GeoTour Tires Review [Who Makes Them? Are They Good?] • Clutch Geeks

Many drivers are unfamiliar with GeoTour tires, which are not as well-known as Goodyear and Michelin. Are GeoTour tires good for your vehicle? What company manufactures GeoTour tires? In this article, I’ll go over the specifications and features of GeoTour tires.

GeoTour tires are manufactured by Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd., a Japanese firm and one of the world’s largest tire companies. GeoTour tires have excellent reviews, are quite durable, and last a long time. They normally come with a treadwear warranty of 65,000 miles.

Read on to know more about GeoTour tires, their manufacturer, and some user reviews to see how they perform on the road.

Who Makes GeoTour Tires?

Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd. produces a variety of tire models to meet the needs of various customers and driving styles. They make GeoTour tires, which are high-mileage and high-performance tires. Other tire models for cars and trucks are also produced by this manufacturer.

Sumitomo Rubber is a part of the Sumitomo Group, one of the world’s leading tire manufacturers. They provide tires with tread warranties of up to 65,000 miles, especially in H and V rated sizes.

H-rated tires can travel up to 130 miles per hour, while V-rated tires can travel up to 149 miles per hour. Even at high speeds, tires with H and V ratings can perform excellently.

Ratings of GeoTour Tires

The following table shows the rating given to GeoTour tires:

Tire Line	Tire Size	Construction	Temperature	Traction	Treadwear
H, V, W Rated	All Sizes	Radial	A	A	500
T Rated	All Sizes	Radial	B	A	500

Note:

The ability of a tire to stop on wet pavement is determined by its traction. The traction rating ranges from ‘AA,’ ‘A,’ ‘B,’ or ‘C,’ from highest to lowest.
Temperature is a parameter that determines how well a tire can withstand heat. Temperatures are graded from highest to lowest, with letters such as ‘A,’ ‘B,’ or ‘C.’
Treadwear is a property that indicates how quickly a tire’s tread wears out. The tread of the tire will take longer to wear down if the treadwear number is high. A control tire receives a grade of 100.

As you can see, GeoTour tires of all sizes have a good tire rating. This supports the manufacturer’s claims that it is an excellent tire.

To learn more about GeoTour Tires, see the article on roadsumo.com: GeoTour Tires Review [Who Makes Them? Are They Good?]

Sample Specs – GeoTour Tires

Here are the full specifications of a certain GeoTour tire to provide you a more detailed overview. It’s the 225/40r18 92V SL model, which is an all-season tire in the touring performance V class with a top speed of 149 mph.

The load range of the tire is SL, indicating that it is a standard load tire. The maximum load pressure for this tire is 35 pounds per square inch (psi). It also passed pressure and air testing.

Full Tire Specifications

Model: GeoTour
Season: All Season
Brand: Sumitomo
Passenger Type
Aspect Ratio: 40
Size: 225/40R18
SL load range
92 load index
8-9/32 tread depth
Touring performance
Speed: Rating V
225 section width
18 inches rim diameter
25.1 inches overall diameter

Who Manufactures GeoTour Tires?

GeoTour tires are manufactured by Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd. It is a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate, Sumitomo Group. This company operates a variety of businesses. It has production plants in the United States and Asia, including Thailand, China, and Japan.

Sumitomo Rubber USA

Sumitomo Rubber has formed the Sumitomo Rubber USA, LLC to meet the growing demand for its tires in North America. It was formerly called Goodyear Dunlop Tires North America. Tonawanda, New York, is home to its tire manufacturing plant.

Falken Tires

Sumitomo Rubber has also bought Falken Tires, another tire brand. The company’s tire manufacturing plant is in Rancho Cucamonga, California. This is where the company’s headquarters is located.

The Dunlop brand is currently part of the Sumitomo Rubber business. It was purchased by Sumitomo from Sports Direct. Dunlop was purchased in Shirebrook, England, where Sports Direct International is headquartered.

You’ve probably never heard of Sumitomo before, but one of their tires has undoubtedly grabbed your attention. Usually, the name Sumitomo is not printed on the tires. You’ll see Dunlop or Goodyear instead.

Sumitomo Rubber presently owns and operates those two tire brands. Also, Sumitomo Rubber owns the companies that manufacture these tires. Despite the fact that the Sumitomo mark is not visible on the tire, they are the ones who are presently producing these tires.

In addition, Sumitomo has not actively promoted the Sumitomo brand. They are, in fact, flying under the radar, hoping that no one will notice. However, when it comes to producing long-lasting tires, they have all the necessary experience and expertise.

Dunlop Branded Tires

This plant has the capacity to produce about 4 million tires per year. They make tires for a variety of vehicles, including cars, motorbikes, buses, and trucks. Sumitomo has purchased a 75% stake in Goodyear Dunlop. They also got the rights to sell Dunlop tires in the United States, Mexico, and Canada to subsidiaries of Japanese carmakers.

Sumitomo Rubber Tires – Background

Sumitomo is a well-known Japanese tire brand, despite its unpopular name. Popular tire brands including Goodyear, Dunlop, and Falken are part of its portfolio. Sumitomo is also the parent company of Ohtsu, a low-cost tire brand.

Sumitomo is a genuine company. It is the world’s fifth-largest tire manufacturer. In terms of overall sales, other tire manufacturers such as Yokohama, Hankook, and Pirelli fall short. If this company produces low-quality tires, it cannot be the world’s fifth-largest tire manufacturer.

