I just got 4 Sumitomo HTR Z III's and they were super cheap, 300 treadwear rating, pretty sweet tread pattern, and reinforced sidewall, all for $107 a piece from TireRack, pretty reasonable. There's almost no road noise and they grip pretty well, I just hope they last!
My experience is that they balance just fine but yes, they do have a thin (2 ply nylon?) sidewall, which is why I inflate them to 51 PSI as per manufacturer's spec and they do great! This is a diesel Jetta so the fastest I've driven them at a constant speed was about 80mph from central Connecticut to midcoast Maine. I also drove the Jetta from Maine to Seattle 2 summers ago with over a thousand pounds of "stuff" in and on the car. They behaved just fine and did excellent in the horrible rainstorms I encountered in Illinois.
Had them on the Jetta for 2 years now. Great summer tire for general use. Don't expect it to handle sporty or go anywhere in the snow. But they do have a very low rolling resistance and will reward you with better mileage.
Ditto on the Nokians from me as well. On my 2nd set after 50K miles and find my speed control chimes going off regularly now (set at 96 MPH) because the ride is just so smooth.
Ditto on the Nokians. On three Touaregs, I've had Dunlops, Pirellis, Falkens, Hankooks and am on my second set of Nokians. It's night and day.
Ride is better than the Michelins they replaced, and traction seems to be excellent, but at 50 lbs. inflation there was a little sidewall flex on fast cornering. Noise is roughly the same as the Michelins; maybe a little quieter. Gas mileage on the trip was 20.2
safest choice... the NOKIAN WR or WR G2 all-weather plus, year rounders that qualify for severe service emblem. the g2 has low rolling resistance. you can see about a 6% savings in fuel w/ this guy.
Nokian. Don't consider anything else. I have been using the Hakka RSi's for years and they are fantastic tires. With two differend FWD cars (current A3 and old Jetta VR6), I was passing sport utes which couldn't even get up hills in 4WD. The only issue is that the RSi's are very soft and don't last long. For that reason, I will go with the WR's which can be run all season. I would recommend going down to a 16" for potholes and such. Check with Rim and Wheel Works in Waltham. They are a Nokian dealer and can find you some good Rims. I bought some Ronals, but you can't buy them anymore, but in retrospect, I shoulda just gotten some cheap steelies for $50 a pop.
I run 155/80/13 Nokian Hakkapeliitta 5 and haven't been stuck yet. Those tires are the best hands down and are studdable.
Just got my Nokian Hakkapeliitta R's installed. Bring it on!
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