How are Falken tires?
 

I've seen a lot of people putting Falkens on their sports cars...I personally have never used them...are they that great, or are people putting them on just because they are cheaper?

they are the best budget tires, very good bang for the buck and they are meaty tires too..... i heard nothing but good things

Falken 452's FTW!!!!

The car comes from the factory with RE050As, among the best street-tires money can buy. Why someone would get a set of "budget tires" afterwards is beyond me.

Stick with RE050A PPs, PS2, or P Zeros. Any other non R-compound street-tire is a downgrade.

^^ clearly doesnt know that Falkens are the best bang for the buck and most choose to have it

ya. i dont do enough track driving to make it worthwhile for me to buy a $300 tire. falkens are the way to go. cheap. dont really know too much else.

cheap priced, good thread wear, good grip... good overall tire......

also, hankook V12's are similar in price...

^^heard nothing but good things about the v12s

LOL.

Have all the "bang for your buck" you want...they are still a major downgrade from the factory tires. Falken doesn't even have a street-tire in the same league as the RE050A. Tires are among the most critical aspects of a car, and frankly the last place I'd skimp just to save $200.

But hey, if you're a broke college student working paycheck-to-paycheck just to make your car payments, by all means...get the most bang for your buck possible. Don't stop at Falken, though. Take a look at the Fuzion ZRi or Exclaim UHP...similar tires that you only see on bastardized, riced out pieces of crap. :ugh2:

wow....:nutswinger::gtfo2:

Seriously? the re050's tread design is not NEARLY aggressive enough. Even the dated Azenies rt-615 will still be faster than them.
So im going to go out on a limb and say you think kumho is just Korean made garbage too right? while their Ecsta XS was tested as best of '09 by grassroots. even on top of Bridgestones RE-11 which is also on top of the re050. While doing that having the cheapest tire in the Max performance summer tire catagory. its like paying for a 911 turbo while the gtr still outperforms it
:inoutroflpuke::ughdance::ugh2:

Falken Tires are great like the RT615 mentioned a few posts above is a pretty good summer performance tire for the cost. I have yet to try the RE050's but I've heard good comments on them all over the place. Personally I don't use both Bridgestones or Falken due to the fact that I've been sponsored with Yokohama's Advan A048(s) so I run on R-compound all year long. (I don't drive the car in winter so it's all good) if you're curious about the Falken you should try them out yourself and see which ones you like better, I mean none of them are bad tires overall; so it wouldn't hurt.

angie*

I'd rather stick with Hankook's the gs3's and evo's are getting good reviews and are priced well!

I considered the falkens, but will be going with Nitto Invo's...

JoeD you're an idiot. Falken is as highly regarded as our Firestones if not more. Anyone that calls falken a budget riceboi tyre is just hopeless. The Falken Azenis line was one of the best high performance tires that money could buy before they discontinued the model. The new FK452s are good too, but i personally feel the azenis were better. I've been co-owning a tireshop for the past god knows how many years on the side of my real job and let me tell you that you don't have the knowledge or the exposure to call falken a budget riceboi tires.

Vredestein Sessanta best performance tire for the money you can buy. #1 on the autobaun.

Google search for review on it, and you will see many on my350z and the corvette/bmw and other forums praise these tires for the price and how good they are in wet/dry.

VREDESTEIN TIRE Sessanta - Performance Plus Tire

I got a price of $480~ shipped for two 19" 295x30x19s for my rear. That is cheap for that size.

I have had Kuhmo escatas, Bridgestone potenzas, and Firestone fire hawks. I have to say that it is pretty evenly between all of them I think you should look at the kuhmos they seem to have solid grip weather it is wet out or not. That is just my opinion.

ive run 6 pairs of Falkens on my IS300. great tire for the money! the ST-115's are where its at.

Working for a wheel & tire shop I have had many experiences with Falken tires. I always recommend them to customers looking for a great handling tire without breaking the bank. I would say the FK452 is probably our most popular seller.

I ran a set of FK452s on my old 240sx that pushed 400whp & 380wtq for over a year with extreme camber & stretched and they wore extremely well considering the abuse I put them thru on a daily basis. Rolling burnouts in 2nd gear going 50mph they were surprisingly sticky and hooked up pretty good.

Chris

Good stuff. I like the 452s....but i'm sad they discontinued the azenis st-115 line. Those are probably in my top 5 tires.

Anyone else find it interesting how any claims to the performance of said tires are immediately followed by "for the money" or something along those lines? Trying to justify their performance only relative to their low price speaks volumes on its own.

As I mentioned, I can't see how people chose to save $50-$75/tire given the role tires play in overall performance. You'll spend $1200+ for an exhaust-system that will give you 10 RWHP, but when it comes down to new tires every other year, opt to save a couple hundred.

Call me crazy, but I'm more a fan of the best tires...not the best tires for the money.

you do know it's not a nascar track going to work or picking up groceries...lol

if you never heard of Falken before, which is probably the case :gtfo2:

I have falkens too, on my 2nd set. I don't see falkens as imitation or cheapo brand. I have no problems buying falkens, made in japan I however would never buy rota wheels made not in japan. The oem bridgestone 350z tires were expensive but lacked performance. I'm not sure how different 370z tires are.

I'm not too concerned with getting 0.99 corners g's or making sure my braking distance is 110ft instead of 112ft. Bottom line is that most people wouldn't notice any difference between any of the aforementioned tires in most street driving situations.

I never said anything about it being good for the money. People are just saying that it's just that much sweeter because a tire this good, which is on par or better than more expensive brands is actually cheaper than them by a good amount. Please don't take falkens as a low grade tire. I've seen sets come and go and for different applications. You're NOT jeopardizing or compromising ANYTHING because you bought these for a cheaper price than other tires.