Sumitomo has a well-organized dealer network that provides a wide variety of tire options. As a result, Sumitomo was able to establish itself as one of the world’s top tire manufacturers.

Pros and Cons of GeoTour Tires

Sumitomo tires feature both positive and negative points. The positive aspects appear to outnumber the negative aspects. Perhaps it has a significant share of the market because it was able to identify a middle ground and profit from it. Its tires are not only long-lasting and safe, but they are also inexpensive:

Pros

1. Great Value

The best reason for car owners to buy Sumitomo tires is that they are affordable. However, unlike cheap Chinese tires, the quality of GeoTour tires is comparable to premium tires from well-known companies like Cooper, Kumho, and Hankook.

When you buy a GeoTour tire instead of a premium branded tire of equal quality, you can save up to 30 to 40%.

2. Long Tread Life

It is not a good idea to buy cheap tires because their treads wear out quickly. With Sumitomo GeoTour Tires, this is not the case. They are inexpensive, yet their treads can withstand road abrasions and strains better than other tire brands.

Sumitomo recognizes the quality of their tires and is willing to back them up with remarkable treadwear warranties. In some cases, their guarantees are even longer than those offered by premium tire manufacturers. In the long run, GeoTour tires are more cost-effective.

3. Safe

The company’s R&D center tests and inspects every GeoTour tire that leaves the Sumitomo tire factory. This is done to guarantee that all Sumitomo tires on the market are safe and will never endanger the users’ lives.

Therefore, Sumitomo’s GeoTour tires can provide safe traction in a variety of road conditions. Certainly, each GeoTour tire can perform excellently in the conditions for which it was designed.

Cheap tire manufacturers cut corners on quality control checks and tests. They also use rubber compounds of dubious quality and tread patterns of low quality. As a result, their tires cannot compete with other well-known tire brands.

Con

While Sumitomo GeoTour tires have many benefits, there is one major drawback that you should be aware of. It’s something you should think about before making a purchase.

Slightly Lags Behind Its Competitors

Sumitomo tires cannot compete on a level playing field with premium brands since they are less expensive. When compared to the performance of competitors such as Cooper, Hankook, Pirelli, Continental, Michelin, and Bridgestone, GeoTour tires will lag slightly behind.

And when it comes to grip and overall traction, Sumitomo tires will fall short of these other tires. GeoTour tires, on the other hand, are still worth considering because of their reduced price compared to the others.

Reviews of GeoTour Tires

Reading through the experiences of others who have used the GeoTour tires in vehicles is the best way to determine how they perform. One user stated that they had purchased new GeoTour h/t tires. 225/40r18 is the tire size.

Fairly Cheap

The tires, according to this user, were reasonably priced. They discovered that the tires do not appear to handle very well. In dry road conditions, their car’s traction control light came on in 4th gear and went straight.

Entry-level Tires

These tires, according to another user, are entry-level tires. They claim that it will work perfectly in the summer. However, they have found that these tires do not survive very long.

Sumitomo tires, according to one client, are awful tires. Even with perfect alignment and tire rotation every 5,000 miles, including proper tire pressure, they got 22,000 miles out of them.

Another customer purchased Sumitomo tour tires. However, after only a few years and 17,000 miles, the tire care center informed them that the tires needed to be replaced. They were disappointed since they just did local driving.

A car owner purchased Sumitomo touring tires as well. The tires have worn down to 4/32 tread after two years and 30,000 miles of use. This means they will need to replace their tires with new ones. Because it didn’t even surpass the 70,000-mile threshold, the warranty covers the change.

Good Reviews

However, some car owners have had positive experiences using Sumitomo tires. One user claims that the Sumitomo tires made his Mazda 3 quieter than other manufacturers of tires. Tires appear to last 25,000 miles under normal driving conditions, according to their experience.

Another customer stated that they purchased Sumitomo tires for their class mobile home in 2012. With 15,000 miles on the odometer, they are still good as new after four years. They said that they would purchase four more Sumitomo tires.

Sumitomo tires are also praised by another car owner. They owned a Toyota Town Ace with Sumitomo tires and a Honda Civic with Yokohama tires and had lived in Japan for roughly three years.

They replaced the Yokohamas twice, but the Sumitomos were never replaced until they left Japan. Sumitomo tires are good tires in this consumer’s experience. They said that they replaced their SUV’s Goodyear tires with Sumitomo tires, which were quieter and provided a nicer, more comfortable ride.

GeoTour Tires – Are They Good or Bad?

Sumitomo, like any other tire manufacturer, produces a variety of tire models to meet the needs of different customers and driving styles. And you may experience some of the advantages and disadvantages of the tires firsthand. That is a normal part of a consumer’s life.

When it comes to selecting the correct tires to provide you with long and reliable service, luck can also play a role. However, if you select tires that are appropriate for your needs and driving style, you will get the most out of your investment.

Conclusion – Review of GeoTour Tires

GeoTour tires are a product line of Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd. This tire manufacturer makes different passenger and commercial vehicle tires in a variety of sizes and capacities.

Their tires have also met industry standards and are suitable for use on cars and trucks. Also, these tires provide excellent value for money because they are inexpensive, relatively strong, and durable.

To help you decide if GeoTour tires are right for you, here’s a rundown of the brand’s pros and cons:

Pros