can anyone with any experience with these tires give me some input? are they any good? how do they compare to the Nitto tires.. such as the INVO?

 

I have NOT driven them, but will give you my opinion based on some things I know about tires...

Of all of the HTR line, these will offer the best Summer grip. They are NOT designed to run in freezing temps, so if you drive on snow/ice, you need to get another tire, or some A/S ones on a second set of wheels. You will not get fantastic grip with them, , compared with some other Summer tires, but should get 30K miles if you don't wear your concrete shoes! They have a pretty nice sidewall construction, so I think cornering will be pretty good. Pattern will address water puddles pretty well, so rain grip should be fine. I see them as relatively quiet for a performance tire with a good turn-in response and reasonable ride quality.

I would expect them to be pretty comparable with the Nitto NT555's, but probably not offer quite the lateral grip, but less noisy. I would expect the INVO to be a better cornering tire, but will get probably 5K less miles from them.

Sumitomo HTRZ III at Tire Rack

Jazzer

EDIT: I haven't driven any of the tires listed above.

 

I have these tires and really like them. Tirerack did a comparison of these against Bridgestones, Yokohamas, and Continentals in the same class. The Sumitomo HTR Z III came in first place - http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/...ay.jsp?ttid=93

I have no experience with Invos so the only thing I can compare them to is the factory Pirelli P-Zero Nero All Seasons that came on my car. These Sumitomos put the Pirellis to shame in all driving conditions that I've found so far. I did make a sizable jump in size on mine, so I'm sure that has something to do with it as well. I went from 245/45/19's on all four corners to 275/40/18's on all four corners. I don't know how these tires are going to do in more extreme conditions, but it is 35 degrees and wet here in north Atlanta today. They are still gripping the road great and have good wet traction. I would still say they are better in these conditions than the P-Zero Neros. How these tires will react when it gets down to 20 degrees or lower is yet to be seen, but I have it in the back of my mind to be a little more cautious during that time of year. Here in Georgia in the winter, it can be 20 degrees one day and 70 degrees the next. I'm willing to give up a little performance in the winter to have a better driving experience the rest of the time.

Here's some pics of them on my car.


2011 Race Red Ford Mustang GT (stripes removed) by jsnyng, on Flickr


2011 Race Red Ford Mustang GT (stripes removed) by jsnyng, on Flickr


2011 Mustang GT w/ SVT GT500 wheels by jsnyng, on Flickr


2011 Mustang GT w/ SVT GT500 wheels by jsnyng, on Flickr


2011 Mustang GT w/ SVT GT500 wheels by jsnyng, on Flickr


2011 Mustang GT w/ SVT GT500 wheels by jsnyng, on Flickr

And no, your eyes aren't playing tricks on you. I did have stripes on the car and now I don't.

 

I have the INVO's not on 18" saleens and I like them. They seem tp be pretty quiet for road noise and grip fairly well. I don't drive like a maniac so the performance of the tire was not high on my list. I loved the tread pattern on them and coming from NITTO they would be a decent tire. They do well in the rain and up until this morning (have got 2 snow flurry storms) and they seem to turn into a rock hitting bumps on the highway. Which I knew going into it they would be like that but I didn't have time to swap to my winter wheels until this morning.

Also I have noticed (maybe due to the tire compound) that they have gotten some, for lack of a better term, cuts and little dimple where they are wearing on the outer edge between the sidewall and tread. Again I don't take corners at 80mph, I drive normal and my caster/camber is not out of whack either. It is not something to worry me, it's just something I have not seen in tired before, prob because I have not had "good" tires before.

Hope any of this helps.