Sumitomo Tire Reviews

Initial Review, 800 Miles on Tires
March 12, 2010

Replaced OEM Continental 4x4 Contacts. Sumitomo is ill-suited for R350's combination of weight (5,000 lb) and suspension/chassis/handling characteristics. Sumitomos borders on UNSAFE! Sheer lack of steering response @ hwy speeds! Slightest steering correction (follows ruts like any fresh tire) results in (1) momentary delay, followed by (2) front end dive/veer, then (3) excessive rear kick-out/sway. And all this despite recent alignment. W/ 30 yrs experience driving both hi-performance and family European vehicles, I can reasonably conclude that the Sumitomo's lack of sidewall stiffness and slight added weight (37 lb vs 35 lb for Continental 4x4) mate poorly to weight/chassis/suspension combination of R350. I agree w/ other noted respondents and family friends that the OEM Continentals have below average tread life. But in retrospect, the OEM Continentals exhibited a very good combination of sidewall stiffness, grip, and ride quality, which understandably can be difficult to satisfy in 5,000 lb crossover vehicle. I'm very concerned over the Sumitomos; so much so that I have swapped vehicles w/ my wife. I will monitor the tires, and if they do not improve following a reasonable break-in period (say 1,000-1,500 mi), I will have to replace them, despite hurting my pocketbook.

Initial Review, 800 Miles on Tires
March 12, 2010

Replaced OEM Continental 4x4 Contacts. Sumitomo is ill-suited for R350's combination of weight (5,000 lb) and suspension/chassis/handling characteristics. Sumitomos borders on UNSAFE! Sheer lack of steering response @ hwy speeds! Slightest steering correction (follows ruts like any fresh tire) results in (1) momentary delay, followed by (2) front end dive/veer, then (3) excessive rear kick-out/sway. And all this despite recent alignment. W/ 30 yrs experience driving both hi-performance and family European vehicles, I can reasonably conclude that the Sumitomo's lack of sidewall stiffness and slight added weight (37 lb vs 35 lb for Continental 4x4) mate poorly to weight/chassis/suspension combination of R350. I agree w/ other noted respondents and family friends that the OEM Continentals have below average tread life. But in retrospect, the OEM Continentals exhibited a very good combination of sidewall stiffness, grip, and ride quality, which understandably can be difficult to satisfy in 5,000 lb crossover vehicle. I'm very concerned over the Sumitomos; so much so that I have swapped vehicles w/ my wife. I will monitor the tires, and if they do not improve following a reasonable break-in period (say 1,000-1,500 mi), I will have to replace them, despite hurting my pocketbook.

Initial Review, 6,000 Miles on Tires
April 23, 2012

This is the second set I have put on my acura tl. WIth just over 56k miles, Im on the 3rd set of tires. The noise level is HORRIBLE. The most recent set had three tires with knots on them, tire rack only replaced one since it immidiately was noticed after purchasing. Other knots developed afterwards. Now theyre so bad that I cant balance the tires correctly and have begun to look for new tires. Stay away from these tires.

Initial Review, 500 Miles on Tires
April 18, 2012

Considering that I got 110,000 miles out of a set of Michelin LTX M/S on a 4WD Suburban I had, choosing this brand was simple. These HydroEdge tires have virtually eliminated hydroplaning on this car, although it's a light car wih 55 series tires, and in my opinion, prone to do so anyway. It still hydroplanes at 80 mph and above but that's a common sense issue and not a tire issue. No slipping when stopping and no spinning or slipping when accelerating from a dead stop. I don't notice these tires being any noisier than the Sumitomos that they replaced. I'll be disappointed if these tires don't deliver 100,000 miles, and considering the easy, but numerous miles this car will have put on it, shouldn't be a problem. I'm VERY happy with these tires.

Initial Review, 15,000 Miles on Tires
April 11, 2012

The tires are some of the quietest, the cornering grip is very stable and allows me to change lanes on off ramp loops. High speed stability is great, braking grip is great, driver input transfer is immediate. I recommend these tires and you cannot beat the performance for the price. I am not easy on these tires at all...HWY 17 is known for its curves...Now let's hope Sumitomo doesn't discontinue this line!!!

Initial Review, 5,000 Miles on Tires
April 08, 2012

Installed these on my new-to-me 330i sport package. I did not expect anything spectacular, but I have to say I am impressed. For the $$, they are a great buy. As good as Michelin Pilot Sports? Nope. But for 2/3rds the cost, they are a whole lot better than 2/3rds as good. They have a very good steering feel and feedback, excellent dry grip and I've never had the traction control so much as flicker in a downpour. This was a non-existent winter in NC, so I have no winter-weather report.

