The tires thread "So I need tires..."

[Goodspeed]

^ holy shit.

I just put a set of Yokohama S-Drives on the stockers. 195/50/15, road force balanced, custom alignment.

Wayyy better than the Bridgestone G009 all-seasons on before. Everything I've read said they're a damn near perfect tire for DD'ing/price/wear (300) and I have no reason to say otherwise, and they're quite grippy to boot

[JustinG]

i had those on the RS, did not last long at all and compared to other tires I have had, ill never own another set just due to the road noise, wear, and grip/lack there of. But the could have changed the compound or updated them in the 4-5 years since I had those things.

[Goodspeed]

They must have, they're like the darling tire of miata.net, at least for those not running RS3's and doing a ton of trackdays but still want to hit the twisties on the way to work.

[Evan]

They must have, they're like the darling tire of miata.net

thats a great reason not to buy them :wink: :lol:

[Goodspeed]

They must have, they're like the darling tire of miata.net

thats a great reason not to buy them :wink: :lol:

LOL. Yeah you'd think if all the stodgy old men like 'em, you and I wouldn't, but I'm loving mine so far. And for a 195 summer tire, they look tough as hell (which, lets face it, is most important)

[TorinoCobra070]

I am looking at getting tires in the next few months and I came across this super ultra mega close-out deal. Anybody have experience with Sumitomo's?

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Sumitomo&tireModel=HTR+Z+II&partnum=74WR7HTRZ2V2&vehicleSearch=true&fromCompare1=yes&autoMake=Pontiac&autoYear=2001&autoModel=Trans%20Am%20WS6&autoModClar=">http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Sumitomo&tireModel=HTR+Z+II&partnum=74WR7HTRZ2V2&vehicleSearch=true&fromCompare1=yes&autoMake=Pontiac&autoYear=2001&autoModel=Trans%20Am%20WS6&autoModClar=</a><!-- m -->

[ViPER1313]

I have those on the Talon - they grip OK for a street tire, nothing spectacular, you get what you pay for. Seem alright in the rain too. I don't really drive it enough to comment on tread wear and haven't tracked / autoxed them.

[Goodspeed]

I had the old school HTR Z's on the back of the Supra for maybe a year or so - didn't look like they wore at all and decent traction.

[TorinoCobra070]

Hmmm, sounds pretty good to me. I'll have to check and see if I can get them at a local shop before I make up my mind. The good ol Rikens aren't quite done yet anyway lol. Thanks guys.

[Maengelito]

I had HTRZII's waaaay back in the day on my old Integra. They were okay for the street, but pretty crappy in the rain. Also, once they wore down, they were downright scary in the rain. Like Adam said, you get what you pay for with those.

[Ken]

I have the HTRIII's they're pretty good. How much more are they in your size?

[TorinoCobra070]

I have the HTRIII's they're pretty good. How much more are they in your size?

Right now the II's are $97 a piece and the III's are $119. Both of those prices are very cheap for 275/40/17's though.

[TorinoCobra070]

OK, so I did some research. My local tire shop can't get Sumitomos (wtf?) and the cheapest option they have are Kumhos. I would assume this tire

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Kumho&tireModel=Ecsta+SPT&partnum=74WR7KU31&vehicleSearch=true&fromCompare1=yes&autoMake=Pontiac&autoYear=2001&autoModel=Trans%20Am%20WS6&autoModClar=">http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Kumho&tireModel=Ecsta+SPT&partnum=74WR7KU31&vehicleSearch=true&fromCompare1=yes&autoMake=Pontiac&autoYear=2001&autoModel=Trans%20Am%20WS6&autoModClar=</a><!-- m -->


At this point I think my options are either

1. buy Sumitomo HTR Z III's online
or
2. buy Kumho Ecsta SPT's from my local guy

[Dave]

I don't understand; if you're saving big bucks and getting what you want by ordering online, why would you compromise? If he won't install a tire that didn't come from him, it's time to find somebody who WILL work with you.

[TorinoCobra070]

I don't understand; if you're saving big bucks and getting what you want by ordering online, why would you compromise? If he won't install a tire that didn't come from him, it's time to find somebody who WILL work with you.

No, he will install whatever I bring to him. He just doesn't have a supplier for Sumitomo so I would have to buy those online. Anyway, I've got a thread going on LS1tech now and I'm getting a ton of feedback, so I should be good to go :thumbup:

[Jake]

Just order what you want from TireRack and have them shipped directly to your guy's shop. Problem solved!

[Dave]

I'm shopping for new tires for the truck, and have run into a bit of a dilemma regarding going for passenger vs. light truck tires. The truck mainly sees light commuting, occasional off-road (and the go-to vehicle for snow), and towing a single-car hitch-mount trailer. No crazy gooseneck loads or anything heavy like a tractor/dozer. I'm either getting Bridgestone Dueler A/T Revo 2 and Michelin LTX A/T 2 tires.

The passenger tire versions of these have max loads of 2601 lbs (load index 114), versus the truck tire version being 3415 lbs (123/129 load index). Other ratings and necessary info are near identical across the board, certainly nothing to make the decision for me.
The big question for this debate is cost. The difference between the passenger vs. LT tire is about $50 each. I don't mind spending the extra money if it's going to be noticeable in my use, but I personally don't think it will (and therefore wasted money).

Any advice from you guys with trucks that tow? Are you just running normal 4-ply passenger tires, or gone up to heavier duty truck tires? Please give input on why you opted to go the way you did.

[PDenbigh]

I tow with the origional Revos. Those things are the bomb. Great wet traction, great dry traction, and moved me all over the place during last year's snowpockylipse. I'm sad that the Revo 2's are less off-road worthy and I don't know where I'm going to go next. But, the origionals were great for my purposes. No, they didn't wear 60k miles, but the stuff they've gotten me out of paid for the lack of wear.

They tow just fine too. I have the higher load rated ones. If you feel you'll be doing less off-road stuff than me, I think you'd like the Revo 2s.

I think the LT versions wear better, so they might pay for themselves in that regard. They can take high psi - 60+, which will benefit the MPG at the cost of ride comfort.

[Maengelito]

just another data point for this thread:

I've got about 1k miles on my Falken 912's on the Forester. They were so-so in the 4ish inches of snow that we got today. I'm not sure if I'm just spoiled by the dedicated snow tires I had last year or what but I wasn't really impressed. I got around okay though and they're passable but they just didn't inspire the confidence I had from my old snow tires I used to have.

[CaptainHenreh]

Maeng. :evileye: