Sumitomo HTRZ II Tires??
Too much! My take; I own a world class sports car, the last thing I'm going to do is start cutting corners when it comes to my baby. I buy quality parts, and I've never been disappointed. Furthermore, when I'm going through the traps at 140 mph or taking off ramps at 75 mph, I want to know that my car is solid ,not held together with zip ties, hacked out parts in the crossmembers, bob's brake rotors, or cheap tires. 
It's nice to see another person who appreciates a world class sports car.
Bounty,
I owned a 68 C3 for almost 22 years and even though I paid only $5000 for it, I respected its performance capability enough to buy Bilsteins, Vette Brakes fiberglass leaf springs, and the best tires I could find. The price you pay for a car means little; if it was designed to use high-quality parts, then that's what it should always have, at least in my book.
Bounty,
I owned a 68 C3 for almost 22 years and even though I paid only $5000 for it, I respected its performance capability enough to buy Bilsteins, Vette Brakes fiberglass leaf springs, and the best tires I could find. The price you pay for a car means little; if it was designed to use high-quality parts, then that's what it should always have, at least in my book.
That being said there are several points to clarify so as not to cloud the issue for those actually seeking input on Sumitomo's on a Vette:
1. No one but Dave68 has EVER mentioned brake components, fluids/lubricants, etc in this thread as a point of comparison or expressed an opinion in those products for a cost/value analyis.
2. I'm not 16...not even 30 yet...but feel blessed to have a genuine American sports car but have no delusions that cost alone is a a direct correlation to ability, performance, or quality.
3. Some continually harp on the Sumitomo's price as a sign it's somehow an inferior product. Dave68 himself says "I think it's clear that ANYTHING will be an improvement (as far as ride quality and perhaps, noise) over the OEM runflats." This is true. He's upgrading the tires over the OEM runflats. So why is he to be criticized for improving the vehicle? Should he be chastised for only making a $400 improvement versus a $1200 one?

Finally, Dave68 I am truly happy for you if you can afford only the best and most expensive products made. Not everyone can, however. Some people need to make compromises in all out performance for cost factors. His original question was whether or not the Sumitomo's had been used by anyone and their opinions of the tire. He's making an improvement over stock and he's doing it an amount he can afford. Smart buyer, not "really sad" Corvette owner, is how I see him.
I also agree with Dave68's point that the lowest price option is not always the best...just like the most expensive isn't either. Heaven forbid I'm ever really sick or in jail you can bet your *** I'm not going to look for the cheapest doctor or lawyer, but the best. But in this case he is getting an excellent quality product with a superb cost factor and improving the vehicle over the OEM specifications to boot. Again, I respect everyone's opinion who posted here and realize that people approach modifications from different perspectives...
Not one of us stated we would use "inferior" components or lubricant. I did state that in spite of the "reasonable" price for the Japanese made Sumitomo's they work (at least version III) for me on track and on the street. Your statements try to combine "low cost equals lesser/inferior products" which is not accurate in many instances. Taking this at face value, using highest price as an indicator of "best", we should actually shod our car with the GoodYear runflats as they are very, very expensive. We both know the truth in that instance don't we?
Pleased that you want to pamper your vehicle with only the highest cost components which is a great choice -- for you. I too typically use the higher end (best?) component for the application and do pay for it. An example would be using Carbotech or PFC pads which can be expensive but work well in my application. Regardless, I don't use the most expensive racing brake fluid because it makes no sense for me to do so. ATE blue works just fine but certainly doesn't have the highest range of boiling points or is it considered the "best" product available nor is it outrageously expensive.
Demanding someone use "Monroe shocks, Ebay rotors, and WalMart sythetic oil" is not part of this discussion and is just plain childish simply because you are absolutely convinced to the contrary. But, we do purchase our Mobil1/Penzoil Platinum at WalMart because it makes good sense to strech our maintenance dollar. This allows me to justify more expensive components for the car especially when no other alternative exists and is critical to the specific application.
Sorry this basically jumped beyond the original thread but your rant was not necessary. My original post wasn't intended to be critical of your purchase priorities, but instead was to let the guy posting the original question to see an alternative viewpoint not clouded by cost comparisons. And lucky131969, your post just plain makes no sense whatsoever. This is too long...
A1
What I love is the soapbox so many Corvette owners love to preach from about their $50K + cars.....yeah when it was new! And that hasn't been the case for at least 4 years...for those with 97 C5's that was 10 years ago! You do realize you can pick up a 1997 C5 for $17k right? That's less than a new Hyundai...
If he has nothing more than a daily driver and is satisfied with that then OEM or OEM replacement parts will be fine. Do you think the owner of a 97 or 98 daily driven Corvette is concerned how the parts will perform 10 years from now when the car is 20 years old? Do you think an owner looking to preserve this vehicle for the next ten years instead of enjoying it would even post this question? Think of the audience when you answer...
You had a bad experience with this tire on ANOTHER car and for that I am sorry. Original poster wanted info on this tire for his application and I think you can see the feedback is positive. If you haven't run this tire on these cars then your input is exceptionally limited. But to come out and bash a product as some have done because it's not as expensive as others is
You want to justify the Corvette Tax for your purchases go ahead, it's your money...

