Anyone riding on falken ZE-912/ZE-512 tires? yes i searched -_-, I think these tires have what Im looking for but I want opinions Options

[enderswift]

hey everyone, I've been doing alot of research on tires lately and I think i've settled on falken ZE-912/ZE-512 tires. According to the interwebs, the falkens are UHP tires that wont kill me when it snows. They seem to offer really good performance (z rated) and tread life but tend to be noisy. I'm a bit suspicious because they sound too good to be true, and their description on falkens website simply gushes about their technical prowess blah blah blah. I've read reviews all over the place BUT i know that most online reviews suck because the reviewers hadn't given the tire any time to break in. Thats why i want to see if anyone here has had these tires for an extended period of time. Do they really grip that well? How much worse do they make our already bad road noise prob? What is snow traction like? Is it true that the sidewall is actually softer (IE handle worse) than on the older 512's?


Im stuck between choosing these falkens a set of toyo proxes or khumo ecstas. I've had the proxes before on a different car and they were AMAMZING even when almost worn out. help me out here

This post has been edited by enderswift: Nov 26, 2008 - 11:54 PM

[elvasoshexai]

i dunno what review you read.. but every review i read about the 512 is that don't use them when it snows... even though it is all season... they suck bad in the snow... they seem to do great in the rain tho... as long as it's not freezing rain...

and their treadlife is pretty bad too.. i think people say they usually get between 20-30k miles out of them

they also get really noisy when they start to wear

no idea about the 912 tho

This post has been edited by elvasoshexai: Nov 27, 2008 - 10:50 AM

[BURNSJ2]

im usin the 512s. im also dropped with teins and havent had a problem. they are loud. but with a 215/45zr17 i expected that wen i bought em. decent tread wear, ive had em for about 70,000 miles and they still look about 50%. of course it doesnt snow here in vegas, but it has been raining for like thre days. the people here have absolutely no idea how to drive in the rain either. lol. but after nearly being killed about 4 times the tires were holding the ground and i could stop. snow is a bit out of my range but in an inch of water they held up.

[Cutrara]

Don't get the ecstas, I had them, tread life sucks, theyre noisy, too soft rubber (they get damaged easily). Performance is ok... But I have yet to find a set of tires I like.

[enderswift]

In other words just stick with the proxies? anyone wanna chime in regarding those?

[808celica]

WOOOT!!! for toyos some damn good tires they make me feel like AWD

[95celgt]

are you guys serious?! proxes are CR@P!!!

they couldn't handle the 3sgte power anyway, they spun to easy, understeered, noisy as heck, and rain driving was downright dangerous....hydroplane to the max! and in light rain they made the car feel RWD through a simple turn (spun the car out doin a wide 20mph turn)..

Ive had Both the 512 and 912.....the 512 was good when new on my stx and rain grip was excellent but the tires wore FAST, got like 12K miles out of them...and they were soft so you couldn't really tell the limit was approaching..

I have the new 912's on my current celica on 17inch wheels and they are GREAT...dry and wet grip is great, the noise level/comfort level is great (rides really quiet and mine is convertible!) I have 3K miles on them and they show almost no wear

[enderswift]

really? I had horrible worn proxes on my vdub and they handled waaay better than the goodyears i replaced them with. As for the 912's, I've read that they are way superior to the 512's but the prices are just too good to be true ~60 per tire. cmon. sigh this tire stuff is hard

[808celica]

are you guys serious?! proxes are CR@P!!!

they couldn't handle the 3sgte power anyway, they spun to easy, understeered, noisy as heck, and rain driving was downright dangerous....hydroplane to the max! and in light rain they made the car feel RWD through a simple turn (spun the car out doin a wide 20mph turn)..

Ive had Both the 512 and 912.....the 512 was good when new on my stx and rain grip was excellent but the tires wore FAST, got like 12K miles out of them...and they were soft so you couldn't really tell the limit was approaching..

