Sumitomo HTR A/S P03 Review [2023 Updated]

By Tire Expert, Joe Steffen

Who says you can’t find honest, unbiased tire reviews anymore? If you hear anyone saying this, send them here, where I will give you a completely unbiased and fair review that you can trust.

My goal isn‘t to sell you anything, I only wish to provide you with an honest review from a trusted expert.

I have seen and heard it all with over nine-plus years in the tire industry. All of my reviews come from personal experience and my experience with customers just like yourself!

Today I’m going to do an in-depth review of the Sumitomo HTR AS P03, and you’ll hear what I like, what consumers want, and what I can conclude from the type of construction and technology Sumitomo Tire uses in this product.

The Sumitomo HTR AS PO3 has replaced the HTR A/S P02 and is classified as a high-performance all-season. Offering consumers a sixty-five thousand mile treadwear warranty in their H and V speed rated sizes and a forty-five thousand mile treadwear warranty in their W speed rated sizes.

Now that you know what this tire is built for and offers, let‘s get to the individual category reviews!

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Pros

Cons

Ratings

3.5

3.0

3.5

3.0

4.0

3.5

Wet Traction:

★★★★★ 3.5/5

Dry Traction:

★★★★★ 3.5/5

Snow Traction:

★★★★★ 4.0/5

Ride Comfort:

★★★★★ 3.5/5

Ride Handling:

★★★★★ 3.0/5

Ride Noise:

★★★★★ 3.0/5

Hydroplaning:

★★★★★ 3.0/5

Tread Life:

★★★★★ 3.5/5

Value For $$$:

★★★★★ 3.5/5

Traction - Sumitomo HTR A/S P03

When it comes to all-season traction, there are three major things I’m looking for 1) a tire’s ability to accelerate 2) how quickly it can come to a safe stop and 3) its ability to maintain traction at steady speeds in certain weather conditions. The weather conditions I’m looking at will be dry, wet, and snow.

I found traction in dry conditions to be slightly above average compared to its competing all-season tire options like the Toyo Extensa HP II. For this tire to have a higher dry traction rating, it would need to be a summer tire, which offers the best dry handling.

Summer tires offer premium traction in wet and dry road conditions because they are designed specifically for wet and dry seasons. There‘s a misconception about summer tires; many consumers hear the word summer and think it is meant to be driven from June to August.

That is not true, and I recommend Summer tires for anyone looking for the best traction that only sees sunshine and rain.

When these tires are put in wet conditions, they give you confidence behind the wheel, and you can feel the amount of grip these puppies have. If you run into heavy pools of water on the road, I would say slow down; they aren’t so great in stagnant standing water.

You don‘t want to be the person stuck in a ditch off-road, where they would give me confidence is stopping in the rain.

I was shocked at how well they did in the snow; they are rated for light snow and use their 3D sipes to pack snow, giving you extra traction. I had heard a story about how well they gripped when someone had to drive through a freak storm in Lake Tahoe, CA.

I don‘t ever recommend someone buys an all-season tire for year-round driving in areas that get heavy snow, like Idaho or Montana. I recommend you have two sets of tires for these areas: all-season or summer tires for spring and summer, and winter tires for fall and winter.

Overall, the traction on this tire will keep you safe on the road, but there are much safer options, a couple to mention, Michelin Pilot Sport All-Season 4 and the Pirelli P Zero All Season Plus.

Traction Rating: 3.5/5

★★★★★ 3.5/5

Ride Comfort - Sumitomo HTR A/S P03

When it comes to a comfortable ride, this tire will comfort you whether you are on a lengthy family road trip or your daily commute to work.

The Sumitomo HTR AS P03 uses reinforced steel belts for enhanced durability, but this also reduces vibrations you would feel.

Your tires can generate vibration from a couple of things, most of the time, it will be from improper balancing, but it can also come from a tire with a weak overall construction.

When a tire has weak construction, it can become out-of-round or even lead to defective sidewalls that result in blowouts.

What is an out-of-round tire?

An out-of-round tire is when your tire is no longer in the shape of a circle and becomes more egg-shaped. Out-of-round tires can result from slamming on the brakes, faulty construction, or even a defect in some cases.

It‘s infrequent when I would see a tire out-of-round come into the shop, but when I did, it was more prevalent in low-quality tires with shoddy construction.

I have never seen a Sumitomo tire come in with vibrations that stemmed from poor construction or a defect.

Ride Comfort Rating: 3.5/5

★★★★★ 3.5/5

Ride Handling - Sumitomo HTR A/S P03

Technically we can give this tire two different opinions because it comes in three variations under the same tire model, the H and V speed rating, and then there‘s the W speed rating. While the tread design is the same on all three of these options, the rubber compound differs.

Speed rating will determine not only the maximum speed a tire can travel before potentially defecting, but it will also help with how the tire handles using a different rubber compound.

The H and V speed-rated tires handle very similarly; steering response, cornering, and maneuvering will feel as if something is just lacking.

You point the car in the direction you want to go, and the vehicle feels hesitant to do so, almost like trying to tell your kids to do something and them taking forever to get it done.

I would contribute this to the sidewall construction that the H and V tires offer, as the W speed rating is designated for the lower profile sizes, which would go on sports cars.

Let me tell you what, though, the W speed-rated tires could take a corner like a screaming banshee flying sideways. In all seriousness, this tire does outperform its lower speed rating siblings, the majority thanks to the wider shoulder tread blocks they have on low profile sizing.

