Sumitomo HTR Z III, Thoughts?

Darkout

Darkout

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Cocoa, FL
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Civic Si
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Coupe
Now I'm not a fan of sumi-homos very much but looking for a cheap "performance" tire better than the all seasons from factory once mine get roasted by 15k. I plan on getting 17x8 RPF1's with a good max performance tire once the third set is needed but need something cheap to carry me through the months of saving for the precious...es lol

Anyone have a good thing to say about the HTR Z III? If not what might be decent low priced performance tire? I lack knowledge in this area
 
Yea their tests and what my buddy has experienced with them has made me think to give it a shot. Price wise is hard to beat IMO.
 
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I look at those all the time. I just don't know. The price is so good but it makes me wary. Maybe they just wear out real quick compared to others and have terrible wet grip. I've never driven them so Im just guessing and saying my thoughts on why I haven't bought them. I should just get a set to find out. The reviews always look positive.
 
Your skepticism is the same with mine but I'll probably take a shot on them before I roast my stock tires just in case they totally suck. I'll have a little tire left to swap back too to find something else if need be. Currently at 7/32 and 5/32 front/rear after 7700 and 3 rotates.
 
Read the drivers reviews. A number of people said they use them as dedicated track/autox tires and claim they're wearing really well. Others said they were blown away by wet traction for a max perf summer tire. Seems like a lot of people were skeptical to buy, but report really positive remarks.
 
Exactly! Thats what I always read but how can they be so cheap and so good! hahaha @Darkout - Definitely give us a detailed review if you buy these.
 
I'll for sure give all detail I can as I'm convinced to buy these and try out for my own curiosity. I've learned where these stock a/s tires break loose and push myself into some corners just to screech tires and get the lsd to pull you around the corner as you spin since they suck on grip lol. The one guy who has them currently on his g/f's G6 4 door I think and they are heavy. He says it handles well and he has a built turbo'd golf so I know they are pushed. Can't imagine them being worst than these a/s and i don't have freezing temps to worry about.
 
The Sumitomo HTR Z3 are good entry level summer tires. They are pretty solid in every category. I have sold a lot of these. If you are on a budget these would be a good option. However I always recommend getting the best tire that meets your budget.
 
So I ended up pulling the trigger on these a few days ago (225/40 18 stock's) and had them arrive today at the shop so I HAD to put them on asap. Not to mention I had 1/32 front tires that love to plow. From a comparison to the stock continentals the Z3 compound on the tread is obviously softer and the sidewall harder to accommodate the heavy g's on turns. Steering response is very nice and practically no delay from steering wheel turn to vehicle turn in where as the cont's had a numb center point. Under-steer is still prevalent (fwd duh) but throttle lift/rear rotation has increased. I just drove home on them taking the long way with the playful corners (as traffic permits) and am surprisingly happy. There is a bit more road noise vs the stock cont's but not enough to deter me. So far I put it in the must try category

Edit: Forgot to add that I road-force balance all four tires and the most I had was 12/26 lbs, lowest 3lbs and 26 being the limit on the machine. Anything under 10lbs is great and even michelin have fallen short of this feat on their 200+ $ tires 1/5 times. I know because I mount and balance tires daily and see first hand. EX...Had a Michelin defender on a Camry road-force to 56/26 lbs. Thing wanted to hop of the machine, is a cheap Michelin but still cost more than this Z3...food for thought
 
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Sounds really good. You'll have to do an update when you get a few thousand miles or so on them to see how they break in.
 
After 8 months of moderate:giggle: abuse on these HTR's have proven to me to be a better factory tire than the Conti's that are installed as factory equipment. I believe if memory serves me right I had around 14k (around 3/4's on tread depth) when installed and now sitting at 27k with front/rear wear down to 2/4. Up untill 4/32 the rubber stays the same stick-i-ness but after that look out, I skate everywhere even with out rain. Wet traction was almost on point with dry traction as long as the tread life was good. Temp's under 60-55 would flat spot the tires over night but 5 miles of driving would cure that problem. Overall had no complaint's at all to deter me from buying another set. If anyone has a specific question I'll try to answer the best I can.

Plan on ordering in the next day or so a set of Kumho Ecsta PS91's, their new tire to compete with the Mich PSS. 50-60$ less per tire but seem to hang in there with the PSS for the cost. I'll try to get a comparison review of my thoughts when I mount them. Ultimate test is the Dragon at the end of September, booYAH!:pimp:
 
Darkout said:
Plan on ordering in the next day or so a set of Kumho Ecsta PS91's, their new tire to compete with the Mich PSS. 50-60$ less per tire but seem to hang in there with the PSS for the cost. I'll try to get a comparison review of my thoughts when I mount them. Ultimate test is the Dragon at the end of September, booYAH!:pimp:
Click to expand...

Interested to see how the PS91's will compete with the Michelin PSS's.

You should make a thread for the Kumho's when you get them :thumbsup:
 
Tire Rack's video comparison rated them last of all 4 tested, the PSS being the winner of course. One of the few reviews from people on there says he ran the PS91's after the PSS and liked them so much on his "GT3" he put a set on his "M3". Price seems reasonable too
 
Mount and balanced the Kuhmo PS91's the other day and must say I like hem so far. Was raining driving home but the wet traction is very confidence inspiring, especially when your used to running on 2/32's. Have yet to fully push their potential yet but for a 10$ difference compared to the ZIII's feels like a good step up. Still need some time to see how they do once broke in but I developed a weird issue...

Didn't have time to align it but the car drove straight with the wheel off center slightly prior so I figured I would be ok for week before I take car of it. Driving home I noticed the car wanting to wander around the road as well as pulling left on accel and snap right when letting off. Checked the suspension and everything seems tight but there is obviously something moving around. Gonna align it and see if I find anything loose or outta wack but I must admit it is not fun.
 
Read your post this morning on the other thread. That sucks. Hope the alignment fixes it.
 
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