| I was forced to start looking at potential replacements | | | | My first impressions |
| for the stock Bridgestone Potenza RE040 (225/45/18) | | | | I got the tires installed and the suspension checked and |
| slightly after hitting 25,000 miles on them. I was hard | | | | aligned at Christensen Tire, here in Richardson. In all, the |
| pressed by economic reasons to find the cheapest | | | | entire install took the a couple hours. I immediately |
| possible tires that would offer a similar or higher tread | | | | jumped back in the car and drove off. The first thing I |
| life (higher was better) and a decent level of | | | | noticed was the engine and exhaust note -I am running |
| performance on dry surfaces, as well as wet. I | | | | on a completely stock Mazda RX8. And I could |
| eliminated a few candidates before settling for the | | | | actually appreciate the engine reving up and down |
| Sumitomo HTRs, namely: | | | | over the tire noise. Let me take that back: What tire |
| - Fuzion ZRi: Funky looking tread pattern. In other | | | | noise? So, the first impression was a nice one. |
| words, all-show-no-go. | | | | However, happiness only lasted one corner. The first |
| - Yokohama AVS ES100: Pretty decent reviews | | | | time I had to turn, I noticed a tremendous |
| overall, but...heck! ended up over budget! | | | | mushiness(sp) on the steering. On my way home, I |
| - Dunlop SP Sport FM901: Had mixed feelings about | | | | kept praying for the tire pressure to be extremely low, |
| these, and some pointed to another flavor of Fuzion | | | | therefore giving that soft feeling. Well, tire pressure |
| 'philosophy.' | | | | was not it, I checked all 4 cornerns and all 4 were |
| - Nitto NT555: These tires received good reviews | | | | pinned @ 39psi. The tires were actually over-inflated |
| overall from the quarter mile crowd, which didn't quite | | | | from recommended pressure. The responsible was |
| say much about the tire ability to turn...so, discarded. | | | | obviously a very soft and tall sidewall. There is a |
| - Sumitomo HTR Z II: Out of stock! | | | | superimposed photo of the Sumitomos and the |
| So after a brief discussion with a TireRack sales guy, | | | | Potenzas below. You can see that both tires have |
| he recommended the Sumitomo HTR+. First I was | | | | similar "total" height when mounted; however, the |
| hesitant to go for an all-season tire. I thought to myself | | | | Potenzas had a slightly rounded sidewall, and a much |
| "All seasons on the 8? No way! But slowly I realized | | | | better lip to protect the wheels. On the other hand, the |
| that I didn't have much of a choice in the price range I | | | | Sumitomos have a straighter(sp) sidewall, which |
| was shopping in. And so I ended up shelling out my | | | | apparently robs it from stifness. |
| credit card to purchase a set of 4 Sumitomo HTR+ in | | | | I will try and rotate these tires every 5,000 miles. |
| 245/40/18. The rolling stock ends up being something | | | | Reason being, on the last Potenza rotation, the tires |
| close to | | | | that spent the last 7,500 miles on the rear were badly |
| 1% bigger than the stock Potenzas. In other words, no | | | | worn out (evenly worn though). And I'd like to keep the |
| big deal. | | | | Sumitomos in the best shape possible. |