I have the new 912's on my current celica on 17inch wheels and they are GREAT...dry and wet grip is great, the noise level/comfort level is great (rides really quiet and mine is convertible!) I have 3K miles on them and they show almost no wear

was just kidding

rain driving wasnt a problem

[brthrurik]

have had the 512's loved 'em. got 24k miles out of em, got 912 on the xb love them too, not as soft as the 512's but handle and grip just as well and are a true "all season" tire. for the price you can't beat them. the celica got an upgrade to the falken fk 452's and a set of hankook ice bears for winter.

[terqui]

I just got a set of 512s. They cant have more than 100 miles on them and i like them. I had a set of potenza g009 before which i loved. As far as i can tell so far the 512's have amazing wet and dry grip. I cant really speak for the treadwear yet though.

[95celgt]

512's will probably last you a year.........2 if you drive like a grandma

[enderswift]

gotta love buying tires every year... im gonna do some more research on the 912's. ill let you guys know what i find out

[presure2]

i had 3 sets of the 512's.
theyre great....when theyre new.
once they get ~10k on them, they turn to junk in the rain, and dont even THINK about driving in snow with them, you will go nowhere.

[bhawk94]

I have been running the 205-50-15 ZE-912's for about 6,000 miles or more. So far they have provided adequate traction around speedy corners and are quiet on the highway. Good tire for the money.

Keep in mind, I have not had them very long and I'm using them on smaller wheels.

[LewFX]

452s are nice, proxies are lame (not enough bite for me)

[enderswift]

okay. avoid the 512's got it. bhawk have you had a chance to drive those in the snow?

[richee3]

I wouldn't say avoid them altogether at all! I'm running a set of 512's on my car right now. I've had them for 18,000 miles. They are REALLY quiet when they are new. Now that they are about half worn, they are starting to get a little louder but still aren't noisy by any means. I've had the Ecsta's on my car and Cooper Zeon's and both were crap. The Ecsta's didn't give much traction, but they at least lasted. The Zeons had wires showing before 10,000 miles and I never even drove them hard Overall, the 512's are my favorite tire. All my friends and I have had them and we all love them more than all the other tires we've had. I get GREAT traction in the rain, but from every review I've read, I'm not even gonna consider my car once we get some snow here. But in the end, it's your money and you can buy whatever tires you want. I know I'm getting a set of 912's after my 512's wear out just so I can see which set I prefer.

[elvasoshexai]

i'm not sure, but do 512s also give a slightly harsher ride? both my cars r running them so not sure if it's just my crap low profile sizing or the tire

[enderswift]

profile matters alot. But any UHP tire will give a harsher ride, its one of the tradeoffs you concede for more grip.

All right, Im going to get the 912's since they are the replacements for the 512's and alot of people seem to like those. As far as snow goes... Ill try them out, if they suck Ill just bolt on my stock rims/allwheathers until spring. Thanks for the input guys. Anyone who has the urge to can hijack this thread now

[richee3]

profile matters alot. But any UHP tire will give a harsher ride, its one of the tradeoffs you concede for more grip.

All right, Im going to get the 912's since they are the replacements for the 512's and alot of people seem to like those. As far as snow goes... Ill try them out, if they suck Ill just bolt on my stock rims/allwheathers until spring. Thanks for the input guys. Anyone who has the urge to can hijack this thread now

Good choice! I <3 my Falkens After you get your 912's could you PM me and tell me how you like them? Since I'm getting a set for my next set of tires.

[enderswift]

will do sir. may take a while, Majoring in M E eats ALL of your time

This post has been edited by enderswift: Dec 2, 2008 - 7:26 PM

[GriffGirl]

THREAD JACK!!!

I got new tires on Wednesday and I really really love them so far, granted I only have like 80 or so miles on them but I've driven them on dry pavement and in good ole' Oregon rain which = 3 inches of water in the ruts on the highway, and I absolutely love them. They handle great, are smooth and much quieter than the POS Khumo Ecstas I had on before.

