a VW. In the one case I was driving on UHPS tires and the road was cold and I just slid on top of the pavement instead of the rubber digging in to the micro indents in the pavement..not even a Boxster's brakes could save the car. In the other, the dealer that sold me the car switched the tires on me from good tread when I bought the car to almost bald when I picked the car up in the dark. Slid going around a curve when the fronts just didn't bite at all.

Go look at the tirerack comparisons and see the stopping distance and imagine that you have to stop to prevent your car hitting something or someone. Think how much faster that hit will be if you have 2 car lengths difference in stopping distance ... which can happen between 2 tires.

Whatever you do, drive cautiously the first 200-300 miles. And read the tirerack discussion of wear versus stopping distance and don't run the tires to the wear bars if you drive in the wet. I've seen someone killed doing that. Hit a puddle at the beginning of a bridge and started playing pinball off the concrete bridge abutments. I sailed through the same puddle at the same speed just fine.

[blue2000s]

These guys have really impressive prices, bested tirerack by about $45 shipped.

http://www.onlinetires.com/

[Quickurt]

As you can see by my siggy line, I bought the Sumis.
Only about 1k miles, so far, but am very happy with them. They are more sticky and more quiet than the PS2s they replaced, but the PS2s were GONE, so take the comment with a major grain of salt. They're better in the rain, but the PS2s were almost slicks!
I did extensive research on them and found two tests that included PS2s to Bridgestone RE050s in one and RE050s to HTR ZIII. The Bridgy number on the tests was almost identical (7.2 in one 7.35 in other). The PS2 number to the HTR number was about 5% different, with the PS2 higher (7.92 - 8.15 or there abouts).
The HTR's points loss was wet traction. Dry traction numbers were identical to PS2.
Now, considering I could buy a complete set of Sumis and two new pairs of rears for less than the PS2s, I sure don't see it as being a "cheap ass" as someone said above.
I also bought the OZ wheels at the same time, but I think the Sumis were about $725 mounted and balanced, plus freight.

[Gilles]

[QUOTE=Quickurt] The HTR's points loss was wet traction. Dry traction numbers were identical to PS2.
Now, considering I could buy a complete set of Sumis and two new pairs of rears for less than the PS2s, I sure don't see it as being a "cheap ass" as someone said above.

Did you considered running the PS2 on the front with the Sumis on the rear..?

[chaudanova]

What optimal tire pressures are you guys running with the HTRZ-III?

I've experimented with standard 29F/36R, 30F/36R, 31F/32F/33F/34F&36R setups... Not entirely sure which I like best yet, but it's quite variable for me, since I've been experimenting with different front and rear damper stiffness settings as well.

[Quickurt]

Originally Posted by chaudanova

What optimal tire pressures are you guys running with the HTRZ-III?

I've experimented with standard 29F/36R, 30F/36R, 31F/32F/33F/34F&36R setups... Not entirely sure which I like best yet, but it's quite variable for me, since I've been experimenting with different front and rear damper stiffness settings as well.

The 987 has 30/37 as standard pressures. I found 28/36 gave the best wear on the PS2s, so I've set up the new Sumis the same. So far, I have no discernable wear, so as I put more miles on them I should be able to see.
These are cruising pressures.

[S3adrag0n]

Have Continental Sport Contact on mine and lov'n it. But want more grip on wet so I'm going with the Continental DW (rear tires getting bald). Anybody have these one their Porsche?

[blue2000s]

[QUOTE=Gilles]

Originally Posted by Quickurt

The HTR's points loss was wet traction. Dry traction numbers were identical to PS2.
Now, considering I could buy a complete set of Sumis and two new pairs of rears for less than the PS2s, I sure don't see it as being a "cheap ass" as someone said above.

Did you considered running the PS2 on the front with the Sumis on the rear..?

It's generally not the best idea to mix the front and rear tire manufacturers.

[blue2000s]

Originally Posted by blue2000s

These guys have really impressive prices, bested tirerack by about $45 shipped.

http://www.onlinetires.com/

Four days in shipping and the tires are sitting in the garage! I should have the car out of storage this week (50F tomorrow) so that I can get them mounted and try them out.

[smshirk]

Originally Posted by mikefocke

for the one time in a tires life you have to react in an emergency mode. For that one time, the characteristics of a tire may save your life...or may not. May save your car, or not.

I've had tires cost me a Boxster and a VW. In the one case I was driving on UHPS tires and the road was cold and I just slid on top of the pavement instead of the rubber digging in to the micro indents in the pavement..not even a Boxster's brakes could save the car. In the other, the dealer that sold me the car switched the tires on me from good tread when I bought the car to almost bald when I picked the car up in the dark. Slid going around a curve when the fronts just didn't bite at all.

Go look at the tirerack comparisons and see the stopping distance and imagine that you have to stop to prevent your car hitting something or someone. Think how much faster that hit will be if you have 2 car lengths difference in stopping distance ... which can happen between 2 tires.

Whatever you do, drive cautiously the first 200-300 miles. And read the tirerack discussion of wear versus stopping distance and don't run the tires to the wear bars if you drive in the wet. I've seen someone killed doing that. Hit a puddle at the beginning of a bridge and started playing pinball off the concrete bridge abutments. I sailed through the same puddle at the same speed just fine.

+1 I have experience with crummy tires in the rain. I lost it in a curve during a drizzling rain, went down an embankment and rolled over into a corn field. If I had had 2 or 3 more feet I would have stopped, but it went over in agonizing slow motion. Miraculously didn't get hurt, but totaled my 260Z. The tires were to the wear bars and I had been putting off new tires for a couple of months. A long time ago, but a lesson I've never forgotten! I always buy high end tires and replace them early. I have close to 10k on the Dunlop Star Specs on the Boxster now. They have plenty of tread left, but the rears are really noisy, so I'll put on new ones before I take a chance on getting wet.