If you are fun of driving at high speed on highway roads, then you will need a tire with good steering performance and enhanced durability to resist fast tread wear. Indeed, it is not easy to choose a good tire to meet this kind of requirements. You need to do extensive market research and reading reviews.
In line with this need, we are going to evaluate the Sumitomo Tire HTR A/S P02 tire model. This tire model can fit your sports car, crossovers, and sedans. This tire model claims to have excellent handling and steering performance in the high-speed drive. Likewise, it has enhanced tread life to resist fast tread wear due to high-speed driving.
We are going to review its features, performance, and present a chart for its pros and cons. Hopefully, we will be able to enlighten you about the credibility of this tire model.
About Sumitomo Tire Company
Sumitomo Tire Company has been one of the leading tire manufacturers in the global market. Their main principle for competitive advantage lies in “innovative design, precision engineering, and superior quality”. The quality tires from this company came from Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd. (SRI). In order to sustain quality and meet customer demand, they invest mainly in research and development.
Features of Sumitomo HTR a/s P02
Understanding the quality of any tire means getting a closer look at its features and how it can justify claimed performances. The features we are going to evaluate include tire compound, tread design, and warranty service.
Tire Compound
The redefined tire compound of this unit is customized to withstand fast tread wear due to high-speed driving. Its tire compound is incorporated with silica particles to have better traction on wet surfaces and enhanced tread life. Likewise, it has been reinforced with full-width nylon and steel belts underneath to have better stability and rigidity features.
Tread Design
The traction and handling performance of any tire can be reflected from its tread design. For this tire model, it has the following tread designs: (1) alternate tread design block, (2) three wide circumferential grooves, (3) 3D sipes, and (4) wider shoulders with variable pitches. Overall, these tread patterns contribute to the dry, wet, snow traction, handling, steering, and noise reduction performance of the tire.
Warranty
The after-sale service will also be one of the important things customers look into. For this tire, it offers 65,000 mileage warranty for H and V rated sizes. For W-rated sizes, it will be a 45,000 mileage warranty under eligible conditions.
Sumitomo HTR a/s P02 Performance
We are done with features, now let us examine what is the performance of this tire with respect to its features. In this way, you have a better look insight on what this unit can offer you.
Off-Road Performance
The main setback of this tire is that it’s not engineered to withstand the harsh off-road conditions. It can still drive on off-road surfaces but lesser traction, particularly for deep mud and it, has a lesser capacity to throw away sharp protruding objects. Thus, this tire will wear easily if driven on off-road surfaces.
Dry Traction
Overall, dry traction performance of this tire hits around 88 percent efficiency. This covers the ability for stable cornering, dry traction, and responsive steering. This excellent result can be attributed to its tread design features. The 3D sipes and alternate tread block design contribute to its stability and handling on a low and high-speed run. Meanwhile, its wider shoulder blocks and rigid sidewall contributes to effective cornering.
Wet Traction
Its overall wet traction performance is around 85 percent efficiency. This result is comparable to the high-end expensive tires in the market. The tread design to contribute for this rating include circumferential grooves, 3D sipes, alternate tread block design, and silica particles. The overall impact of these tread patterns is to provide a quick passage for the water so that there will be more contact surface between the road and the tire. Likewise, the silica particles in the tire compound offer better biting grip for wet surfaces.
Snow Traction
Definitely, you will not expect much from this tire considering it is not a winter tire. However, for light to medium snow conditions, this tire has around 72 percent efficient traction. This result is a summary for its traction on light, deep snow and icy surfaces. This is attributed to the 3D sipes and grooves of the tire.
Noise Level and Comfort
The overall performance of this tire under this category is around 81 percent. This excellent performance can be strongly linked to the tires redefined tire compound and wider and rigid shoulder blocks. These features help maintain balance, handling and noise reduction level of the tire. Consequently, this result qualifies it for a great highway all season tire.
Tread Life
The company has made this tire for a high-speed run, thus, they have enhanced its tire compound to compensate the fast tread wear rate. Overall, this tire can effectively prolong tread life at around 90 percent. The full-width nylon and steel belts add a good reinforcement for its durability.
Read also: Best all season tires
Pros
Cons
- Better dry and wet traction
- Excellent braking abilities
- Longer tread life
- Comfortable driving
- Not suitable for deep mud, off-road, and deep snow conditions
Sumitomo HTR a/s P02 Review: Final Word
Now we have to the last part of this review. Hopefully, we were able to show you sufficient details about the features and performance of this tire. The manufacturer claims this tire to be an excellent choice for high-speed all season highway driving. Based on what we have covered, there are several points which strongly supported this claim. True, there are also a few gripes about this tire which good to be noted.
Right now, you have a few things on mind and a semi-concrete decision on whether this tire meets halfway or exceeded your expectations. The best thing you need to do is relax and do some browsing in order to clear your doubts. There is no such thing as an absolute right or wrong choice, it always depends on your preference.
Nice review on this tire. Thank you so much.