[Cloud9...68]

A bit of a groundswell appears to be building for the Sumitomo's. I'll state it a little more strongly than in my previous post: If you buy anything more expensive than this tire, you're throwing your money away. It's so rare that a product comes along that offers such sheer excellence for such a double-take-inducing price, that it's best to take advantage of this opportunity before it disappears.

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[wmuldowney]

Looking at the Sumitomo HRZ as well, maybe the Toyo

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[caffine]

<!--quoteo(post=73608:date=Jun 9 2009, 05:18 PM:name=Cloud9...68)-->QUOTE (Cloud9...68 @ Jun 9 2009, 05:18 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->A bit of a groundswell appears to be building for the Sumitomo's. I'll state it a little more strongly than in my previous post: If you buy anything more expensive than this tire, you're throwing your money away. It's so rare that a product comes along that offers such sheer excellence for such a double-take-inducing price, that it's best to take advantage of this opportunity before it disappears.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->


Must agree with Cloud968 on the Sumitomo HTRZIII as the best bang for the buck. My son & I have already switched to them and are pleased.

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[Torbjorn968]

<!--quoteo(post=73669:date=Jun 11 2009, 12:14 AM:name=caffine)-->QUOTE (caffine @ Jun 11 2009, 12:14 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Must agree with Cloud968 on the Sumitomo HTRZIII as the best bang for the buck. My son & I have already switched to them and are pleased.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

How do they stand up to being heated up on track? Most road tires goes slippery rather fast. Thinking both as a trackday alternative and for "street tyre" endurance racing classes.

//TL

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[RPM]

Rennlist founder John D. commenting on his track experience in his 993 on new HTRZ IIIs (page 8 of the Rennlist 993 board post I linked previously) :

<!--quoteo-->QUOTE <!--quotec-->I run in the Instructors group (RED) - and the first session out was slow, to see what the tires would do and to break them in (they had less than 100 miles on them before I hit the track - not advised..) I think I was the perfect HWFM Racing ombudsman during the break in.. OK...

Fast forward to the next day (3 sessions later).. Temps were about 60 degrees F in the afternoon. Tire pressures were set at 33/37 COLD (post track session - these were 36/41). Observations...??

For a street tire?? The HTR ZIIIs outperformed my previous Michelans, Toyos, Dunlops, BFG tires. They have a stiffer sidewall than the HTR ZIIs (but a whole lot - which is why I didn't like the ZIIs on the track). Performance of the ZIIIs are as follows (rated 1-10 compared to the tires above):

Feedback - 8
Traction - 8.5
Braking - 9
"Looseness" in the corners - 9
Predictability - 9.5
Ability to control - 9.5
"Hot" laps - 8.5

I imagine I killed the life of these tires on the second day by - oh - about 5,000 miles - BUT - they are great tires to run to the limit.

For everyday use? Good. They will flat-spot over night - so it may take a mile or two to run them out.

In wet weather/rain? Absolutely fine.. Back it down a notch - and they grip as well as any ultra-high-performance tire.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

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[wmuldowney]

In this post he mentioned "they will flat spot over night"? Does that mean everynight or or after a hard day at the track getting hot then cooling down? That would be my guess, and the "flat spot" like not an issue as daily drivers.

any thoughts?

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[RPM]

That was my take. While the car is garaged, I have had them through winter and summer with no flat spot feel unless they have sat for a few days - and any tire will do that.

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[KRAG50]

What are some thoughts on only replacing the fronts, with a different brand/ type. I have Potenza RE 730's on the front and Potenza RE 750's on the rear. The rears are much newer and in good shape. The fronts are shot. I'm considering something different, as the 730 are no longer available and I'm not a fan of the 750's (noisy). But I would like to only replace the fronts for now (cash flow). I use the car for pleasure and do four DE's per year. No winter driving, but have done wet DE's and of course Mich roads are junk all of the time. Just wondering what some of your thoughts are.

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[flash]

i am not a fan of mixing and matching - i know a lot of people who swear that it's ok - however, i also hear other short cut things that me cringe from those same people

here is the deal on why i don't do it: different tires react differently to things like bumps and heat - i want both ends of the car working together and not fighting each other - if the tires on one end are heating up at a particular rate, i want the others doing the same - if i have a stiff sidewall tire on one end, i want the same on the other - if i have a gummy tire on one end, i want the same on the other - it's no fun having one end act differently than the other when you aren't expecting it

this is my philosophy because i am frankly not set up well enough to be able to test tires adequately to tell that i need a 30 point softer tire on the inside rear corner than i do on the rest of the corners - i leave that sort of thing up to the multi-million dollar race teams - it is better for me to have the predictability of having the same tire all around

as for the 750s, we ran sets of those on the 325 for quite a while, and i actually liked them for that car, but found that they were very touchy on toe setting - too much toe and they got noisy in a hurry - they also did not have the grip that i would like - fine for that car though - they aren't a real high performance tire anyway, so i didn't expect too much

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[KRAG50]

Flash, you make some good points. Normal driving I good handle.. but DE's at traction limits, different surfaces, temperatures, front to rear grip, slip angles, etc. I'm sure to would set me back. Thanks

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[rxter]

Yoko S-Drives with about 3K on them. They are reasonably quiet and have good grip. I don't crank the wheel like some here, but I've had the car sideways a few times and the Yokos have held up fine. I have Pilot Sports on my RX8 and agree they are grabby, but they are wearing like butter. I'll need a new set after 15K.