Yokohama S Drive 225/45/R17

[enderswift]

oooooo fancy. nice rims too

[GriffGirl]

(too bad they're chewed to all hell LOL)

[BURNSJ2]

griffy you got the same rims and tires as me! how do they feel to you?
i had those yokohamas on it when i bought it. i think i shoulda stuck with those. instead i got the falken 512s.

This post has been edited by BURNSJ2: Dec 2, 2008 - 9:35 PM

[Valo666]

I used to sell Falkens...ALOT...I originaly had a set of FK452s on my celica, I had 512s on my civic when i bought it, and ive driven in cars on 912s...personaly...I like falkens for being sooo freaking sticky...when they are new..like Manny said. My 452s, not even 20xxxkm on them. One season...gone..bald as hell. And my car was aligned properly too. My 512s, lasted me 6 months, like 10xxxkm on my civic, and it was aligned properly too. 912s, same story. They are amazingly good tires when they are brand new, but when it comes to highspeed driving, or bad roads, they melt like a wet news paper. What I was running on my celica before I parked it was a set of Toyo Proxy TPTs. They were pretty cheap, good grip, quiet, good tread wear/life. I liked them. Right now on Keroppis celica im running a set of General Exclaim UHPs up front and a set of BFG Traction T/As that i got from my work for free (go tire repairs). The generals are good, cheap (about $110CND per tire for a 205/50R16) and are lasting pretty good.


As for wanting an all season that will be good in the winter, the best one is a winter tire. All season tires are 3 season tires, they loose grip at about 7 degrees C, or about 40 degrees F (just guesstamating..but some where around there). But when you also use a UHP tire or any thing that is suppost to be a dry weather/performance tire...you arent gonna get the grip you need at all. I always buy winters for my cars. My supra, winters, my celica, winters, my civic, winters, my girlfriends celica, winters. Its a $400 safety poloicy....u spend $400 on gettin tires that will make sure you have grip in the snow and wet and the cold, and $400 isnt that much compaired to crashing your car and having to repair it. The winters ive been running for the last 4 years on the different cars has been Perelli winter carving tires..I was going to get some Nokian's but they were out of stock with more coming in in Feb.


EDIT: Also, the 512s have been discontinued, and superseaded by the 912s. So if some one says that they have a brand new set of 512s for sale, check the manufacturing date on the DOT # on the side. Most likely they are at least 2 years old sitting or they are used.

This post has been edited by Valo666: Dec 2, 2008 - 9:46 PM

[brthrurik]

the 912's are much better in snow than the 512's were, but still not intended for heavy snow.

[6strngs]

falken tires don't last for crap. you're lucky if you get 15K out of them. even though the milage warranty is like 50K miles no real experience driving on them, but they're real soft, cheap, and overall crappy tires. same with kumhos. I've currently got a set of hankook HR-IIs on my alltrac and I really like them. Really soft tires, but tons of grip in the corners and launching. I've got about 3K on them right now and they still look new, even with how I drive on them.... but, they probably wouldn't be great for the snow. I dunno cause it only snows in the mountains here and I haven't gone snowboarding yet this year. Anyway, you might be happier with a slightly more expensive set of tires. Anything with the michelin name on it is going to be one of the best tires you can get, unfortunately also one of the most expensive. I had a set of BF goodrich traction T/As on my 6gc for the longest time. Bought them the day after I bought the car and they lasted probably a good 16-17K miles before I took them off, and they still had quite a bit of tread then too! They handled better and gave better traction than the yokohama AVS ES100's that I replaced them with too. I shouldn't have taken them off when I did

[richee3]

EDIT: Also, the 512s have been discontinued, and superseaded by the 912s. So if some one says that they have a brand new set of 512s for sale, check the manufacturing date on the DOT # on the side. Most likely they are at least 2 years old sitting or they are used.

