Craxis

Hello,

I am looking to replace the stock RE030 tires on my newly purchased 2000 GS400. Does anyone have any experience running the Sumitomo HTR+ (235/45-17) on their GS? The reviews up on Tirerack look pretty good, just curious as to other GS owners experiences with this tire.

Thanks!

JYOO

Congrats on the purchase, i dont have any exp with that tire, but im sure its good. I replaced mine with Kumho's and they have been just great so far, I live in WA too and they are great in the rain.

Craxis

Thanks Jyoo.

Which model of Kumho are you using? I live in Redmond, so we have the same concerns for driving conditions. Mainly rainy and wet roads, not too much ice or snow to worry about. I was thinking that all-season tires would be the best choice, but the three Kumho's I see on tirerack don't appear to be all season. I am new to the sport sedan world, so performance tires are a learning experience for me at the moment.

JYOO

I got the ecsta 712's. I think they were the cheapest too. Its not the highest dry cond. performance tire, but if u wanted to spend big bucks on tires, u might as well get the rims too. But yes ive had these tires since sept or oct, i dont remember but they have been great so far.

alexus

iTrader: (1)

i placed an order for same tires from tirerack but then i saw someone was selling same tires on ebay so i got 'em off of ebay so far no complains.. on 20mph they a bit noisy but other then that they are great..

silky

I'm putting Sumi HTR+ on new 17" OEM wheels this Monday--based on Tirerack's reports of their quiet and smooth ride--my first concern. I'm sure they'll feel great while they're new but I'll post my impressions after a few thousand miles. I get the impression that it is a good selling tire.

RNM GS3

I have these tires on my 18in rims, and so far they are pretty good, but i only had them on for a couple of months. I got them because they are all season tires, Z rated, have great thread life, and very good price.

Sam Khoury

I'm strongly considering these tires to put on my 18" rims after the winter is over so I'm looking to get them sometime in March. Tire Rack did a test of them against the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S and Pirelli P7000 SuperSport on an IS300 and they came in second place after the Michelins. Here's a link.

Sumitomo HTR+ Ultra High Performance All-Season Tires

But when you factor in cost, you can beat them. The deciding factor for me will be tread life. I wish you could compare the UTQG ratings across manufacturers but since each manufacturer uses a different control tire, you can't compare a rating from one manufacturer to another. I'm keeping an eye on the customers ratings on Tire Rack since that's an average rating from people that purchased them and since they haven't been out that long, not that many people have rated them yet, at least not as many as the Michelin. I'll also be bothering RNM GS3 again in 2 months to find out how his Sumitomos are holding up.

Hey Alexus, when you said you had the tires, were you referring to the Kumho's or the Sumitomo's? If they were the Sumitomo's, what size did you get? I think you had the stock 17" rims on your car when I saw it at the meet but I'm not 100% sure.

Neo

iTrader: (3)

I have a buddy who is also putting these soon on his SC with the same Lexus wheels Sam has. I will bug him periodically to see how he likes the tires. I will need new tires in a few months and the info from current owners of this tire will be useful.

alexus

iTrader: (1)

i was refering to sumitomo's... and yes i got 17" rims so i got 17" sumitomo's and i'm drivin 'em durin winter.. they really suck when it was snowing but then again mine is HTR not HTR+ they was not designed to drive in snow period.. so i guess its ok .. so far i have no complains .. other then when you drive about 20mph thats when you hear 'em the most.. other then that i think they are very good tires.. when its not snowing or raining when its nice and dry weather out there.. you should see me drivin car handels very nicely and tires helping there a lot i wish if i had garage where i could store my winter tires and 3 season tires i'd rate them 5 out of 5 so far..

Sam Khoury

Thanks alexus. So do you have the HTR Z or the HTR Z II? They are both available in the stock 17" tire size 235/45R17

Sumitomo HTR Z at TireRack.com
Sumitomo HTR Z II at TireRack.com

silky

I've had the HTR+ now for a few days and am mildly disappointed that the ride is not as smooth as I had hoped. I still "feel" most irregularities in the road--I was hoping for a more muffled sensation. I haven't noticed tire noise--ie. whining at high speed. They feel very solid at speed and cornering-especially on smooth surfaces. I just wish I was not so aware of dings on the pavement--maybe I'm too sensitized at this time since that was my main beef with my old tires--too "harsh"

FYI--I have also bumped up to 17"oem rims(from 16"), which I really wanted, and I was warned that the ride would suffer as far as noise is concerned but that handling would improve--all of this is true. So, my black GS400 looks terrific now and handles better but I'm still too concious of road irregularities. I ask myself now if I should have tried the Yoko dbs and keep them balanced well.

Hope this helps.

alexus

iTrader: (1)

i think mine is just HTRZ i'll check it next time i'll go outside