If I get 50k out of them, I think I'll be hard pressed to do better for the money with anything else. I already plan to get these for the wife's E320 next month.

Initial Review, 22,000 Miles on Tires
April 12, 2012

I replaced the factory Pilots with the Sumitoma and could not be happier. For the money I don't think there is anything out there that comes close. Compared to the Pilots I think the pilots had a better grip than the Sumi's but I don't track the car so for everyday driving they are amazing. I have around 22K on these and the fronts still have lots of tread. The backs are starting to get a bit noisy but not that bad. Don't be afraid to buy these.

Initial Review, 6,000 Miles on Tires
March 14, 2012

My GT2 is pushing 625+ HP at the wheels and for the money this is the best tire out there bar none, you would be crazy to buy the double priced brands. Very good wear with traction just as good as any other non-track tire. A GREAT product !!! They just need to make a 305/30/18..lol

Initial Review, 3,000 Miles on Tires
April 09, 2012

This tire has been pretty ---- good with one exception. I have had a set of these on my Ferrari F355 as they came with the car and were fairly new when I purchased the car. Having now driven about 4k miles on them, I can say that for the price they have been great and out-performed my expectations.

My only negative is that these tires tend to get slippery when hot. I have had two occasions where I was really pushing the car over about a 10 mile stretch of heavy cornering and at times the tire will start to give up possibly due to overheating?? It just gets really slick/slippery until I get them to cool off a bit. But it makes me wonder if this would happen with any non-R compound tire. In any case, I know my BMWs cannot come close to the torture that my Ferrari puts on these tires so I have to say they are great overall. Not sure they are right for this car and how I drive, but a great tire nonetheless.

Initial Review, 12,000 Miles on Tires
March 16, 2012

These tires grip very well a lot better than the Dunlop A2s I had on the Miata before, however the lack of sidewall support makes the steering feel mushy in the 185/60-14 size. I miss Dunlops, the way you could feel the road and suspension while on the edge going around my favorite corners. The Sumitmos added 5-10MPH around the corners at the expense of feel and confidence.

Initial Review, 10,000 Miles on Tires
April 06, 2012

The Sumitomo HTR ZIII came highly recommend from a fellow BMW 8 series enthusiast who tracked his car every so often. For a 5,500lb 'sport' coupe, the HTR Z IIIs deliver loads of grip and medium/average ride comfort, noise, and longevity. There are highway off-ramps marked 25MPH that I can do do in excess of 55MPH (with tires broken-in, heated up, on dry pavement). Here in Maryland we have a lot of rainstorms and these tires have never let me down in the rain while on the highway. Making turn 90-degree turns, however, in the city, when the roads are wet is a different story...I'm lucking not to see the traction control light up.

All-in-all, this is a spectacular tire priced right for me. I see no point in going with the more expensive tires when this one performs well. I've even gone through two winters with it without incident.

For my next tire, I might even go with the HTR ZII and see if the +60 UTQG and even lower price point can deliver comparable performance. You can't go wrong with Sumitomo.

Initial Review, 25,000 Miles on Tires
March 15, 2012

I have been driving for 34 years and these tires were by far the most miserable tires I have ever purchased. Do youself a favor and do not buy!!!!
When I had them installed I immediately noticed the handling stability was compromised on my Pacifica compared to the origional set. My SUV immediately felt unstable and top
heavy. I had them balalced three times during their VERY SHORT life of 25K miles to get rid of highway vibration and never achieved a smooth highway ride. The roads here in Central Florida and silky smooth with no pot holes, so the tires were never subjected to
a punishing life, but a ideal environment. Still the lasted on 25K before they hit the wear bars. I guess there is a bright side to this.(I am now rid of these tires.)
Do yourself a favor and do not but these tires, any choice you make would be a better one...

Initial Review, 20,000 Miles on Tires
April 09, 2012

Rides slightly better then my original Michelins.Great roadfeel,0to60 5.5 sec.whith Enkie 15lb. wheels.Three tires out of round by 20 to 30 thousand which translates to amild vibration above 120 km.My old rally partner drove the car and could not belive the change from the oridginal handling. Switch to Michelin X ice for the Winter michelin

Initial Review, 2,000 Miles on Tires
April 06, 2012

This set of tires are good for the buck, but, a little noisy

Initial Review, 8,000 Miles on Tires
August 08, 2010

I bought these to replace worn Michelin PS2s because the Michelins are nearly twice the price. If you only do street driving, they are a bargain. I really can't tell them from the PS2s. However, if you also do track driving, there is a dramatic difference. The dry grip level is considerably less and they feel less stable. They were pretty good on a wet track though, maybe as good as the PS2s. Bottom line, there's a reason the Michelins cost so much.

