Used Sumitomo HTR 200 review

[IndyIan]

I've had these on the Neon for over a month now and I'm very happy with them. I've got them in 195/60R13 size with about 7.5mm of tread depth left. They've got a 380 wear rating and and A temperature and traction ratings.
With 32 psi in them they ride smoothly don't seem to "slap" on cracks or expansion joints. Overall they are reasonably quiet and make much less noise than my snowtires and probably a bit less than my last set of cheap all-seasons. With a single nylon sidewall ply they aren't "sharp" handling but the ultimate level of grip is way above my all-seasons and they don't seem to roll over much even at the limits. A good compromise for a street tire I think. Wet traction is also better than my all-seasons and my snowtires.
I did run them for one autocross and they did OK but I'll use my R-compounds in the future for dry events.
These are my first set of summer tires and I like their lack of compromises for winter driving. I think I will now get dedicated summer tires from now on and just be sure to put the winter tires on before there's any chance of snow.

 

[dailydriver]

The HTR 200s are rated summer only?? (I always thought that they were a hp all season.)

Which R comps do you ax on?

 

[IndyIan]

I don't think the HTR 200's really have enough siping to work in snow, even if the compound didn't harden up which I think it would.
My only question with them is how long they will last. I guess for $120 a couple summers will be fine.
For R-comps, I'm currently burning through some older Toyo RA1's. They have no tread showing at all anymore but still heat up and grip and refuse to cord. After that I've got some old yokohama A008RS2's in 205/50R15 size. They are barely used and supposedly stored well so hopefully they will still heat up and stick in an autocross run. If not I guess they will for some lapping.
No one in my club is buying new sets of R-comps every year so any old set of r-comps will do to make me competitive.

 

[PandaBear]

It is a decent tire, better than most all season I've ever had, for a very good price.

 

[IndyIan]

If I could find them locally at anywhere near the tireracks price for them, I think its all I'd ever buy again. $55 for 195/60R14's...
The soft sidewall is a good thing to for ride challenged cars like a Neon, but it still grips well.

 

[Cressida]

I have been considering this tire and noted the PSI rating is 51 lbs and some have said that the tire works better with higher pressure than what you would usually run. For example the tire flex's or is too soft at 30psi but does much better at 38-40psi.

Can any of you that have used these tires add some comments about this if you have experimented with them.

 

[PandaBear]

Originally Posted By: Cressida
Can any of you that have used these tires add some comments about this if you have experimented with them.


Yes, this tire seems to have soft sidewall that you need to compensate the ride with higher (2-3psi or so, not significantly higher) pressure. If run at same pressure it feels relatively soft and mushy. With slightly higher pressure it handles great.

 

[IndyIan]

Originally Posted By: Cressida
I have been considering this tire and noted the PSI rating is 51 lbs and some have said that the tire works better with higher pressure than what you would usually run. For example the tire flex's or is too soft at 30psi but does much better at 38-40psi.

Can any of you that have used these tires add some comments about this if you have experimented with them.

For autocross I ran mine at around 38psi cold on the fronts and dropped the rears to 28 and they didn't roll over on to the sidewall unless I got really sideways. I didn't really like the feel of them compared to r-comps so maybe some more pressure would've helped. I think the 51 psi max rating is because they are H-rated for speed.

 

[IndyIan]

Originally Posted By: IndyIan
Originally Posted By: Cressida
I have been considering this tire and noted the PSI rating is 51 lbs and some have said that the tire works better with higher pressure than what you would usually run. For example the tire flex's or is too soft at 30psi but does much better at 38-40psi.

Can any of you that have used these tires add some comments about this if you have experimented with them.

For autocross I ran mine at around 38psi cold on the fronts and dropped the rears to 28 and they didn't roll over on to the sidewall unless I got really sideways. I didn't really like the feel of them compared to r-comps so maybe some more pressure would've helped. I think the 51 psi max rating is because they are H-rated for speed.

Well I ran the tires again this weekend for autocross, I was the organizer for the event so I didn't have time to switch tires. This time I put the fronts to 40 psi cold and they felt far better, good grip and responded quickly. My buddy also drove my car so it probably raised the pressure a bit more as well with an extra run of heat in them. He took a couple riders along and they were impressed how well the old Neon handled on street tires.
I also had some more running in the rain last week and they weren't really all that impressive. Decent grip but once they locked or spun the grip really fell off on old pavement. New pavement grip was better but that's probably the case with almost any tire.
Overall though I like them for the price and their ability to run decent times for autocross.