I've had these Sumitomo HTR+ for about 5000 miles now and the driver side front tire is developing a bubble! I don't drive my TL-S particularly hard. It's gotta be the bitter cold causing it. Anybody know if the warranty will cover it? I bought these at Tire Rack. The problem is, I don't have to receipt anymore. Do you guys think they will still give me a replacement?

axleback

 

? try calling tire rack there usualy pretty good

 

OH NO!! I hope that is not typical of Sumi tires. I've had mine for a few weeks and the last thing I want to see are bubbles. :wow:

 

Just got off the phone with TireRack and they consider this kind of bubbling as "Road Hazard" which is one of the outlined warranty exclusions. This sucks man. I've driven many cars before and ran through countless potholes but never had a tire bubble on me like this. Since my other Sumis are still so new, I'm stuck with getting another Sumi as a replacement. But I will definitely go away from it when it's time to replace all 4 tires.

axleback

 

if it makes u feel anybetter i nailed a pothole with my oem tires and developed a bubble. This gave me an excuse to replace the ****ty michelins with sumis. I usually make sure to avoid that lane when im driving and once again i hit that same f'ing pothole (only now its even worse due to the weather) and nothing happend. I doubt the sumis will give u problems like that.

 

I was also a victim of bubbling my stock Michelins. If I ever bubble the Sumitomos, I'll still buy'em as a replacement. They're a cheap alternative. Better and quieter than stock.

 

Well, my replacement tire is here. It's actually a ***** to get a cheap place to mount and balance our tires. Some places claimed that their equipment is not sophisticated enough to handle our wheel size. Finally found a place that would do it for $14/tire. Just Tires is a rip off. They quoted me $25/tire.

axleback

 

ive got 20000 miles on mine now and the only thing thats wrong is i beat them and there about 1/2 gone on tread

 

hey my stock michelins only lasted 15,000 miles

I still have Michelins on the rear (the ones that were worn less) and put Sumitomos on the front.

I have noticed that on very smooth freshly paved asphalt they howl at 80-90 mph.



hey, on http://www.discounttiredirect.com, they have Falken Falken Azenis ST115 that seem to be nicely priced, comparable to Sumitomo prices.
Falken Azenis ST115

I also found a favorable review:
Review

Has anyone tried these?

 

I called my dealership and they quoted me $49.95 to mount all four tires. That's not bad at all - you may want to call your local dealership.

 

I just looked at my front right tire and saw a nice bulge in the sidewall. I hate NYC roads. I hope this is a fluke and not an indication that the Sumi's are very bubble prone!!!