Falcondrivr

In many of the tire threads I've been a big fan of the Dunlop Star specs. I've had them for a out 4 years. The grip is fantastic wet and dry. My only complaint would be the wear rating (200) is a bit low with aggressive camber settings.
Since I made the switch to Hoosiers for track duty, I've been toying with the idea of getting a cheaper tire for street duty. That way when my camber setting wears out the insides, it's a little less painful to replace. The Dunlops have increased in price to where it's about $1,100 for a set.
After reading many threads about them, I purchased the sumitomos (HTRZIII) about 10 days ago. I got all 4 for $830 installed. Sizes 225/40 & 285/30, mounted on MY'02s.
I can feel the difference in grip from the Dunlops. I can't quantify it, as street duty doesn't lend itself to limit testing. But the car feels just a little less planted when pushed. However, this is completely overcome by the increase in ride quality. I live in an area with lots of old brick streets. The difference in ride is shocking. The car is so much more compliant on sharp bumps around town. I didn't realize how bad the Dunlops were on this.
For daily driver duty, these tires are fantastic.

nile13

Couple comments. One - I'm not sure why you are running 30s instead of 35s on the rear of teh car. Second - Dunlop has not increased StarSpec prices. TireRack did after they monopolized StarSpecs and got exclusivity from Dunlop. So now StarSpecs Z1s are pretty close to being completely priced out.

drh

I've had PS2s and PZeros prior to cheaping out and buying a set of Sumitomos. For daily driving, long road trips and rainy weather here in the PNW, I believe they are excellent tires and won't hesitate to buy another set.

Not as quiet as the PS2s but definately more quiet than the PZeros.

My $0.02

ABCar

Two seasons on the Sumi IIIs...and really like them. I have never had PS2s and know these are a superior tire but the Sumis wear well, handle well and I am ready for another set soon. According to Damon at the Tire Rack the Sumi's are 90% of the PS2s at half the price. He sells alot of the to Porsche guys.

bart1

I had some Sumis on both cars and they were pretty good. Since the new PSS is less than $1k for a set of 18s though, I imagine I'll be runnning them for the forseeable future (with the next tire change probably over a year away, it may change by then).

cabrio993

I'm still very pleased with my Sumi III's. They have a great value for what you get, and good balance between performance and ride quality.

tarbender

Good timing on this post. I was debating on which tire to buy for my new 18" rims and have now decided on the Sumi IIIs. Will report on them after I put them on next spring. Its going to be a long winter.

pkrasusky

Agreed, for a car / user eating thru sets @ such rate - going the non Big Name route has always made best sense for me. At one point last year between my 4 cars I needed something like 14 tires (and 37qts of oil d'oh). Fme.

$ no object? I'd spend the crink and get the better tire. PSS's FTMFW 8-)

The Sumi's or comparable CUMho's are really great alt's, but comprise elsewhere (to varying degrees in different examples).

I schmooooked thru my Sumi III's on my //S8... mostly the LF from hard cornering and the front inners from aggressive camber. Still liked them tho - nearly zero sidewall roll, immense grip, predictable limits.

Both my CUMho Ecsta XS (fantastically gooey tire!) and my Sumi III's flatspotted like no tomorrow - thudthudthudthud!!!

My Kumho's were absurdly noisy on the 930 (think about that - an already noisy car, yet the tire hum was annoying w/ windows up). The fronts held up damn well considering I'd DE'd & Dragon'd them, but the rears were decmiated quicklike - 2800lb / 330rwtq nomnomnom'd them good.

I didn't care tho - those Kumho's rocked for grip.

Sigh, just put snows back on the 600 w/ 2 coming off showing cord and entirely slick - whoops. And the 993 enters winter knowing spring will demand rear slicks be addressed - can't just go 2 tho, they're S03's so might as well toss the fronts too... how many years since they've made those lol.

Tread here cowers in fear and recoils in horror @ the daily onslaught it's destiny mandates... bazillions of torques, tonnage of weight, or rear enginedness...

Tread is also hopeless considering my commute - the 3 ramps to/from my orifice, sometimes 2x / day muwhahahaa (I think the Picasa-esque fronwy face it looks like is what my tires are thinking, while I say turn that frown upside down heh heh) - in some sections you can even see the rubber laid down:

Shtootgart

Have the Sumi's from Pzero's and loving them so far.

hn

I am not sure about this but I think after a few years, I can feel the ride on the Sumi get harsh when the temp is low, at least until they get warmed up. May be this is commom for low priced tires? or may be all tires? Again, I am not sure because I only drive the car once a week but it was enough for me to soften the pss9 one notch.

Greg Bell

I'd used Conti Sports Contact 2 since I got the car nearly 10 years ago. Continental decided to stop making them in a 17" size for the 993. After a lot of reasearch I bought a set of Sumi III's prior to a big trip earlier in the year. I did over 5k miles down the east coast of Australia, took the ferry to Tasmania, did a loop then drove back. Could not be happier - wish Continental had stopped making the tyres years ago.
Grip is about the same but the ride is quieter and a LOT smoother. My next set of tyres will be the same.

Edward

Somewhat OT, but I am wondering if any here have done a comparo between the Sumi IIIs and the Hankook V12s and can comment between these two choices (being like-priced, and all)?

Edward

ehanauer

I moved from Michelins to Sumis on my 06 Boxster and frankly couldn't feel any difference. Except in my bank account.

When the tires on my 993 get down to the wear bars, I'm going with Sumis.

C2Cab95

I can't comment on the Sumis... but I am currently running the Hankooks. They took 2-300 miles to break in and feel sure-footed, but still not great. I'm still not as happy with them as I was with the Dunlop SP 9000s I had previously. I'm going to be trying the Sumis on the next go-around. Don't get me wrong, the Hankooks are a great tire for the money, and if the Sumis weren't out there, and having read previous comments in other threads praising the Sumis, I'd most likely be purchasing the Hankooks again.

chaoscreature

Funny, I went the opposite route. I ran Sumi's for the first 3 years of 993 ownership and then switched to Star Specs for improved grip and track longevity. The Sumis are superior street tires in my opinion where you will not drive them hard enough to get them greasy. The Dunlops have a softer sidewall feel to them and made the car more "squirmy",
OT, but I also put Dunlop DZ101 tires on my Jetta (300 treadwear) and again the sidewalls feel very soft and the car feels "squirmier" despite having better ultimate grip than the OEM tires.