Didn't think to check the manufacture date on mine, but I knew they had been discontinued. But somehow, Discount Tire keeps getting shipments in. And ONLY Discount Tire. They still get new 512's in all the time, so they must be in good with the right people at Falken to get the last ones.

[6strngs]

EDIT: Also, the 512s have been discontinued, and superseaded by the 912s. So if some one says that they have a brand new set of 512s for sale, check the manufacturing date on the DOT # on the side. Most likely they are at least 2 years old sitting or they are used.

Didn't think to check the manufacture date on mine, but I knew they had been discontinued. But somehow, Discount Tire keeps getting shipments in. And ONLY Discount Tire. They still get new 512's in all the time, so they must be in good with the right people at Falken to get the last ones.

they probably just get them dirt cheap now and still sell them full price with no regard for your safety a tire over 6 years old should be replaced regardless of tread life. The tread can start to seperate and cause a nasty blowout which can end in a deadly crash.

btw, those who are wondering, you can check what year your tires were made in by the DOT number on the side of the tire. Look at the last 4 digits in the last bubble, the first to numbers refer to what week and the second two refer to year. for example, if the last four are 3407, then the tire was made in the 34th week of 2007. if it's only a 3 digit number than the tire was made in the 90's... btw, the full dot number is only stamped on one side of the tire so depending on how yours is mounted, you may have to crawl under the car with a flashlight to see it. on the other side of the tire you'll just see a random assortment of 7-8 numbers and letters. These can tell you what plant they were made in and stuff like that, but I don't know how to read them. lol.

[enderswift]

...just when i thought i was settled everyone has to raise doubt again

I can live with a short life span if it means highlighting my celicas handling (its all I have ). I already have winter tires on there right now so Im set. plus I drive about 6 K a year. Think ill be good?

[richee3]

6strngs, you've got me worried now lol. I know my tires aren't 6 years old by any means, and I know they were discontinued before I ever bought them. I had heard great things about the performance of the 512 vs the 912 though, so I went with the discontinued 512. I was told the 512 was more performance oriented whereas the 912 was more daily driver friendly (still performance oriented though. Hope that little tidbit of information helps somebody out.) Anyway, I just went outside and checked the DOT number on my tires. It wasn't anything like you said, it just said V4H7. There was also the string of numbers and letters that you said, but the 4 digit code was simply V4H7 so I have no idea when they were manufactured.

Oh well, my tires are out of alignment and I've had to skid to a stop a few times, so I need new tires pretty bad anyway

EDIT: Enderswift, I think you'll be fine with the Falkens. Everyone else is saying that theirs didn't last very long. I hardly go flying around any corners as fast as I can, and I doubt if my car could do a burnout if I wanted it to. So my 512's have 18,000 miles and them and have at least that to go. Well, if they wre aligned properly, they would lol. So since you only drive 6,000 miles per year, I think you'd have no problems with 912's. That's just my opinion. In the end, it's your money and you can buy whatever tires you want. Don't buy Falkens just because someone else likes them and told you to.

This post has been edited by richee3: Dec 3, 2008 - 12:59 AM

[enderswift]

appreciate the reply richee, Im not too worried about their tread life but if you're getting 18+ K, I should be alright. Dont worry, I did ALOT of hw on tires before I narrowed it down and im not one to simply go on recomendations alone. Its kind of my own little ocd tendency to research something to death before I commit. Just wanted to get the communities input since the reviews on tire rack are just too wide ranging.

oh yea I think this website might clear up your manufacturing date question:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/tec...e.jsp?techid=11

[6strngs]

6strngs, you've got me worried now lol. I know my tires aren't 6 years old by any means, and I know they were discontinued before I ever bought them. I had heard great things about the performance of the 512 vs the 912 though, so I went with the discontinued 512. I was told the 512 was more performance oriented whereas the 912 was more daily driver friendly (still performance oriented though. Hope that little tidbit of information helps somebody out.) Anyway, I just went outside and checked the DOT number on my tires. It wasn't anything like you said, it just said V4H7. There was also the string of numbers and letters that you said, but the 4 digit code was simply V4H7 so I have no idea when they were manufactured.

