Sam Khoury

I'm trying to decide between Michelin Pilot Sport A/S or Sumitomo HTR+. These are the only 2 tires I'm considering for the size that I need, 245/40R18. If money was no object, Michelin is the obvious choice. But when money is factored into the equation, the Michelin is almost double the cost of the Sumitomo, $262 vs $133. The following tire test results on TireRack.com made me considered the Sumitomo's.

Sumitomo HTR+ Ultra High Performance All Season Tires Test Results
Sumitomo HTR+ Ultra High Performance All Season Tires Test Result Graphs/Charts

After comparing the survey results for both tires, that made me give consideration to the Sumitomo's also.

Sumitomo HTR+ Survey Results
Michelin Pilot Sport A/S

Do you think the Michelin's are worth the extra cost?

Oh by the way, I work for Sumitomo Mitsui Bank in NY, so I should probably consider the Sumitomo tires for that reason also...lol. I don't think I can get a discount on them from Japan...lol.

alexulan

I just got a set of Kumho's Supra
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Sizes....CSTA+Supra+712

Kumho S712 275/35WR18 $158.00
Kumho S712 245/40WR18 $128.00
Kumho S712 275/35WR18 $158.00
Kumho S712 245/40WR18 $128.00
UPS Ground $ 36.94
Tax $ 0
TOTAL $608.94

+ Allignement on All 4 corners.

I'm very happy.
Kumhos are very sticky good traction.
They are quite. A lot more so then the Dunlop sp9000
Bang for the buck is out of this world.

Sam Khoury

alexulan, that is a great deal.

I guess I should have mentioned that I'm only considering ultra high performance all season tires since I live in NY which limited my choice to those Michelin's and Sumitomo's plus the Dunlop SP Sport 5000A DSST and Yokohama AVS dB. The Dunlops were more expensive than the Michelin's and they just came out so there isn't really any opinions on them yet. The Yokos are an older model tire that didn't have such good survey results and the guy I spoke to from Tirerack wouldn't recommend them.

chowder

i went thru a similar experience. i figured the pilot a/s couldn't be 2x as good as the kuhmo ecsta's -- as their price implied. i bought the kuhmos and after 500 mi, went crawling back to my tire guy for the pilot a/s. luckily we worked it out so i wasn't reamed for switching. 7k on my pilot a/s. they are fabulous.
you'll never know unless u try the sumi's. but be ready for the consequences.
one additional thing i like to do is read the reviews from the actual buyers about their tires. i like to see what people who have heavy powerful cars like the gs think.

GS4Will

it is hard to comapre as the price gap is too big....sumis are great value..michelins are good if budget is not a concern

alexulan

Chowder, you were apparantly very unhappy with the Kuhmos.
WHY? I'm very happy so far.
Previous tires were the SP9000 Dunlops.
I know you can't beat the Pilots. In respects of performance.
What was so bad with your Kuhmos?

chowder

Biggest complaints were:
1) Lumpy on startup; especially cooler mornings. Took a while to warm them up and smooth them out.
2) VSC traction control engaged a lot for me those first few weeks (rain or shine, launch or cornering). I hoped it would diminish as I broke in the tires, but it didn't.
3) Turn-in response was far from sharp.
On the highway, they were fine enough, but all in all, I didn't feel I had taken a step up from the stock RE030's, and that was my aim.
I was between the S03, Proxes T1-S, and Ecsta 712's when I was shopping initially. When I concluded the 712's were unsatisfying (after few wks), my tire guy recommended the A/S -- I was unaware of them -- and because of the treadwear rating I bit. I have owned Dunlop, Pirelli, Bridgestone -- but never Michelin; I figured what the heck.
Months down the line, A/S are not exhibiting any of the problems above; moreover, they are noticeably more resistant to tramlining.

kvoman

Sam -

If you're only consider all season ultra high performance tires, have you looked at the BFG KDWS? May be worth a look. Don't know if they have the size you're looking for but I just got a set of 17's. Check out my other thread in this forum.

Sam Khoury

I've heard good things over the years about BFG but they don't make those in my size. I think I'm going to get the Michelins and not sacrifice performance.

kvoman

Sam -

Sounds good, those Michelins look very aggressive. Did you see these BFG KDWS at tirerack.com? Would these be an acceptable substitute for the price?

235/50WR18 $89
245/55WR18 $90

Sam Khoury

kvoman, the BFG KDWS are a great deal for the money but neither one of those 18" sizes will work for me. They need to be 245/40R18 to maintain the same overall diameter as the stock tires. Those other sizes will deviate too much from the stock tire diameter. Thanks for looking out.

schu

Get the Michelins. A year ago I had a flat tire on my 300ZX. NTB did not have a tire that matched the others (don't remember what they were) so sold me two Yokohama Avids for the rear. I noticed the difference on the way home.

To make a long (and mostly forgotten) story short, I ended up replacing all four tires with the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S. Huge difference in handling. It felt like a car again. Car feels like it has a relationship with the road.

Get the Michelins.

RNM GS3

I have the Sumitomo HTR+ in 245/40/18. So far I like them a lot.

Very quiet, good performance, and great price. Sometimes the ride is even better with my 18in wheels/tires than my 16in.

LVgs400

Don't get the sumitomos!! I had the same tire and had the WORST vibration. I had them rebalance the tires 3 times, and it still didn't go away. I did end up putting on the Michelins and it felt MUCH better. I know there are alot of good brands of tires out there, but I would stay away from Sumitomos on our cars.