Follow-Up Review, 16000 Miles on Tires
April 01, 2012

Initial Review, 7,000 Miles on Tires
April 11, 2012

The tires seem to be pron to cupping and the car is keep up to factoty specs.

Initial Review, 50,000 Miles on Tires
March 07, 2012

I've put 50k miles on them and was impressed from day one. Everything based on my previous tire experiences was great until about 5k ago. Almost down the wear indicators. Road noise is very loud and if it snows I worry. They still handle great in dry conditions and I never had an issue cornering in dry or wet. I’m definitely considering buying again.

Initial Review, 1,000 Miles on Tires
April 07, 2012

wet traction is excellent for this car. especially when the roads are wet and slippery in guam. the roads are extra slippery on the roads made out of coral and they gripped better under heavy braking and cornering compared to the cheap chinese tires i had on them previously. the japanese are untouchable in tire design compared to the other asian countries.

Initial Review, 24,000 Miles on Tires
March 17, 2012

Vehicle: Scion xD, lower springs (about 1.5 in), after market shocks and struts, heavy duty rear torsion bar, under drive pulley, cat back TRD exhaust, 17" aftermarket wheels with 225/45 shoes.

These tires started out great. The noise wasn't bad, but the grip both wet and dry was excellent. I felt really good about these tires for about the first 12,000 miles. But things have tapered off significantly. Dry traction is falling off significantly as the tires wear; wet traction is still OK, but now I have to think about how I drive when it is wet where as I didn't used to give it a second thought.

My major gripes with these tires are road noise and ride comfort. The road noise just continues to grow as the tires wear and it wasn't great to begin with. Living in CA, we have pretty bad roads (not because of weather but because the roads are never fixed) and you both hear and feel everything with these tires.

I can't comment on the snow performance of these tires. I keep all season tires on all my cars as I do on occasion drive in snow, but my travels and weather have not brought this car into the snow just yet.

I know I drive hard and ask a lot from my tires, but I was really hoping to get a little more out of these. I'm at two years and here I am back at Tire Rack looking for some new tires. For the price, if you need a short term tire you will enjoy, these are fine. If you're going to have the car for a while and you can afford it, I would recommend spending a bit more on a higher rated tire.

Initial Review, 25,000 Miles on Tires
April 05, 2012

I bought this tire as a replacement for the OEM Dunlops, which had decent grip in dry/wet conditions most of the year but were somewhat noisy and only lasted 15,000 miles. They were also HORRIBLE in the snow, I almost drove off the road in a storm going maybe 30-40mph. Hydroplaning was also a serious problem.

I was looking for a replacement that would have good overall grip but also be a bit quieter. The Kumho is a nice tire in that it gives a quiet ride + also absorbs bumps decently well, and naturally these qualities really shine in weather above 60 degrees. But as the tread wore the car seemed to take bumps more harshly. The tread wore faster than I believed it would. I could probably drive it another 3,000 miles before I was really asking for trouble.

Another issue is that due to the softer sidewalls the car leans more than before when cornering. A car like the Fit is really meant for somewhat stiffer tires, as I no longer felt quite as comfortable taking brisk turns. I'm an average driver & I would have to use the muscles in my body to sit upright in some cases, despite the Fit's seat bolsters. For easy going drivers this won't be much of a problem as harder cornering is not desired.

In terms of hydro planing, I'd say the tires were a bit better than the Dunlops but not by much, especially as the tread wore. Wet traction was good, but through deeper puddles it can get scary. Although the Fit seems to be prone to hydroplaning by design.

In light snow these tires are tolerable but not great. I'd say they're better than the Dunlops, but I live on the 45th parallel and dedicated snow tires are a must. I didn't encounter much ice, but I'd say stay away from ice on these.

Responsiveness is decent but there is noticeable steering lag. Sudden inputs take a moment to produce a response.

For my next tires, I chose high performance all-season Sumitomo HTR A/S P01 tires to try to reduce the hydroplaning + body lean issues while still maintaining ride comfort.