I just got 4 Sumitomo HTR Z III's and they were super cheap, 300 treadwear rating, pretty sweet tread pattern, and reinforced sidewall, all for $107 a piece from TireRack, pretty reasonable. There's almost no road noise and they grip pretty well, I just hope they last!
My experience is that they balance just fine but yes, they do have a thin (2 ply nylon?) sidewall, which is why I inflate them to 51 PSI as per manufacturer's spec and they do great! This is a diesel Jetta so the fastest I've driven them at a constant speed was about 80mph from central Connecticut to midcoast Maine. I also drove the Jetta from Maine to Seattle 2 summers ago with over a thousand pounds of "stuff" in and on the car. They behaved just fine and did excellent in the horrible rainstorms I encountered in Illinois.
Had them on the Jetta for 2 years now. Great summer tire for general use. Don't expect it to handle sporty or go anywhere in the snow. But they do have a very low rolling resistance and will reward you with better mileage.
I've run them on both a RWD Volvo 240 and now on my Accord. I like them. They were great in the heavy snows we got up here last winter, they wear very well, and (at least around me) they are relatively cheap.
I've got them on my Miata. I'm happy with them.
I have directional Sumitomo HTR-Z II tires and I don't have a single complaint after almost 6 months. Very quiet, great grip, great wear rating, and very good wet traction.
I got a set of Sumitomo HTZII's and those are the shizzit, very responsive, good traction, and best of all super quiet.
New tires (Sumitomo HTR-4, 195/50/15) All parts replaced have been done in the last 10 miles.
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