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[Cloud9...68]

<!--quoteo(post=73752:date=Jun 11 2009, 08:44 PM:name=rxter)-->QUOTE (rxter @ Jun 11 2009, 08:44 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Yoko S-Drives with about 3K on them.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I've heard good things about Yoko S-Drives. They're more reasonably priced than the Michelins (but still quite a bit more expensive than the Sumitomo's).

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[sbdrivingdotcom]

Ok, went with the Sumitomos. Should have them on the "new" C2Turbos by Thursday. Will post pics when I get them. Thanks to everyone for responding.

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[williamoss]

OK I may have to get some new tires for my MO30 Limited Slip coupe. I picked up a large puncture on the right rear tire It was an Allen Key 2 mm. Made a large hole in the tread area of the tire. I will see if they can plug it. If not and the comments here are quite old what would you recommend for a car that is not driven on the track, but I might do a little auto cross but mostly just driving around town. I live in Oregon where it rains a lot in the winter with temperatures around 50 degrees, In the summer here is almost no rain and temps are around 60-90. Most of my driving is during the spring, summer, and fall months. Once the rains come and the temperature drops the car sits in the garage for long periods. So flat spotting is a possibility.



I currently have Sumotomo HZR III. Rears are 225/45 ZR17 94Y; Fronts are 255/40 ZR17 94Y



What are the suggestions now.

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[Scott Collins]

William,



Why not stick with the Sumitomo's? Excellent performance for a great price. They seem to be pretty good all around and on wear. I am running those, and although they are not as firm in the sidewalls as the Bridgestone "Pole Position" tires I used to have, they are pretty darn good, except in winter. Not so good in cold wet and snow, and I run Blizzaks from Dec-March.



-Scott

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[Chris Vais]

I live in Northern California, wet winters (although not so much this year) and moderate summers. I've owned my 968 for nearly 15 years. When I bought the car it had Michelin Pilot Sports, which I replaced in kind but found the tire wear to be unacceptable from a cost effectiveness perspective. On the advice of my mechanic I tried the Bridgestone SO2 Pole Position and found them much more cost effective and well matched to my driving conditions and driving style. Since then, I have also had sets SO3 Pole Positions, and the RE050A. These week we are fitting new SO4 Pole Positions. I get about 30 to 35 K on a set. I drive about 10 to 12 K miles a year.

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[ron1688]

I am going on my second set of Nitto NT05 on my Lotus and I just love them. The only drawback is that they are only good for about 12k and wouldnt recomend driving them in the rain. On my 968, just got the new wheels and I went with the hankook V12 Evo since they didn't have Nitto for the rears, just got about 50 miles on them but seem to be okay and they are pretty reasonable in price.

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[Lim Yong]

If anyone is interested in a tire that is quiet and light, try try the Conti DWs. Can' ttell about logevity yet but I was

in mpressed by the comfort level compared to the old Bridgestone SO-2 on the stock 16inchers. I do like the looks of

the Bridgestones though.

Also have 17 wheels with Bridgestone 750s. Lookin got replace with either the Contis or the new 760s. The brigdestones

have deent treadwear but a little noisy and is heavy. IMO

If anyone is interested in a tire that is quiet and light, try try the Conti DWs. Can' ttell about logevity yet but I was

in mpressed by the comfort level compared to the old Bridgestone SO-2 on the stock 16 inchers. I do like the looks of

the Bridgestones though.

Also have 17 wheels with Bridgestone 750s. Looking to replace with either the Contis or the new 760s. The brigdestones

have deent treadwear but a little noisy and is heavy. IMO cost is similar

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[Darth Vadar]

Just to muddy up the water, I put Dunlop Z1's on in October... stock factory sizes mounted on stock size 17" Cup 3's (too heavy, but affordable!).

I absolutely LOVE the Dunlops and they were also affordable... I would have to look up pricing but IIRC, less than $600 mounted and balanced.

Stick like glue, look fantastic, and are wearing well so far... I liked the Sumi's on my first 968... but wanted the look of the Dunlops for this one...

Try a set and see... I think you will be pleasantly surprised! Of course, no winter or rain soaked driving...

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[bombfactory]

Cloud - I have Michelin PS2's on both the 968 and my M3 and love them, but they are damn pricey - especially in the case of the 285/30-18 rears on the 968: over $500 each. The M3 needs new tires so I'm going to try the Sumitomos. Their price at TireRack is unbelievably low!

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