Sumitomo HTR Z III First impression

Well I only have 50 miles on them, but I thought I would give my first impressions of them, and update this as I get some more mileage on them. Some background, I have stock 18's and just came off the stock Protenza RE040's. I went with 245/40/18's all around.

First the looks, I love them. I wasn't sure, I didn't know if they would look aggressive enough for my taste, but the tread design despite the pictures looks better in person. I thought I would prefer having the rim protector edge like the protenzas, but I like them without it. Going with the 245 was the best decision I made, the extra width took away that cupping side wall look that you get with the protenzas, where it appears they are narrower then the rim. No rubbing so far, and others have the same setup and have had no rubbing. They also fill the wheel wells much better then the factory tires. I have stock ride height, but have drag bags, and I was getting tired of the gap. With the new tires I am more then happy, it really gives the impression that the wheel wells are filled up.

Ride quality. I can only comment on noise and comfort as I am waiting about 500 miles before I unleash on them. They are near silent, no different then the factory tires. Ride comfort seems much better then the protenzas. Keep in mind I was on the wear bars when I traded up so that may have something to do with it. I would say the sumitomos have a softer sidewall due to them not having the rim protector and that along with full tread make them feel like a nice soft ride. I'll update with how it feels cornering in the near future.

Lots of tire on the ground for a 245. I don't know the numbers on the 235 protenzas, but I read somewhere the 245 sumi's had 9.1 inches on the ground, closer to a 255 in most brands, they look and feel much wider then the protenzas. I can't wait to go from a dig and see how they feel.

All in all I'm really excited about these new tires, I was scared out of my mind to buy a 112 dollar tire, but all the good reviews and happy customers pushed me to do it, and saving 400 bucks I can put towards my brakes makes me happy! Don't hesitate to buy these tires for a daily driver!

Scott

So far so good, I couldn't help but do a little traction test the other day. After driving for about 50 miles and it being a warm day I stopped on a dead country road and held it at 3k as I let out the clutch, just a bark and she took off. Gave it another go at 3500 and could clearly see my tail lights next to me. So its safe to say the sweet spot is less then 3500 rpms! LOL

This really means nothing seeing how subjective hole shots are with a manual, but I would never have raced from a dig at 3k with my old tires so I would imagine I could cut a better 60' with these new tires. I'm still wearing off the slime so they should get a bit better if it doesn't get too cold out by that time.

Other then wear rate "too early to say" I have to give these a big thumbs up, with price only being one up side to these tires. I'm not much for the corners so I don't know that I can compare them to the RE040's, I try my best to save tread where I can "in the corners" and slow down prior to turning. I would guess they are on par, but I'm sure they have a softer side wall.

Anyone else that can comment on traction out of the hole with these? They have a 300 tread ware rating on them, and smell really nice when you smoke them

Scott