That being said there are several points to clarify so as not to cloud the issue for those actually seeking input on Sumitomo's on a Vette:
1. No one but Dave68 has EVER mentioned brake components, fluids/lubricants, etc in this thread as a point of comparison or expressed an opinion in those products for a cost/value analyis.
2. I'm not 16...not even 30 yet...but feel blessed to have a genuine American sports car but have no delusions that cost alone is a a direct correlation to ability, performance, or quality.
3. Some continually harp on the Sumitomo's price as a sign it's somehow an inferior product. Dave68 himself says "I think it's clear that ANYTHING will be an improvement (as far as ride quality and perhaps, noise) over the OEM runflats." This is true. He's upgrading the tires over the OEM runflats. So why is he to be criticized for improving the vehicle? Should he be chastised for only making a $400 improvement versus a $1200 one?

Finally, Dave68 I am truly happy for you if you can afford only the best and most expensive products made. Not everyone can, however. Some people need to make compromises in all out performance for cost factors. His original question was whether or not the Sumitomo's had been used by anyone and their opinions of the tire. He's making an improvement over stock and he's doing it an amount he can afford. Smart buyer, not "really sad" Corvette owner, is how I see him.
I also agree with Dave68's point that the lowest price option is not always the best...just like the most expensive isn't either. Heaven forbid I'm ever really sick or in jail you can bet your *** I'm not going to look for the cheapest doctor or lawyer, but the best. But in this case he is getting an excellent quality product with a superb cost factor and improving the vehicle over the OEM specifications to boot. Again, I respect everyone's opinion who posted here and realize that people approach modifications from different perspectives...
If you want to get raped and pay $1200 for OEM crappy tires be my guest.
Wal-Mart sells the same Mobil one you can get elsewhere cheaper so why would you get it anywhere else?
dave68 you make no sense and have contributed nothing but BS to this thread.
If you want to get raped and pay $1200 for OEM crappy tires be my guest.
Wal-Mart sells the same Mobil one you can get elsewhere cheaper so why would you get it anywhere else?
dave68 you make no sense and have contributed nothing but BS to this thread.


I never did see the cheapo tires come back. So if ya want to buy the name that's fine because that's all your getting. I've seen it first hand
Last edited by mvvette97; Oct 24, 2007 at 11:25 PM.
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
….after only 3000 miles (1998 Corvette)
--Review submitted: 2007-09-08
--Review submitted: 2007-08-29
--Review submitted: 2007-08-17
--Review submitted: 2007-08-08
I'm sorry that what appears to be a good buy, turns out to be a poor choice. But hey, Hyundais sold like hotcakes when they were first introduced to this country in the mid to late 80s. Those that bought them bragged about how much money they saved over a Toyota Corolla or Honda Civic. After 60,000 miles, many (if not all) of their engines were failing. Buy hey, the owners saved money by not buying car that was more expensive....or so they thought!
am i to late to get in on this one?
they look like an ok tire ill try them on the front. DR's on the back.