Oh well, my tires are out of alignment and I've had to skid to a stop a few times, so I need new tires pretty bad anyway

EDIT: Enderswift, I think you'll be fine with the Falkens. Everyone else is saying that theirs didn't last very long. I hardly go flying around any corners as fast as I can, and I doubt if my car could do a burnout if I wanted it to. So my 512's have 18,000 miles and them and have at least that to go. Well, if they wre aligned properly, they would lol. So since you only drive 6,000 miles per year, I think you'd have no problems with 912's. That's just my opinion. In the end, it's your money and you can buy whatever tires you want. Don't buy Falkens just because someone else likes them and told you to.

yeah, sorry I didn't do a very good job at describing it. it's probably on the other side of the tire. on one side you'll see something like "BJCD AMH" while on the other side, it'll be the same numbers/letters followed by 4 numbers, example: "BJCD AMH 1308" That tirerack link will explain it better, I'm sure.

it's not like you'll die immidiately if your tires are 6 years old, though tire shops will try to tell you that so they can sell you stuff. lol. But, if your tread is seperating, which will look like there is a large air bubble underneath a section of the tread of your tire, it can be dangerous. and older tires are more likely to seperate. Most tire manufacturer's recommend to replace your tires if they are more than 4 years old, except a couple companys, such as michelin, recommend 6 years. When I worked at America's tire/discount tire, we recommended tires after 6 years old, and refuse to touch anything more than 10 years old. honestly, if you take your tires in for a rotation, they should be able to spot if you have any seperation (that is, if you're lucky enough to get somebody who knows what they're doing.) I'm positive though if you took it in for a rotation, and asked them to tell you what year your tires were from, they would do it for you.

one last thing, be sure to check all 4 tire's dates. even if you bought all 4 at the same time, they can still all have different dates on them.

[richee3]

Enderswift, I'm glad you did your homework before deciding on your tires. That's more than a lot of people can say. I got 18,000 miles out of my 512's already and have quite a few more to go, and the 912's are supposed to last longer, if I'm not mistaken. I think you'll be happy with them.

6strngs, I just went out and looked again after reading that article, and I found the manufacture date. All 4 of mine are 3307, so the 33rd week of 2007. They aren't separating at all, no problems there. The only problem I've had with these tires is that I only have two options for getting my tires aligned. One place SUCKS!!!! And the other charges out the a** for it. So I got my tires aligned when I had my car lowered, about a week before I got these Falkens. Then since my struts were already blown before I lowered the car so needless to say my Eibach's weren't the best thing for them. So I raised the car back up and sold the springs just to have some extra money and replaced my struts. Anyway, I haven't been able to afford another alignment since then so the outsides of my tires are starting to get chewed up pretty bad. But they've still got a while to go. Rather than paying for another alignment, I'm just going to lower the car again When I buy new tires, I mean. Get all of that done at once.

But yeah, Discount Tire is still getting 512's in so if anyone else orders them, they really should check the dates. I'm guessing you won't be getting 6 year old tires, but nonetheless, it's worth it to be safe. I didn't even think about checking the date or even know anything about that when I bought mine.

[GriffGirl]

griffy you got the same rims and tires as me! how do they feel to you?
i had those yokohamas on it when i bought it. i think i shoulda stuck with those. instead i got the falken 512s.

LOL Must've been the America's Tire special aka Discount Tire other places in the US. The rims were on it when I bought it, along with some horrible Khumo Ecstas and Fuzion ZRIs that I HATED.

I've only got about 200 miles on the Yokos, I literally got them a week ago, so I can't exactly give an accurate review but in the week I've had them, they've handled just as well on dry pavement as on wet pavement. I absolutely LOVE them. I did research the hell out of tires before I decided on these, and in researching them there was a really great review on Tirerack.com that strongly influenced me to get them. The person who wrote the review wrote one review a couple hundred miles into the tires, updated it a little while later, and then added a 3rd review about 10k into them. That's what I call thorough! I had a budget so it wasn't like I could just get the best tires I could find, I had to get the best tires I could find within that budget.

