If you’ve got a sporty sedan or coupe, or a high-performance crossover or SUV, the best way to fully realize its potential is with a set of ultra-high-performance summer tires. All-season tires are great in a lot of ways; they deliver year-round grip along with a refined ride, low noise, handling that’s capable and predictable, great road manners, and long wear, usually with a generous limited manufacturer’s tread life warranty. As great of an all-around choice as premium all-season tires are, though, they often fall a bit short of what people are looking for when it comes to really enthusiastic driving, the type of driving that crowds the envelope of a vehicle’s handling abilities.

That’s where summer or UHP tires come in. Summer and UHP tires have some key design differences compared to all-season tires, the kind of design elements that give them an extra edge in cornering ability, steering response, and braking performance. They’re designed around the weight, center of gravity, horsepower, torque, and handling properties of today’s performance sedans, coupes, and crossovers (sometimes in collaboration with the automakers themselves), and they feature motorsports-inspired construction, design, and materials. The Lionhart LH-Eleven is designed to give you premium levels of performance and value in a summer/UHP tire, at an affordable price. Since it is a UHP summer tire it should not be used when temperatures are consistently below 45 degrees Fahrenheit. Let’s go in and get a closer look at what this tire has to offer with this Lionhart LH-Eleven tire review:

Features and Benefits

Here are some of the design features and innovations that make the Lionhart LH-Eleven such a strong performer and a great value in a summer performance tire:

• Silica-enriched tread formulation is designed for consistently even wear, good wear properties, and improved grip on dry or wet pavement
• Asymmetric tread with wide tread blocks, and wide circumferential grooves that efficiently route water away from the tire’s tread patch to resist hydroplaning
• The tread is divided into two segments, with the inboard side optimized for dry-weather performance and the outboard side designed for wet-weather traction
• Patented tread depth indicators give a driver an at-a-glance look at the tire’s remaining tread and traction abilities
• Shoulder blocks reinforced to resist the inertia and stresses of cornering, reducing tread deformation and “squirming” during hard maneuvers and fast curves
• Tread pitch is randomized and computer-tuned to reduce road noise by neutralizing certain frequencies and overtones
• Low-profile design looks great on a wide variety of sporty vehicles

Pros and Cons

PROS:

• Affordable price point
• Superb grip on wet or dry pavement in warm weather
• Quiet ride on the highway
• Steering response and cornering are nimble and quick

CONS:

• No limited manufacturer’s tread life warranty
• Ride quality can be firm on some pavement surfaces
• Not suitable for colder weather

SimpleTire’s view on Lionhart LH-Eleven tires

Are you familiar with SimpleScore? SimpleScore is the ratings system that the SimpleTire team developed to give you a quick at-a-glance idea of a tire’s strengths and weaknesses. We take into account the manufacturer’s info, specs, technical information, customer reviews, and other data points, then process all of that into a 1-10 numerical value for the categories of traction, handling, and longevity, as well as an overall average SimpleScore. In the case of the Lionhart LH-Eleven, the SimpleScore looks like this:

Lionhart LH-Eleven:

• Traction: 6.3
• Handling: 8.1
• Longevity: 5.7
• Overall average SimpleScore: 6.4

On the interstate, the straight-line tracking of the Lionhart LH-Eleven is composed and solid, with little need for correction and driver input. Ride quality is controlled and consistent, with a quick rebound over bumps and irregularities but little in the way of vibration and harshness making its way to the driver and passengers. The silica-rich tread compound delivers glue-like adhesion to the pavement on dry roads, and the system of circumferential and angled grooves delivers traction that’s equally confident on wet pavement, with great control and short braking distances.

On the curves, the Lionhart LH-Eleven hangs in admirably with few notable vices and little tendency toward understeer. With an RWD vehicle, the LH-Eleven can drift and kick the rear end out a little with a blip of the throttle, but corrects itself and comes back around with a little encouragement. Steering response is light and quick without being overly sensitive or touchy, and braking performance is equally decisive. It’s true that the Lionheart isn’t an all-season tire; its tread formulation is softer and “stickier,” but will also stiffen up and lose traction in colder weather. Like most summer/UHP tires, the Lionhart shouldn’t be used if temperatures are below 40-45 degrees F.

It’s also true that this tire doesn’t come from the factory with a limited manufacturer’s tread life warranty, but most summer and UHP tires don’t have that kind of coverage. What you get with the Lionhart LH-Eleven is a great bang for the buck: a performance tire that offers features and value you’d expect from a premium tire that costs much more. It’s a great option for a sporty vehicle that you don’t want to spend a lot of money on to get fitted with a set of tires that will live up to its potential.

Vehicles the Lionhart LH-Eleven is a good replacement tire for

While not used as original equipment, the Lionhart LH0Eleven is a good replacement tire for the:

• Acura TL
• Audi A6
• BMW 135i
• Buick Regal
• Chevrolet Impala
• Dodge Charger
• Ford Focus
• Honda Civic
• Hyundai Veloster
• Jaguar XKR
• Lexus GS350
• Lincoln LS
• Mazda6
• Toyota CH-R
• Toyota 86
• Toyota RAV4
• Honda Crosstour
• Kia K5
• Mazda Miata MX-5
• Mercedes-Benz E550
• Nissan Maxima
• Pontiac G6
• Scion tC
• Subaru BRZ
• Toyota Camry
• Volkswagen CC Sport
• Ford Mustang