Head-to-head Updated

Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 vs Sumitomo HTR Sport H/P — Compared

Relative Score (0–100): 60% professional tests, 40% owner reviews.

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Tests – · 1 test Owners 63 · 1,457 reviews

“I have them on my 14 GT. 255 front/285 rear. They have roughly 5k on them and have worn well. Wheel spin has to be intentionally induced now. No more surprises. Highly recommend.”

Category by category

Relative Score per category, 0–100. Open “Why this score” for the tests and owner ratings behind it.

  1. 73

    Dry

    No comparison
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    Why this score
    SourceFirehawk Indy 500HTR Sport H/P
    Reviews found online77–
  2. 67

    Wet

    No comparison
    –
    Why this score
    SourceFirehawk Indy 500HTR Sport H/P
    Reviews found online66–
  3. 45

    Snow

    No comparison
    –
    Why this score
    SourceFirehawk Indy 500HTR Sport H/P
    Reviews found online28–
  4. 67

    Comfort

    No comparison
    –
    Why this score
    SourceFirehawk Indy 500HTR Sport H/P
    Reviews found online65–
  5. 67

    Noise

    No comparison
    –
    Why this score
    SourceFirehawk Indy 500HTR Sport H/P
    Reviews found online66–
  6. 67

    Treadwear

    No comparison
    –
    Why this score
    SourceFirehawk Indy 500HTR Sport H/P
    Professional tests (TWG score)70–
    Reviews found online62–
  7. 71

    Handling

    No comparison
    –
    Why this score
    SourceFirehawk Indy 500HTR Sport H/P
    Reviews found online71–
Scores at a glance
Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 vs Sumitomo HTR Sport H/P: scores by category (0–100)
CategoryFirestone Firehawk Indy 500Sumitomo HTR Sport H/P
Relative Score 66 –
Dry 73 –
Wet 67 –
Snow 45 –
Comfort 67 –
Noise 67 –
Treadwear 67 –
Handling 71 –

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

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

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Recomputed
Headline score

Firehawk Indy 500

HTR Sport H/P

Only categories both tires have data for count toward the headline score.

Pros, cons & observations

Themes extracted from owner reviews found online — not the opinion of TireWheelGuide.

Tire A Firehawk Indy 500

Pros

  • Exceptional value and affordability compared to premium tier brands like Michelin
  • Outstanding dry grip and confident, responsive cornering capabilities
  • Surprisingly quiet and comfortable ride quality on the highway

Cons

  • Accelerated tread wear and shorter overall lifespan
  • Poor performance and loss of traction in cold temperatures (below 40°F)
  • Vulnerability to hydroplaning or reduced traction in heavy standing water
All owner themes in the Firehawk Indy 500 review

Tire B HTR Sport H/P

Not enough owner reviews yet to extract themes.

What real owners are saying

From Reddit, forums and review threads. Not part of our score

Tire A

Firestone Firehawk Indy 500

Positive

Community sentiment toward the Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 is overwhelmingly positive, with drivers frequently praising it as an exceptional value and budget-friendly alternative to premium summer tires. Owners report strong dry grip, solid wet-weather traction, good comfort, and predictable handling, though some note reduced performance in cold temperatures, softer sidewalls, and a tendency to get greasy during aggressive track sessions. Interest is also growing around the newer V2 version and its updated compound and tread design.

s2ki.com

“Quote: Originally Posted by AUaviator I'm having trouble finding these tires in stock. Rears are back ordered and only 1 front available and it's on tire rack. 22545/17 255/40/17. www.simpletire.com looks to have them instock with free shipping and a 60 dollar rebate. A little hard to find but search for them individually by size.”

grassrootsmotorsports.com

“I need a 224/45/15 I run these on my S2000 wheelset for driving around town and they are great. I also have used them for plenty of track days. They get a little greasy towards the end of sessions but have never let me down.”

r/MINI ·20 upvotes ·2025-05-02

“Firehawk Indy 500s As promised, some initial thoughts. These are extremely comfortable. They honestly made it hard to understand how fast I was going because I've come to gauge my speed based on how much I'm being jostled around. I felt almost nothing with these, and there's so much construction on my way to work from the tire place, including a road that hasn't been surfaced properly yet. Perfect testing run for comfort. In terms of performance these bite the road a lot better and it's a lot easier for me to get moving again. Granted, my run flats were almost bald and that's my most recent memory of how they performed, but it's shocking how much I can take a turn or even just accelerate without any risk of sliding or slipping. It feels like a completely different car honestly, and people aren't kidding when they say "just get better tires" on some of these posts asking about mods. It's not as sexy as a new intake, but it makes a much bigger difference. I mean I feel like I was missing out on at least half of my roadster's potential here. So yeah I definitely like them. I don't mean to insult the tire guys' ability to apply tire shine, but I need to redo that disaster when I'm home. I only have detailing spray right now.”

Top themes
#value and pricing#dry grip and traction#wet weather handling#track and autocross use#cold temperature limitations#ride comfort and road noise#Firehawk Indy 500 V2

Based on 146 community posts

Tire B

Sumitomo HTR Sport H/P

We haven't collected enough community discussion about this tire yet.

Specs side by side

Attribute A · Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 B · Sumitomo HTR Sport H/P
CategorySummer—
Vehicle typePassenger Car / CrossoverSUV and 4x4
Sizes available47—
Rim diameters16″ – 20″—
Tread depth9 - 10/32″—
UTQG340 A A—
SidewallBlack Side Wall—
Max pressure50 - 51 psi—

Which one should you actually buy?

Firestone Firehawk Indy 500

Sumitomo HTR Sport H/P

Only Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 has enough test and review data for a Relative Score, so there is no head-to-head winner yet.

Tire A · Firestone Firehawk Indy 500
Tire B · Sumitomo HTR Sport H/P

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How do we compare tires?

Every category score blends two independent signals. 60% comes from professional tire tests (braking distances, lap times, noise measurements), each result compared with every other tire in the same test and newer tests counting more. 40% comes from owner reviews found online, adjusted for how generously each site rates. Both use one scale: the average tested tire gets 70, the best 100. When a tire has only one of the two, the missing half is estimated from the other and the score stays closer to average; with no road test and fewer than five owner reviews it gets no score yet.

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