ZR-1 Net Registry Forums - View Single Post

stedi · 10-21-2005

Hello Patton,

I have a 91 stock Z and I put on these tires about 5 months ago. Definitely the best bang for the buck but I do have a few issues. Before putting these on, I had Goodyear GSC. I noticed difference as soon as I changed.

First, ride is much smoother. To try to quantify the difference, it's as if the suspension setting was offset by one. The Sport ride setting with the Sumis became smoother, like the tour ride setting with the GSC on (not exactly but try to imterpolate). This however comes with a price. Sidewall is not as firm so it isn't as laterally stable. This means the car follows groves in roads much more and is not as stable in curves at high speeds.

Second, the imprint on the pavement is not as wide as the GSC. If you look closely at the picture posted above by Cuisinartvette, you'll see that the edge of the tire is not vert dirty. It does not contact pavement. You loose about Â½ to Â¾ inch on each side of the tire. This would be particularly noticeable after putting armor all on the tires and driving on a gravel road. Tire has that overinflated look. The 315 has about the same imprint as the GSC 275/40/17. I know you loose surface contact with pavement but tire stickiness makes up for that. Tire sticks like glue (160 threadwear) which is why they wear out faster than others. Did the 1/4 mile in low 13's with these babies. One thing that people should consider when talking about tire wear on these cars is that unless you pull smoke shows at every corner or drag once a week with it, odds are you will surpass the tire's recommended age before they wear out. Most people put very low miles annualy on these cars. Tires are typically good for about 5-7 years, then they start cracking inside the thread. As soon as they start cracking, tires loose their speed rating. ZR rated tires become NO rated tires and high speed driving may result in blowouts.

So in conclusion to my lengthy text: If you plan on slalom driving at high speeds, these are NOT the tires for you. But If you drive at speeds close to the speed limit, don't go crazy in curves and do a considerable amount of city driving on crack and pothole filled roads, these are A O.K. As far as thread life, a tire with a threadwear of 100 wears out twice as fast as one with a threadwear of 200. So if you compare it with a Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 with a threadwear of 280 and a price tag of 271, the Goodyear will last 1.75 times longer but costs 2.46 times more. And if you do low mileage, odds are you'll have to replace the goodyears before they wear out which reduces the 1.75 factor.

If you decide to buy them, or any other tire on tirerack for that matter, let me know, I may be able to save you a couple of bucks.

Hope this helped.
Steve

10-21-2005	#12
stedi Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Montreal, qc, Canada Posts: 13	Re: Tires: Sumitomo HTR Z Hello Patton, I have a 91 stock Z and I put on these tires about 5 months ago. Definitely the best bang for the buck but I do have a few issues. Before putting these on, I had Goodyear GSC. I noticed difference as soon as I changed. First, ride is much smoother. To try to quantify the difference, it's as if the suspension setting was offset by one. The Sport ride setting with the Sumis became smoother, like the tour ride setting with the GSC on (not exactly but try to imterpolate). This however comes with a price. Sidewall is not as firm so it isn't as laterally stable. This means the car follows groves in roads much more and is not as stable in curves at high speeds. Second, the imprint on the pavement is not as wide as the GSC. If you look closely at the picture posted above by Cuisinartvette, you'll see that the edge of the tire is not vert dirty. It does not contact pavement. You loose about Â½ to Â¾ inch on each side of the tire. This would be particularly noticeable after putting armor all on the tires and driving on a gravel road. Tire has that overinflated look. The 315 has about the same imprint as the GSC 275/40/17. I know you loose surface contact with pavement but tire stickiness makes up for that. Tire sticks like glue (160 threadwear) which is why they wear out faster than others. Did the 1/4 mile in low 13's with these babies. One thing that people should consider when talking about tire wear on these cars is that unless you pull smoke shows at every corner or drag once a week with it, odds are you will surpass the tire's recommended age before they wear out. Most people put very low miles annualy on these cars. Tires are typically good for about 5-7 years, then they start cracking inside the thread. As soon as they start cracking, tires loose their speed rating. ZR rated tires become NO rated tires and high speed driving may result in blowouts. So in conclusion to my lengthy text: If you plan on slalom driving at high speeds, these are NOT the tires for you. But If you drive at speeds close to the speed limit, don't go crazy in curves and do a considerable amount of city driving on crack and pothole filled roads, these are A O.K. As far as thread life, a tire with a threadwear of 100 wears out twice as fast as one with a threadwear of 200. So if you compare it with a Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 with a threadwear of 280 and a price tag of 271, the Goodyear will last 1.75 times longer but costs 2.46 times more. And if you do low mileage, odds are you'll have to replace the goodyears before they wear out which reduces the 1.75 factor. If you decide to buy them, or any other tire on tirerack for that matter, let me know, I may be able to save you a couple of bucks. Hope this helped. Steve