The really awesome part is that I printed out the tirerack.com page on the tires and brought it with me to America's Tire, where they pricematched them. It wound up saving me $100, plus another $60 because I had a coupon America's Tire emailed out. So basically it was like getting 4 tires for the price of 2 and a third

[hurley97]

Nice Griff, I would like to know your review after driving on them for a while. I want to get the S.Drive I just have no reason to yet. I have Yokohama AVID H4S right now and they are maybe about half worn if that, I got them well over a year ago. I love my Yokohama's, I fully intend to stay with the brand and highly recommend some form of Yokohama to anyone.

I had Falken 512's on my stock wheels and loved them... for 6mo before they became almost bald and horrible in anything but dry racetrack conditions, but for the money they were just fine. Not to mention they were like screw and nail magnets, or I just had bad luck with them.
When I got my rims they came with Kumho Ecsta 712's that I had so many problems with bubbles in the sidewalls, I hated them and everything about them. After having to replace one because of a bubble and 2 more bubbles in another one I replaced them with the Falken 512s again, and I loved them again, you can't beat them for the first 6 months.
Then Dustin recommended the Yokohama's and I decided to try them. (Knock on wood) I have had no problems with them whatsoever. I picked up a nail once but it didn't go all the way through, never had a bubble in the sidewall, they wear nice and evenly, I rotated them once after about 20-25k miles because I thought I probably should and there was almost no difference in tread depth, traction could be a little better in heavy rain. Overall the best tire I've had and have lasted the longest.

[CelicaST_CALI]

griffy you got the same rims and tires as me! how do they feel to you?
i had those yokohamas on it when i bought it. i think i shoulda stuck with those. instead i got the falken 512s.

LOL Must've been the America's Tire special aka Discount Tire other places in the US. The rims were on it when I bought it, along with some horrible Khumo Ecstas and Fuzion ZRIs that I HATED.

I've only got about 200 miles on the Yokos, I literally got them a week ago, so I can't exactly give an accurate review but in the week I've had them, they've handled just as well on dry pavement as on wet pavement. I absolutely LOVE them. I did research the hell out of tires before I decided on these, and in researching them there was a really great review on Tirerack.com that strongly influenced me to get them. The person who wrote the review wrote one review a couple hundred miles into the tires, updated it a little while later, and then added a 3rd review about 10k into them. That's what I call thorough! I had a budget so it wasn't like I could just get the best tires I could find, I had to get the best tires I could find within that budget.

The really awesome part is that I printed out the tirerack.com page on the tires and brought it with me to America's Tire, where they pricematched them. It wound up saving me $100, plus another $60 because I had a coupon America's Tire emailed out. So basically it was like getting 4 tires for the price of 2 and a third

hey watch yourself lady

[6strngs]

I rotated them once after about 20-25k miles because I thought I probably should

to get maximum life out of your tires I'd recommend rotating every 5-6K miles. you could do it every oil change or every other, depending how often you do it. unless, of course, there's a noticable difference in tread between front and rear. you wanna keep your best 2 in the rear to help you from losing control in the rain and whatnot.

This post has been edited by 6strngs: Dec 4, 2008 - 12:40 AM

[BURNSJ2]

yeah i was gonna stay with the yokos but they were so expensive. i had the es100s, and they were like 300 a piece. really loved those tires though. thats probably one of the only tire brands ive never heard anything bad about.

[3TST]

This may, or may not, be appropriate as I have a GT4 ST205 and I'm in the UK.
However...
I'm surprised noones mentioned Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3s.
Highly recommended on the GT4 ST205.

