So, I was all excited about getting some new tires for the upcoming fall season. I ordered the Sumitomo HTR+'s from Tire Rack - "ultra high performance all season." As soon as I got them mounted I could already tell that there was something wrong. It basically makes my car feel like all the shocks are blown, or as if I was driving on solid marshmellow tires. At freeway speeds they aren't even safe. The car slides around from left to right without moving the steering wheel at all. In the corners it's really bad. It takes like an extra second for any of the input to reach the road, and coming out of the corners the tires throw the weight of the car nearly off the road.

Does anyone have any experience with these tires or can offer any advice?

Thanks in advance.
-Michael

 

Thats strange, what size tires are they? I know Long_Travel_WRX has Sumitomos but not sure if hes had those sort of problems.

 

what tire pressure do you have?

 

i have them and loveum... what tire size are you running and psi?

yeah the side wall aint hella stiff but i would say they are marshmellowY

edgar,

 

How many miles you drove with them on? It takes some milage for new tires to work best.

BTW... Got your alignment checked when you install the tires?

 

They have about 320 miles on them so far but I havent really noticed any break-in improvement yet. They are 205/55/16 for the stock wheels. I have tried running 32psi in the front and 30 in the back as well as 36 in the front and 33 in the back. Both ways still have all the problems. What got kind of break in period (miles?) did you guys see for your tires?
I called Tire Rack and they said to just run some more miles on them with a bit more pressure, so we'll see if that helps.

 

You can go up in pressure. I had some all seasons for a while and bringing them up to 40ft/ 38rr made a HUGE difference.

Check the sidewall for the max inflation pressure and don't go above that (cold).

 

thanks, i tried em with 40 and 38. There is still little improvement. Basically I wouldnt recomend these tires for any sort of nice weather driving.

 

i have no such complaints and i do alot of crazy mt. passes, im thinking its cause you went with a 55 series.. (stock rims thesuck)

edgar,

 

Im sure that's it...so what I mean is, dont get these tires with the stock wheels.
Viva la Canyon

 

Thanks for the info. I drive really hard though. So, I am comparing them to tires like SO3s and Azenis Sports that totally outclass them. Guess that was my first mistake though huh?
I got another pair of tires/wheels for the summer weather and put the Sumitomos on reserve for winter/dirt duty.

 

Exactly !!!

 

I actually HAVE the sumitomo HTR + on my EVO for this winter and I would say that at 150 miles and hour, They are a really good tire.. True they are NO where Near the sticky substance of a true performance(Summer) tire.. but to me Sumitomo is a great tire..
Believe me ... I understand your concern .. EVO's come with a very, very sticky tire.. (Yokohama-Advan's) so I undertand...
Good Luck ..

 

I have the HTR-Z II's on my 17" BBS RG-R's sized 225-45-17 and I have been really pleased with them. Good dry grip, stiff enough sidewall and decent wet grip. Maybe you got a bad set or they suck with a 55 height sidewall?

TVA