besides most (people) will never reach the full limits of there tire on the street and if you do your probably not driving within the law.
Dave68 - Do you get the corvette tax? I actually mean do you get the proceeds of the corvette tax that a lot of us owners pay? All you have done is bash what you think are cheap products. This thread was about tires and on more than one post you've talked about struts and oil. Go find another thread to pi$$ on. Dude asked a simple question about tires... alot of us tried to give our feed back but like a troll you just keep coming back to rag on these tires. I get that you had a bad set of them a few years back but let it go. You made your point in your first thread.
By the way, your evidence of how bad the Sumitomos are from tire rack is weak...at best. You posted 5 reviews. There were 594 reviews on that site. nice work on proving that 0.842% of reviewers disliked these tires. Let it go and lets not bicker about a set of cheap tires.
Dave68 - Do you get the corvette tax? I actually mean do you get the proceeds of the corvette tax that a lot of us owners pay? All you have done is bash what you think are cheap products. This thread was about tires and on more than one post you've talked about struts and oil. Go find another thread to pi$$ on. Dude asked a simple question about tires... alot of us tried to give our feed back but like a troll you just keep coming back to rag on these tires. I get that you had a bad set of them a few years back but let it go. You made your point in your first thread.
By the way, your evidence of how bad the Sumitomos are from tire rack is weak...at best. You posted 5 reviews. There were 594 reviews on that site. nice work on proving that 0.842% of reviewers disliked these tires. Let it go and lets not bicker about a set of cheap tires.
BTW, as long as someone confronts me here with derogatory statements, I will reply with a rebuttal. In essence, I am trying to warn others about these tires. As long as they know about the noise and wear issues (among others), I have no problem with their buying the tires anyway. It's their money and the final decision is theirs. But to make it sound like these tires represent a good value is deceptive, at best.
Dave
….after only 3000 miles (1998 Corvette)
…after 10,500 miles……
….after 18,000 miles…..
....after 1300 miles...
Many of the reviews mimicked my experience with Sumitomos - nice and quiet at first, but by 10,000 miles, the noise and out-of-balance condition made the tires very irritating.
I'm sorry that what appears to be a good buy, turns out to be a poor choice. But hey, Hyundais sold like hotcakes when they were first introduced to this country in the mid to late 80s. Those that bought them bragged about how much money they saved over a Toyota Corolla or Honda Civic. After 60,000 miles, many (if not all) of their engines were failing. Buy hey, the owners saved money by not buying car that was more expensive....or so they thought!
I don't care what we're talking about....there's bound to be somebody out there who isn't happy. Tire Rack has a crappy review for every single tire it has by at least one person. I try to look at the whole rather than the few. An average score, if you will. A lot liked this tire for the price, and when I need tires I will strongly consider them.
I had the same mindset earlier this year when I bought tires for my other car. Looked in Consumer Reports to see what the top tires were, then on Tire Rack to check reviews, and settled on the #3 tire in CR that was buckets cheaper than the other two.


BTW, as long as someone confronts me here with derogatory statements, I will reply with a rebuttal. In essence, I am trying to warn others about these tires. As long as they know about the noise and wear issues (among others), I have no problem with their buying the tires anyway. It's their money and the final decision is theirs. But to make it sound like these tires represent a good value is deceptive, at best.
Dave
I understand the idea of sampling but you still haven't done that. There are 594 reviews, not 15. Your sample needs to be representative of the population...not the 5 worst reviews you can find. I could go find 5 reviews that say these are the best tires in the world (this is why statistics can be used to prove ANYTHING-but that is a whole other issue). Come on man...you seem like a smart guy. I am suprised that you would take this angle.
I like my Sumiotomos, you don't...that's cool
)
I'm with you in that we've discussed this enough already.


I bought some elcheapo Rikan Raptors for the trans am over a year ago and they seem to be holding up very well and they only cost me 69 bucks each for 275/40/17. Hopefully these summitomo tires will do just as good. For the price I'll try it.













