New tires on S4 Spider

[David993s]

In the Spider (1966 - up) section I was mentioning I put new tires on my S4 Spider and was asked what tire I bought. So I thought I'd post my reply in this section also, just as an FYI.
Dave



Quote:
Originally Posted by lgbalfa
what tires did you get?


Sumitomo. Now, before you faint, let me explain. My 993 Carrera S needed rear tires last year (I was running Bridgestone SO3's) and all the 993 guys on Rennlist were raving about Sumi's. The more research I did, the more I wanted to give them a try. So I did, and was absolutely blown away. Performance just as good as Michelin PS2's, PZeros, etc. but better mileage, quieter, better ride quality, just as grippy and less than half the price. I essentially replaced all four for less than the price of just replacing the two rear Bridgestone's. Then my 360 needed two fronts, so again I went with 4 new Sumi's for about the same price as just two front Pirelli's. (I'm sure when my fellow Ferrari Club members find out I put Sumitomo's on a Ferrari, I'll be drummed out of the club). The Sumi wide, low profile high-performance tires are absolutely amazing (regardless of the price) and I think the best bang for the buck. The fact they are about 1/2 the cost of a Michelin, Pirelli or Bridgestone is just icing on the cake. (Sumitomo should be paying me for this )

This brings me to the Spider..... I figured since I was so satisfied with the Sumi's on the p-car and f-car....what the heck, I'd give them a try on the Alfa. I got the Sumitomo HTR H4, 195/60 x 15. They're a "high performance all-season" tire, even though I don't drive it "all-season". $56 each (!) from Tire Rack. Before I placed the order I went back and forth between several other brands trying to decide as there are a bunch of good tires available in that size. But I kept coming back to the Sumi's because of 1) my experience with them on the Porsche and Ferrari, 2) Tire Rack's comparison rating consistently rated them right up there with other performance tires, and 3) price. You just can't beat the price.

I've only put about 100 miles on them since yesterday, but my initial impression is they are quieter and ride better than the P6's I replaced. I don't really push the Alfa hard so I'm sure I won't have any issues from a performance standpoint. They do have a good dry and wet performance rating and that's what I was mainly looking for.

3 of my 5 cars are now shod with Sumitomo. Probably more than you wanted to know. I guess I just could have said "Sumitomo" and left it at that, but then you wouldn't know why I picked them.

Cheers.
Dave