Wow. I can honestly say I'm speechless after reading these two quotes.

I guess I'm just in a different crowd.

Not saying Falken makes a low-grade tire. They are, however, mid-grade "budget" performance-tires. They have nothing comparable to the likes of PS2s, RE050A PPs, F1 GS-D3s, PZeros, etc. Frankly, any other street-tire is a big step down from the OEM 370Z tires. These are tires that come from the factory on some of the word's premier sports/exotic-cars, and downgrading from that level is quite laughable.

I can understand if you're in a bind and can't spend $1,200 on a set of proper tires as it's double what a set of Falken/Hankook/General/Fuzion will run, but as I said...what's an extra $600 every two years. :icon14:

LOL i still like how your using factory tires as a refrence

the factory can only put such a soft compound before getting whiney customers about how long their tires are lasting. show me one car using our oem tires winning races. and ill remind you that falken azenies rt-615 was top dog for several years at the scca championships. you wanted best the best tires. well falkens were the best and had a great price to boot

I learned years ago that the most expensive tire doesn't mean the best performance. One of the biggest factors is how and where you are driving the car. A street tire is completely different from a race tire. Most people on here, I'm assuming are referring to street tires for street application. There is a lot more to performance then just sheer grip. You have rolling resistance, road noise, lateral grip, wet & dry, wear, etc. No one tire can be better in all categories, for all cars, FWD, AWD, RWD.
Some of the so called budget tires that are spoke of, can provide 96-98% of the performance of the more expensive brand in some areas, and better performance in other areas, all while saving you hundreds of dollars. I think that's a smart choice, regardless if your a college student or earning $100K plus a year. Now if your looking for tires for the track, and shaving .05 seconds off your lap time is worth it to you, then buy a more expensive tire, but don't be surprised if your staring at the guys rear bumper with the less expensive tires. :tup:

I think you guys just need to learn to ignore certain opinions. Some people are internet elitists and generally think they know more than you and any and everything you think is simply not valid.

I ran some Falkens on my GT once and they were very good. Wet weather performance impressed me the most.

+1, ignore the troll

i had falken 425's on my g35 for years they r awesome tires for the money

I would run Falkens

I've had Falken 452's on my 350z (19" Nismo LMGT4's*) for AGES now. They are excellent tyres - they last really well, they're grippy and they are inexpensive - I will definitely get them again.




*same size/width etc as the 19's you get on the 370z

I'll accept being labeled a troll if it means I actually buy proper tires. Perhaps my definition of the word has been off this entire time. :)

I never meant to hurt anyone's feelings by talking down on said tires. I know people get attached to their purchases, but I guess I'm just in a different demographic.

Here is an objective C&D test with 9 "budget" tires compared to the PS2. They test the Falken Azenis RT-615...the flagship tire from Falken, marketed as "Competition DOT." It came behind the PS2 in all but only one test. Mind you, the PS2 is a full street-tire with 10/32 of tread-depth, OEM on some of the world's fastest cars, and is nowhere near a "Competition DOT" tire.

Tire Test: Nine Affordable Summer Tires Take On the Michelin PS2 - Comparison Tests - Auto Reviews - Car and Driver

To answer the OP's question...

...I would say it's strictly a cost issue. No one would buy a set if price was not of concern.

I'm not trying to trash Falken tires...I have no interest in doing so. Having owned a set of Azenis RT-215s over 6 years ago on an autocross-car, I was a satisfied with their performance for the most part. All I'm saying is that there are much better alternatives while not downgrading from the performance-level of the OEM tires on the car.

It’s along the lines of shopping for a cat-back exhaust system and buying one that was 2” vs. 2.5” because it was half the price, citing that you don’t care about extracting that extra several HP for the street. Doesn’t make much sense, does it? :icon14:

so you'd pay triple the price to stop like 5ft faster?? on daily driving

the PS2's are good tires, but comes with a price tag

also, comparing an exhaust to tires doesnt make much sense...lol

and who sells 2 inch pipes??

it's either 2.5 or 3...... sometimes 2.75

So you are trying to justify lower-than-stock performance on a price basis?

Based on this rationale, you don't need performance tires on a daily-driver since you should never come close to pushing the car to its limit on the street anyway. In that case, might as well just get the cheapest tires you can fit on the wheels. Who cares about nonsensical stopping-distances, cornering grip, or straight-line traction...right? Why the hell did the car come with good tires in the first place? :icon14:

But, to answer your question...yes. Absolutely. It's not limited to stopping-distance, either. Tires effect every measure of performance on a car. I will stress again...downgrading from what came from the factory is something I will never do. But hey, I guess I'm part of the minority, here.

Look up hyperbole.

I think I'm done here. If you'll excuse me, my car is due for a new set of brake-pads...off to AutoZone to buy the cheapest ones they have. I don't need good ones since I won't be on a track anytime soon...

but you zero experience with them.... it's like talking to a wall here.....

these are budget priced performance tires that have very good results


these are not walmart budget tires you are thinking of


so, u dont seem to get the difference at all.... i mean at all....lol

Stock Bridgestone Potenza RE050 Tire Reviews & Ratings - Rate or Review a Tire

Falken FK-452 Tire Reviews & Ratings - Rate or Review a Tire

Wrong. Re-read my last post.

Very good results compared to what? Other budget performance tires? Apparently not, seeing as to how the best Falkens came in 7th in a test of 9 "budget performance tires" in the C&D test I linked to above. Of course, that will be dismissed due to being a lowly magazine-test, though. But, hey...7th place is pretty good, I guess. :)

yea, there's only 9 tires in the world..... 7th place would suck

wonder who that is......lol