If you are looking for a better handling tire and are driving a more common vehicle like a mini-van or sedan, I recommend a different tire. However, these could be good tires for you if you have a sports car such as a BMW 3 Series or Audi A4.

Ride Handling Rating: 3.0/5

★★★★★ 3.0/5

Ride Noise - Sumitomo HTR A/S P03

From what I have seen with the Sumitomo HTR AS P03, they are very quiet when driving at lower speeds, but once you get these guys on the freeway or interstate, man, they seem to howl like a wolf at the moon.

Now everybody’s perception of ride noise is different, and some people may not even notice or care about road noise. But for the consumer who cares about this, stay away from this tire; you will thank me later.

I recommend going with something much quieter, with smaller tread shoulder blocks like the Falken Ziex 960 A/S tire.

This tire uses an asymmetric tread pattern which consists of tread blocks that look like fins on the outside. When you have large shaped blocks in the tire pointing in one direction on the right side and going the opposite on the left, they somewhat work against each other and tend to generate road noise.

An asymmetric tread pattern consists of an inside and outside tread design, which means that one side of the tire is supposed to be on the outside and the other on the inside.

In simple terms, if you look at the tire’s tread, you will see that the right side of the tread has a different pattern than the left. This tread design is built to help with handling and wet weather traction.

If your vehicle’s primary purpose is to drop the kids off at school and get the groceries, I recommend this tire for you.

On the opposite side, if you are shopping for tires on the daily commuter that you have to drive two towns over to get to work and can’t stand road noise go with a different tire.

Ride Noise Rating: 3.0/5

★★★★★ 3.0/5

Hydroplaning - Sumitomo HTR A/S P03

Hydroplaning is something that I wish nobody has to experience, but if you do, I highly recommend you always make sure to not slam on the brakes or step on the gas pedal, and let go of the steering wheel, don‘t try to overcorrect.

Regarding hydroplaning resistance on these Sumitomo tires, getting through small pools of water won‘t be a problem thanks to the circumferential grooves to evacuate some water. However, if it’s pouring down rain, you could be in trouble if you don‘t take the proper precautions.

They do about as good of a job as one would expect in preventing hydroplaning, especially for high-performance all-season tires. Still, I would expect better, considering the Falken Ziex 960 A/S does an excellent job.

If you didn‘t know the same company owns Sumitomo as Falken Tire, Falken Tire is considered the lesser of the two in the tire kingdom.

Hydroplaning Rating: 3.0/5

★★★★★ 3.0/5

Tread Life - Sumitomo HTR A/S P03

The Sumitomo HTR AS P03 offers a sixty-five and forty-five-thousand mile treadwear warranty, sixty-five-thousand for the H and V speed rating, and forty-five-thousand for the W speed rating.

The H and V speed-rated tires can achieve between forty-five and fifty-five thousand miles, depending on your driving habits and tire maintenance.

Proper tire maintenance is checking your tire pressures every one to two months, rotating your tires every five to eight thousand miles, and ensuring your vehicle’s alignment is within proper specs as set by the vehicle manufacturers.

You can expect thirty to forty-five thousand miles when driving on the W speed-rated tire. Thanks to the rubber silica used in the W-rated tire tread compound, you can reasonably expect to receive the full tread wear warranty with proper tire maintenance.

A consumer can reasonably expect to get about five years on these tires before seeing the effects of dry rot or cracking in the rubber.

I recommend using tire shine on your tires; not only will it make them look nice and pretty, but it can also protect them from UV rays. Harmful UV rays make your tires dry out and rot faster than expected.

Tread Life Rating: 3.5/5

★★★★★ 3.5/5

Value For Money - Sumitomo HTR A/S P03

Sumitomo Tires has always had a fair market price, although some retailers can have them in a high price range. I researched prices from Amazon, TireRack, Simpletire, and other tire retailers.

You can get a pretty good value depending on which tire retailer you purchase from and your tire size.

When comparing the miles per dollar, I found it better than average compared to its competitors. Some of the tires I compared it to were the Falken Ziex 960 A/S and the General Gmax AS05; I found that they could be the lowest priced in the bunch.

Overall I would recommend this as a good value tire compared to its tread life, traction capability, and ride quality.

Value For Money Rating: 3.5/5

★★★★★ 3.5/5

Final Verdict - Sumitomo HTR A/S P03

While considering everything I have gone over, this is a tire I would recommend to anyone looking for a good value.

They provide safe traction, ride quality, and a reasonable mileage expectancy. When comparing these tires to the competition, they came up short in a few categories, but the overall value was there to make a solid recommendation.

All tires have some give and take; it‘s up to you, the consumer, to decide what matters the most based on your driving habits and overall needs.

The tires I used as comparisons for this review were the General GMAX AS05, Falken Ziex 960 AS, and Toyo Proxes HP II.

Check out some of my further detailed reviews on these tires if you think any of those options may be a better fit for your needs.

Meet Your Tire Expert

Joe Steffen

Joseph Steffen is a trusted expert in the tire industry, with nine-plus years of experience. He has worked as a tire installer, tire salesman, and more recently a writer for various companies, providing honest feedback and advice to those who need it.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Where are Sumitomo tires made?

Sumitomo tires are produced both in the USA and Japan.

What does AS mean in tires?

When a tire has AS in its name, it is an all-season tire; it is designed to provide traction in dry, wet, and light snow weather conditions.

What does Sumitomo mean in Japanese?

Sumitomo is the name of a Royal Japanese family and therefore has no defined meaning.