Sumitomo Htrziii Directional?

They are Asymmetrical, but not directional. The inner and outer shoulder design is different, and much more important that the tread pattern. I used these for my "track tires" on my last car and liked them very much! I did a track day at NJMP on Thunderbolt in the rain, and they worked beautifully, but that was on an AWD car, too.

The markings on the tire are there for a reason.

For example, the Dunlop Star Spec's are Directional, and have an arrow pointing in the proper direction of rotation on the sidewalls. From TR's website: "The Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec tread compound is molded into a directional design featuring notched, continuous shoulder ribs, large intermediate shoulder blocks and a wide center rib to deliver consistent contact with the road and enhance grip during cornering." So long as the rotation is in the direction of the arrows, you can mount the tire on either side of the car, but it still rolls the same direction.

The Sumi's just say "Outside, with no arrow."
"The Sumitomo HTR Z III features a silica-enhanced tread compound molded into a sophisticated, 5-rib, asymmetric tread design." You can mount these on either side of the car, but with the "outside"-out, the tire would be rolling in either direction.

If your neighbor likes tread patterns, tell him to look at the stock P-Zero Nero All-Season tires. The tread pattern goes "both" ways! It's also Asymmetrical (and says "Outer" on the outside), but not Directional.

As was said, they are asymmetrical, but not directional, and work just fine so long as the outside is out. I use them on my daily driver BMW and they work in everything but snow (of course).