RexDaddy

I had to buy new tires. Went to TireRack and bought a set of Sumitomos. Guy put them on, balanced them, got an alignment done (I was due), and off I went.

Thought the car was coming apart! Swore the transmission was about to crap out! Sounded like the differential was getting ready to give birth! Granted, my car had 120K on it, but I've this car has had TLC from day one. I have the bills to show for it!

Turns out, these Sumitomos are the noisiest thing on the road. Mechanic rotated them and subtle differences occurred. It took a flat to prove it. Bought two front tires, Yokohamas, and all of the sudden you could hear yourself think again! Rotated the Sumitomos to the front and it was like rhinos in heat!

Bought two more Yokohamas and all is quiet. My auto anxiety is back to normal and all is well.

Just a cautionary tale. If you've bought Sumitomos and had good luck with them, more power to you.

ABP UA6

iTrader: (13)

That's why you do proper research, man. Everywhere you look, those shitty tires are poorly rated.

3GTLCHICK

My Sumitomo tires are awesome.

VisualEchos

iTrader: (1)

The original Sumitomo HTR-Z was a fantastic tire for the money, being truly a Dunlop product, but less expensive. I can't speak for the rest of their tires, but I've heard they have gone downhill after the deal with Goodyear in 1997.

Not sure which tire you bought, but I haven't seen a Sumitomo in the top 10 tires on tirerack for a while now, so you got what you got. Next time you'll know better .

Make sure when you're shopping for tires that when you find one you like, click the "see all results for ........... tires" link, it's worth its weight in gold.

3GTLCHICK

HtrzIII is an awesome tire. I only have problems with the rears...my old Ingalls camber/toe links caused every set I had wear out on the inside. Not the fault of the tire. The tire itself is worth every penny.

Jakes_tl

I had a brand new set of Sumitomos that i put on my IS300 and that was the last set I will ever buy - like OP said they are super loud and I was not impressed with the wear on them.

Sumitomos

VisualEchos

iTrader: (1)

It might be helpful if you guys would list the exact model of Sumitomo tire you're unhappy with.

MrHeeltoe

iTrader: (1)

I've been using Sumitomo HTR-Z tires since the late 90s. I've had the 1s, 2s, and 3s. They have all been fantastic with predictable handling, great wet weather performance, withstand high temps well, and ARE NOT NOISY.

That is not to say all Sumitomos are fantastic, but the thread title here is woefully generalized and misleading. What model of tire are you using?

UA7NBP_616

sumitomo tires are garbage you get what you pay for terrible compound and noise level is way higher than compared to lower quality tires like general

Jackass

Sooo with the logic in many of these posts....Michelin tires also must be garbage. I had a set installed once and they wore fast and were extremely loud. Never again!!

Oh wait...I have another set of Michelin tires (MXM4 vs PS+) on my car now and they are great.

As stated already, more details on which model/series would be more useful to the discussion here. I for sure am a believer in the "you get what you pay for" saying especially when it comes to tires. But I find it unlikely that all Sumitomo tires are horrible.

VisualEchos

iTrader: (1)

OP is a troll, 4 posts and hasn't been back. Delete.

flyromeo3

I had a set of summer sumitomos on my S4. I think I was happier that it got shredded when I had flat which gave me a good excuse to buy 4 new sets of toyo proxies.