Tires? Any Sumitomo or Hankook info? - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

limoncello · 04-21-2005, 06:41 AM

Thanks for the inputs. I had gone to TireRack earlier and read a bunch of reviews - didn't see any real consensus for any specific tire. Preferences were individual, varied, and depended on type use. Did see a 2001 owner who really liked his Sumitomos, and TR has them on special for $97 rear/$75 front. My cars former owner had put the Sumo's on, & as a nubee I was trying to discern whether he knowledable or just cheap.

Brucelee · 04-21-2005, 06:46 AM

I have used Hi Pefr Sumos before. Not a bad tire for the money. Experiment, if you find a decent tire for that price, you are way ahead of the game.

KRZTACO · 05-23-2005, 01:51 PM

[QUOTEMy cars former owner had put the Sumo's on, & as a nubee I was trying to discern whether he knowledable or just cheap.[/QUOTE]

That's funny, lol

KRZ

boxster2003 · 05-23-2005, 02:23 PM

My Boxster's 2 rear rims have Hankook tires on 18 inch porsche classic rims. I had for about 5,000 miles on it and as far as I can tell, it's as good as Michellin tires. I used to have a lot of rattle noise in my car but after I replaced to Hankook tire and the noise is greatly reduced. I am living in Southern California and I do not have any problem nor complaint. I heard about quality control problem with Hankook tires but my friend also had Hankook tires and never had problem.

Pilot2519j · 05-23-2005, 06:54 PM

I just went through an experience with WTC in NY that I rather forget. I bring there the car for a wheel alignment and balancing since i was having a small vibration in the steering wheel. He said the Pilots it had were shot and dangerous and I had done plenty of business with him before so I took his word. I told him get me tires. He suggested Khumo and after all was said and done and I lost my temper I ended up with Pilot Rib which are POrsche OE tire. I did find out that these guys there could not balance a glass of water in their hands no less high performance tires.
I brought it to Porsche dealer and the manager graciously did the balancing at no charge. The young man that did the balancing gave me the littany of all the things WTC had done incorrectly, used the wrong weights, placed them incorrectly, used clip on on the Carrera alloy, in short my blood pressure went sky high. Moral of the story, the Boxster is a high performance car and Porsche recommends certain tires to obtain maximum efficiency from the car. Braking, wet and dry traction are all part of the mix. Our car is an expensive car and skimping on tires is not the wisest thing to do. Im not saying to burn your money away and not comparison shop but just remember the tires you use are ones that will have to stop very fast when you pounce on the brakes or hold you on the road on that sharp turn.

Morelli · 05-24-2005, 06:15 PM

Just put some Bridgestone Potenza S03's on last week...

insite · 06-19-2005, 06:14 PM

Update -

i tried a set of HTRZ's last week on my car; i used to use these Sumitomos on my RX-7 (old model of tire, same brand). I hate these on my boxster and am replacing them this week. the sidewall flex is intolerable. i've lost most of the 'snap' in the rear end of the car on corners. also, exiting corners, the rear of the car seems to oscillate back and forth before settling on a line. they also follow road grooves like nobody's business.

i can't vouch for the HTRZ-2's as i haven't tried them, but i do not reccomend the HTRZ on this car. back to potenzas.

limoncello · 06-20-2005, 06:17 AM

I have the Sumitomo HTRZ II's. Have driven them for 2 months on the road, and one track day. Some observations: a. There is still some sidewall flex, but I don't have experience with other tires on the Boxster to compare. b. They had a lot of grip in my opinion. c. They worked well in the rain - we had a lunchtime downpour and I went out on the track shortly after, track soaked. I was surprised at how much traction I had. I would have no worries with them on a rainy interstate. The Audi S4 driver who kept passing me also had Sumitomo HTRZ II's - he liked them and was impressed with the wet performance also. d. They were inexpensive ($97 rear, $75 front). I knew I would probably burn up a set in 2-3 track days plus normal driving, so I went for the savings. e. Not tracking well on grooved roads - I can't say, haven't driven on heavily grooved roads yet. On city streets and normal interstates they feel fine, with low/moderate road noise. Tracking is fine. Tire wear: it was a hot day at the track. The tires show wear from one day, but so did everbody else's.

Now, having said all the above, I'm holding my final opinion until I get my next set of tires (probably Michelins or Bridgestones), and can compare them directly against another tire. Will post when I get there.