XQIZT

i bought some AFS 17 wheels (9.5 in the front, 11 in the rear). shopping for tires has been an eye opening experience. :eek: in an effort to have money for gas, i found these Sumitomo tires. they are the least expensive of anthing i have found, and the reviews seem to be mixed...from bald in 6,000 miles to "brand new" at 16,000 miles. anyone had any experience with these? how long did they last? good balance? etc etc. and do you have any other suggestions for inexpensive tires that come in a set of 275/40/R17 and 315/35/R17? its hard to find a tire model that comes in both sizes withoug spending close to $1000. i don't race, and its just a daily driver, so i don't stress the rubber too much. thanks in advance for the input...i repsect the opinions here more than anywhere else. :seeya


[Modified by Orlando85UCFvette, 12:10 PM 1/18/2004]

bogus

I have not used the Sumitomo's.

I have used both Kumho and Hancook.

On my Vette are Kumho's 712's... the problem? They don't make them in 315s... :(

Last September, I installed a set of Hancook's on my mom's Acura. I am rather impressed.

I would NOT get anything made by General... and to be honest, $$$ for $$$ there are tires that are equal to, or better than, the high dollar pieces... Michelin may be a leader, but gee, I cannot justify 300.00 for a SINGLE tire...

vinnies87

I have a set of Sumitomo tires and they are great for the price... Have 3k miles on them,,, and great wear, For Balance (on their web site they have the instructions for proper balance).. :thumbs:

jetlag

I have them. Pretty good tires for the price.

knp

I had them on my car, replacing older Goodyear tires. The Sumitomos lasted about 15K / 1 year. That was as a daily driver, with occasional hot-*******.

I can't comment on much else, because I just don't notice ride / noise / balance / etc. unless they are super obvious.

BTW, I just had HTRZ-II tires put on in September. Again, can't say I noticed any difference.

vette92_1

I just put some on mine. So far so good. I can't speak for how long they will last, but they seem to have decent traction even in wet road conditions. Of course every tire is probably a little different when it comes to being balanced, but all 4 of mine balanced with very little weights, so I was happy about that.

Road noise does seem to be a little noisier than the Kumho's I just took off.

By the way, I don't know if you where looking at Kumho's or not, but that is the tire I wanted, but as you have probably found out in your search, the 315/35 17 is not made by every manufacture, or sometimes the one they make is in a race application tire and the tread design didn't appeal to me, like the only 315/35 17 that Kumho has, is the victor racer, which I'm not to fond of the tread design, but anyway I said all of that to say this: I emailed Kumho and asked why they don't have the 315/35 17 in say the ECSTA MX's and here is there response: Unfortunately for me I couldn't wait for it to come out.

BTW: this was last year when I asked this question, so that means they should be coming out with the 315/35 17 in the MX's this March.


[Modified by vette92_1, 11:58 AM 1/18/2004]

JasonL

As you found out, there are very few street tire options for 315s.

I've had the HTR-Zs for about 10k miles. Great bang for the buck. Good traction for street driving, equal or better than the Dunlop SP8000s I had previous. Great tire wear so far. Balance is fine. I didn't care for this, but they are noticably quieter than the Dunlops, enough that I have to point it out. :D Only thing they don't have is the curb protector for the rims.

I think you will be happy with them. I would buy them again unless someone else makes an affordable 315.

lspalding

I have a set of used GSC's (that look like new) that I'll sell you for less than the Sumitomos. Let me know if you're interested. lspalding@ameritech.net.

95wht6spd

I am on my 3rd set of HTRZ's, no complaints and best bang for buck. They last about 2 years for me, 20K miles. They grip well and do OK in the rain. I could get a good bit more miles out of the fronts, but I change them all at once.

BiZ

Had them on the rear of my car. They lasted under a year. Good value for the price.

007rollie

I am interested in used G.S.C. tires, how much?

Bat Man

I have the HTRZII tires, they are really good.

McShagger

Ive heared a lot of good feed back for these tires and am very interested in giving them a test. Id be interested in how the grip and breakaway is with HTRZs. Ive tested lots of tires(BFG, Yokohama, Goodyear) on different cars(350Z, IS400, Passat) and have had four different sets(Yokohama, Kumho 712, Falken 502, Falken 451) on my car. For my car, my favorites are the ones I have on now, the Falken GRB 451s.

But I am in agreement about how I think its rediculous to spend more than $150/tire when you can get tires of just as good or close to the same quality for less than $130.

GlockLT4

Rear is pretty soft. Nice rubber. Not sure how long they are going to last, but I've had them on this car for about 3k miles and can't tell anything.