Mark P

I had the prior generation Ecsta 4X and have been happy with them, though only got 25k-30k miles out of them over <2 years. Had fun though, so not complaining too much

Figured I'd check what else is out there and see these Sumitomos. For the price, I was quite happy with a different Sumitomo on my 996TT, so thought I'd inquire about these for comparison.

Any thoughts?

Discounttiredirect.com has a pre-Labor day event that includes $75 MIR on these (Kumho) and other amounts on other tires if you're interested. The Sumitomos would be from TireRack.

Here's what I've captured for tire prices on these with different promotions, etc:

Q5 - 255/45/20 (low to high)
Kumho Ecsta 4X - $503: $157/ea, $628 incl/ship -$75 DTD rebate -$50 Kumho rebate = $503 (Discount Tire Direct, Purchase 9/3/13)
Sumitomo HTR A/S P02 - $577: $125/ea +$75ship (Tirerack, 7/3/15)
Kumho Ecsta 4X II - $585: $152.69/ea, $610+$75ship, $510 after MIR (Tirerack, 6/24/15)
Kumho Ecsta 4X II - $593: $167.00/ea, $668 incl/ship (Discount Tire Direct, $75 MIR, 8/27/15)
Kumho Ecsta 4X II - $656: $164.00/ea, $656 incl/ship (Discount Tire Direct, no promo, 6/24/15)
Kumho Ecsta 4X - $682: $151.75/ea, $607 +$75ship (Tirerack, "special/closeout", 6/24/15)

IntheQ5

Both are the lowest end tires with a somewhat brand name. Performance will be least expected which you already know. From here, you are probably looking for something decent to drive on. Noise would be the priority since performance is out of the question.
Looking at the tread, the khumo will not hold its inner tread blocks well as each blocks are completely separate from each other. This will lead to feathering rather quickly and this creating roaring sound. Remember, cars today are riding with negative camber(inner blocks will be wearing more).
The sumi looks better with the connected seam to hold the inner tread.

Mark P

Thanks this is a great perspective. Sure enough my Kumhos did wear inner edge predominantly. That might be excuse enough to try the Sumis. Thanks