MicVelo

Not sure I've ever actually seen pics of your car but either way yay/nay, BigBlue, it's Bitchin' (as Dave Kindig would say)!

BigBlue

iTrader: (4)

I was wondering if any of you had any experience with the Sumitomo HTRZ 3 tires? I was talking to a local tire shop about costs of potentially staying with the Hankook v12s that are on the car (had 2 sets of them and like 'em). He quoted out the door prices, but also recommend the Sumitomo for about $150+ less total; they are a Y speed rating like the Hankooks, good looking tire, looked at some pics of them on Tire Rack. I thought I'd check around for any good/bad comments of them.

travlee

iTrader: (8)

right before i got rid of my Z, i put the BFG sport comp 2's on it.... i really liked those, noticeably wider than the hankooks were (even though same sizes)

stogey420time

iTrader: (1)

I need new tires myself and ideally, I will buy any tires that's budget friendly. Also try and pick tires with beefy sidewalls and it must have a higher tread wear rating because I do not track my car so a harder compound rubber is a better fit for daily/street car.

As travlee mentioned, some tires have bulkier sidewalls than others even though they're the same size... so this factor might play into consideration when buying tires. Through personal experience, I know the Michelin PS2 and BFGoodrich KDW 2's have bulkier sidewalls than the Bridgestone RE11.

MicVelo

Yup. Me. Start by saying, "I love those tires, especially at the price point."

I replaced a set of aged Mushylin PS on my '03 pretty early on. My concern was buying this set of "budget tires" and losing all semblance of steering response and grip BUT the TR tests and reviews - which I take with grains of salt - were enough to give 'em a go.

Glad I did. I ran stock 18" sizes 225/245/45-18 until I switched up to a set of 19's with the great deal on the Volks I had. Put MAYBE 3-4k miles on 'em and my summary: BEST budget tire (and maybe one of the best of all) in terms of their razor sharp turn-in and overall grip rivaling (and beating) the Mushylins and even my current assortment of Bridgestone S-04s.

They DO NOT compare to my Yoko AD08Rs but.... they also cost less than half as much.

So do I recommend them?

Absolutely YES. And I'll buy 'em again.

Will add that that now they're a little noisy but nothing that's unmanageable (like the BFG KDWs that I literally GAVE AWAY to my buddy cuz they were SOOOOO BAD!) Heck, my B'stones are getting a little rough and noisy with low mileage on them too so whatevs....

Mic

BigBlue

iTrader: (4)

^ Thanks guys! Thanks Mic for the good info. and details! From what I read about these tires it seems that they put a lot of tech into the tread configuration and overall design.

The price of the HTRZ 3's is crazy low; like you said, 1/2+ difference in many cases. I'm not trying to go cheap; the Hankook V12s that are on the car are a very good price and I'd recommend them. If these others are even as good of a tire I think I just may lean that way! Thanks again for the tips and others feel free to chime in on what you think about all of this.

NiLL

I have your youtube video playing on repeat. Nothing more soothing then a MD exhaust while doing work =D

I need to get me one of those.

MicVelo

Ahhhhh, the Sumitomo HTRZ3's. IMO, best "budget" tire out there that rivals many of the "better" NON-budget tires. I honestly think they are tactically better than my Bridgestone S-04s. Much livelier and more responsive to steering input. (But I qualify that by saying that mine were stock sizes on light Track V1s comparing to the bigger, heavier 19" wheels and tires currently on my cars).

Keep us posted on your progressive opinions as they wear!

Love your car, Blue.... ranks in my Top 10 on the forum!

BigBlue

iTrader: (4)

I took a ride on this awesome morning and took a couple of pics:






*I'm loving these new tires too! Very impressed at high speed (smooth), cornering at a variety of speeds and just overall. Definitely recommend you guys give 'em a shot!

BigBlue

iTrader: (4)

I took a little spin today with my gopro camera. I have the Hero 2 model and I used the "skeleton door" as recommended to help with wind noise; added some sponge material in back of it also from a diy vid. Unfortunately the wind noise kills the exhaust and engine sound that I wanted to show.

I was taking it pretty easy at first on the semi-steep uphill but still got on it some; sounds like a roller coaster. It's a back road that goes from St. George, Ut. to Vegas (car is heading West; other side of those mts. is Nevada). Not a great video, but the car sounds pretty good at low speed/stop anyway. *I hit some good speed up on top where it flattens out and "open road". I edited it down to what it is so I hope that you like it ok! Camera was mounted in front of rear view mirror and just below the "squirter" on hatch window. Yeah, the wind noise kind of ruins it, but here goes:

HRMoneyPit

I've still been trying to perfect recording without wind noise. Idk how these YouTube people do it

Conway_160

iTrader: (1)

You need to get an external mic, and put it in the cabin/trunk/engine bay. I used a computer mic with mine and it made a world of difference.

Juztin

iTrader: (9)

Perfect roads to have a fast car, looks like some awesome scenery and drive.

Ruthless18x

iTrader: (59)

Looks great.

Conway_160

iTrader: (1)

This is with a $5 computer mic taped to the rear bumper above the license plate which is why you hear wind noise.

Same mic but in the trunk so no wind noise but sound is muffled.

No editing has been done its all raw footage.

BigBlue

iTrader: (4)

Thanks Conway! If you go to pg. 1 of this thread; post #14 I did a hard accel. vid with same camera mounted just below the rear license plate and it has the solid exhaust sound I was hoping for that day. I just played it and no wind noise. Maybe because it was mounted so low on the back side protected it from wind, don't know. Check it out just to see what I mean.

Yeah, your vid of mike inside was night/day difference. I was hoping to get some good front facing vid without the wind noise blanking out engine at work sound. I thought the rear facing would be fine since I did it before, but being mounted higher this time changed that.

HRMoneyPit

Opposite side would have had better lighting no?

HRMoneyPit

Blacked out the headlights housings and it'll keep the theme you have going

HRMoneyPit

Million times better in good light

Depravity

iTrader: (3)

BigBlue, are you on facebook? Join the HR/VHR group and showoff some pics there