smorris

Wore out my sumitomo II's and switched up to the III's...
Funny though, I like the II's better for track days, seem to have less tread squirm than the III's...
anyone else think the same?


"Absolutely love my Sumi's, and at less than 1/2 the price, I'll take 85% of the performance"

Amen! and no one on more expensive tires was passing me!

immyj

Not a fan of the ones I just got a month ago, either. (Shhh, they're great!)

Chris996

Sumitomo's do have a marking on side wall "N 013", not sure what it is. The N rated is for USA sold tires only.

I never liked the profile of the PS2s they look like balloon tires, but I liked the Pilot Rib which I could not find 295/30/18.

Sneaky Pete

Chris- Pretty sure that the 'N' on the tire is just some numbering system from Sumi. The 'N' actually comes from Porsche. What I would like to know is what does the 'N' stand for........is it short for a word? How did Porsche come up with using the letter 'N'?

PasPar2

I was all set to get the hankook ventus v12's until I read this thread... now Im torn again...

desidon

Used em on the 4S at VIR a few weeks ago. Felt good!!

ivangene

where do you drive the car? any track days?

if NO track days or 1/yr.... the Sumi's are your ticket - swear, they are great !

if more track days, I would look hard at other choices, mine started to be a weak link with more days....

PasPar2

Drive in NYC. Never tracked but might do it this yr... Dont really drive much in the winter but do take it out in the rain (yes.. I said it.) Read that the hankooks are better in the wet so I was leaning that way.

frisbee91

+1 for the Sumitomo HTR Z 3's being a great value. My C2 Cab is a daily driver, and I am very happy with the Sumi's.

soverystout

I was just on the Tirerack site.

If you compare the Conti 2s and the Sumis HTR Z IIIs in 295/30ZR18 you will see that the Contis are 6 pounds heavier! 36lbs compared to 30lbs for the Sumis.

Not sure if I love that or it makes me nervous. Nice unsprung weight change but do the N spec tires have some type of reinforcement requirement that would substantiate the weight increase. Continental is usually on the light side when It comes to weight.

rpm's S2

According to Adrian Streather in his 996 book the N rating is applied to tires that are specifically designed for rear engined Porsches. Supposedly they have a different construction composition to compensate for the rear weight bias of the car.

I have no idea if this is true or not.

Several tire gurus have told me that N rating is overrated - more marketing than actual performance.

Optical TDI

I wonder what the load rating is for the rear Sumi's? Apparently that's important due to the rear weight bias.

ivangene

get the Sumi's - they are excellent, I live in Seattle where we have a bit of rain now and again

Loved them on the 996 for DD and inclement weather

Optical TDI

Just checked and the sumis have a higher rear load rating than the PS2s.

RallyJon

Actually, they don't: 1477 lbs. (94) for the Sumis, 1653 lbs. (98) for the PS2s. The HTR-Z III is not an "XL" tire in that size.

There are a few other anomalies: the HTR-Z III weighs 30lbs in 295-30-18, but only 27lbs in 285-30-18. But, the smaller size is an XL tire and has a higher load rating (1609 lbs/97).