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Head-to-head Updated May 2026

Continental ContiProContact SSR vs Sumitomo HTR Z III — Compared (May 2026)

Our Relative Score blends 60% objective test data with 40% owner-review signal — so any two tires can be compared even if they were never tested on the same day.

VS
Tire B Sumitomo

Sumitomo HTR Z III

Sumitomo HTR Z III tread pattern
Objective (60%)
–/100
No test data yet
User signal (40%)
84/100
42 owner reviews
Dry
92
Wet
81
Snow
52
Comfort
89
Noise
87
Treadwear
82
Handling
80
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Prices change daily — check the retailer for your size.

VerdictWinner: Sumitomo HTR Z III — better comfort, noise and treadwear. It leads or ties in every category we score.
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Category breakdown

7 categories, side by side

Each bar is the Relative Score for that category. Expand a tile to see the test results and owner ratings behind it.

Dry

Weight: Neutral
Score (0–100) HTR Z III leads by 11
A
81
B
92
Why this score
SourceContiProContact SSRHTR Z III
Tire Rack owners 85 –
Tyre Reviews owners – 87
SimpleTire owners – 95

Wet

Weight: Important
Score (0–100) HTR Z III leads by 10
A
71
B
81
Why this score
SourceContiProContact SSRHTR Z III
Tire Rack owners 78 –
Tyre Reviews owners – 80
SimpleTire owners – 82

Snow

Weight: Neutral
Score (0–100)
A
52
B
52
Why this score
SourceContiProContact SSRHTR Z III
Tire Rack owners 59 –
SimpleTire owners – 52

Comfort

Weight: Neutral
Score (0–100) HTR Z III leads by 28
A
61
B
89
Why this score
SourceContiProContact SSRHTR Z III
Tire Rack owners 69 –
Tyre Reviews owners – 86
SimpleTire owners – 91

Noise

Weight: Neutral
Score (0–100) HTR Z III leads by 26
A
61
B
87
Why this score
SourceContiProContact SSRHTR Z III
SimpleTire owners – 87

Treadwear

Weight: Important
Score (0–100) HTR Z III leads by 20
A
62
B
82
Why this score
SourceContiProContact SSRHTR Z III
Tire Rack owners 67 –
Tyre Reviews owners – 82
SimpleTire owners – 82

Handling

Weight: Neutral
Score (0–100)
A
80
B
80
Why this score
SourceContiProContact SSRHTR Z III
Tyre Reviews owners – 80

Scores at a glance

CategoryContinental ContiProContact SSRSumitomo HTR Z III
Relative Score 67 81
Dry 81 92
Wet 71 81
Snow 52 52
Comfort 61 89
Noise 61 87
Treadwear 62 82
Handling 80 80

Higher is better. The Relative Score follows your weights below; category scores do not change.

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Weight the categories that matter to you

Wet grip and treadwear start at “Important” — the two things buyers rank highest. Move the sliders and the scores update instantly.

Neutral
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Important
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Recomputed
Headline score

Tire A

Tire B

From owners

Pros, cons & observations

Themes extracted from owner reviews across retailers and review sites — not the opinion of TireWheelGuide.

Tire A Continental ContiProContact SSR

Not enough owner reviews yet to extract themes.

Tire B Sumitomo HTR Z III

The Sumitomo H/TR Z III is widely regarded as a high-value performance tire that offers a compelling balance of dry grip, comfort, and affordability. While it is frequently praised as a cost-effective alternative to premium brands for daily driving and spirited street use, some users note limitations in extreme wet-weather cornering and high-horsepower traction.

Pros

  • Excellent price-to-performance ratio
  • Strong dry handling and steering feedback
  • Quiet and comfortable ride quality
  • Predictable performance for daily driving

Cons

  • Inconsistent wet-weather side grip during cornering
  • Limited traction under heavy acceleration on high-horsepower vehicles
  • Not suitable for winter or freezing conditions
  • Variable tread life depending on driving style and vehicle weight

Observations

  • High-horsepower RWD vehicles (e.g., 500whp Mustang) may experience significant wheel spin compared to premium performance tires.
  • Users with staggered setups report good longevity, though the inability to rotate tires can accelerate wear on the rear axle.
  • Owners of lighter, nimble vehicles like the Mini Cooper report high satisfaction with handling and wet-weather performance.
Specifications

Specs side by side

Attribute A · Continental ContiProContact SSR B · Sumitomo HTR Z III
Tread depth10/32″10/32″
UTQG400 A A300 A A
Treadwear warranty40,000 mi—
SidewallBlackwallBlackwall
Max pressure51 psi50 psi
Final verdict

Which one should you actually buy?

Continental

Sumitomo

Winner: Sumitomo HTR Z III — better comfort, noise and treadwear. It leads or ties in every category we score.

Pick tire B You want the most comfortable ride

Sumitomo HTR Z III scores 89 vs 61 on comfort.

Pick tire B You want a quieter cabin

Sumitomo HTR Z III scores 87 vs 61 on noise.

Pick tire B You want the longest tread life

Sumitomo HTR Z III scores 82 vs 62 on treadwear.

Pick tire B You want the most grip on dry roads

Sumitomo HTR Z III scores 92 vs 81 on dry.

Tire A · Continental ContiProContact SSR
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Tire B · Sumitomo HTR Z III
Check price on Amazon

How do we compare tires?

Every category score blends two independent signals. 60% comes from professional tire tests (braking distances, lap times, noise measurements) normalized against the best tire in each test and weighted toward recent tests. 40% comes from thousands of owner reviews collected from retailers and review sites. When a tire has only one of the two, we use what exists and say so.

Community buzz from Reddit and forums is shown for context only — it never changes the score.