Sumitomo HTR Z III Report

No responses necessary- this post is reference. After 4,000 miles on the HTR III's I am can report that they are very usable for street use and today I did five 20 min. sessions on the track with them and found them to be adaquate for casual track use. They are perhaps 80%+ of the N rated tires. I did not feel they are greasy or anything like that. They were more scuffed up than I remember the N rated tires after the runs. I was talking to another driver (2004 C4S) who was using shaved, heat cycled HTR III's and he likes them fine and has used the tires for 6 events and the drive there and back. One interesting thing tho, for some reason the III's rotated on the wheel over the course of his driving events causing the wheel to become unbalanced. He even showed me the index marks he made on the tire at the valve that were now 1/8 rotated on the wheel. His solution was to keep the tires at normal inflation and not let air out like many drivers do. More fuel for the fire as members browse for tire options.

Can't comment on track use, but i do love them on the road...good info.

Aside from how scuffed they look, how do they compare traction wise with other tires you've used? How do they comminicate with you? Are they predictable? When they start to slide do they recover easily? I've run the Sumi lls and they were very good in the wet, very predictable and well mannered in the dry, easly recoverable after they break loose. Confidence inspiring for all street driving situations. I did not track with them or push really hard in the triple digits, but did feel good cruising up to 140mph.

i've had them on the track and they give up the ghost after about 5 laps. They're VERY slippery and worse, they are not linear, but that's ok. I didn't expect them to be for the price point. The michelins and bridgestones are better at grip, even on the street and they're more predictable as well. I never feel the security level I did driving really aggressively on the street, but as i said, the pros outweigh the cons considering the cost of the tires. I've had the tires for a while now and the wear is excellent, as is the noise levels. They're pretty hard cold so if your temps are getting lower, just be careful. Braking isn't also the best as far as grip that something like a Michelin Pilot Sport 2 had. I installed them at 82K miles and now I have 99K miles, with one track event on them (2 days, but otherwise, I use track rubber). They're barely half worn so their wear characteristics are awesome.

The tire pros always want to sell you an expensive compromise of a good street and track tire like PSS2's. I love my PS Cups for DE's and I say buy the cheapest crap available for tooling around the neighborhood. (And that's the Sumi's).

One track event so far when they were pretty new...they did pretty well. Go to the track again in Nov...so lets see how they hold up.

I've had these on my 2003 996 C2 for 15,000 miles or so. I replaced the rears at 12,000 miles. I'm checking my fronts regularly now, but still seem good for another 5,000. Street use has been good for performance, but definitely a small downgrade from Michelin Pilot Sport PS2s. Noise levels are the best of any tire I've run so far. I wouldn't track them. All in all, phenomenal value for street tires.