Having said that, I have just got a set of Kumho Ecsta KU31s.
Only done about 3000 miles on them but so far they handle extremely well and I've had no issues, or moments, in the dry or the wet.
Only down side I could mention is that I do notice a bit of road noise.
But for the price I got them fitted they were like $50 a tyre cheaper than the Falkens.

[6strngs]

This may, or may not, be appropriate as I have a GT4 ST205 and I'm in the UK.
However...
I'm surprised noones mentioned Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3s.
Highly recommended on the GT4 ST205.

excellent tires! also up there as being one of the most expensive though, which is the issue.

[GriffGirl]

Oh, no doubt those Goodyears are excellent tires I've heard too. But yeah, they are SPENDY.

On the Khumos - I know there are several different models they make. There's several different Ecstas, IDK which ones I had, all I know is that I hated them. They were brand new when I bought my car in July 07, and DEFINITELY needed to be replaced probably less than a year later. Actually, yeah, because I went to get them rotated the following spring and the back tires were so worn that my car handled really funky so I went back to have them put back the way they were. They sucked in the rain, were alright on dry but nothing special, and while I realize I drive a hell of a lot because my commute is so long, I still expect tires to last longer than a year.

Just remember that whatever tires you buy, or anyone, shop around and get the place to pricematch. America's Tire/Discount Tire wanted $140/ea for my S.Drives (plus mounting/balancing @ $13/ea) but Tirerack.com has them for $115/ea. plus that coupon I had and I saved myself $160!

[3TST]

Here are the Kumhos I've got Kumho Ecsta SPT KU31
This may have been mentioned already but the Falken FK452 is ment to be a really good tyre but I have heard that it wears quite quickly.

[6strngs]

just another example of how crappy falken tires are. At work today I had a mustang come in, and all 4 tires were bald, like beyond bald. like past the wear bars, less than 1/32" of tread left, BALD! The tires were falkens, I think they were the ZE-328's. anyway, I show somebody, and he says that the tires had 13,000 miles on them! and the person got an alignment when they bought them from us... this was only her second rotation for these tires as she rotated every 6K like you're supposed to.

[richee3]

Eh, I think a lot of that has to do with driving conditions and driving style. For example, there have been a few people in this thread say that their 512's didn't last very long. But mine have 18,000 on them and have quite a bit left to go. BUT I never drive my car very hard. Then again, I had a set of Cooper Zeons on my car. Great traction, but around 8,000 miles they were gone and at 10,000 they had wires showing. I think I have a picture.. Let me go look.

Yeah, found one. This is with between 8-9,000 miles.




Also, I'm not saying that it's the driver's fault that her Falken's wore out prematurely. I honestly don't know anything about the ZE-328's.

[BonzaiCelica]

so now that im reading this post about these tires. i was all for buying zome fk452 cause some people said that they are really good at first but dont last very long. You think that if i rotate tires every 3,000 miles they could last me 20,000 miles. Or should i just buy zx-912 instead.

[6strngs]

so now that im reading this post about these tires. i was all for buying zome fk452 cause some people said that they are really good at first but dont last very long. You think that if i rotate tires every 3,000 miles they could last me 20,000 miles. Or should i just buy zx-912 instead.

why are you set on buying falkens? I know they're cheap, but you get a cheap tire in exchange. The FK452 is a better tire, a lot more stiff than the other falkens which are very soft, it's also more of a performance tire though, which means they sacrificied longevity and road noise in exchange for performance. you might still get 20K out of them, though, rotating won't do a lot of good since they are directional so they can only be rotated front to back. if you get an alignment at the same time, you might get 20K though if you drive like a granny on them.

[97celiman]

SHUZAAAMMMMM

just came yesterday!!!!
if you have 16in wheels they are 49.00 a piece closeout sale!!!!!
GB highly recomend rode in a mini cooper s with them as street tires they are gummy (treadwear is like 280)
they'll only go for like 20k though

and its prob cuz its winter but i live in texas it just broke 32 here (oooo ahhhh)

will be going on my gt-s wheels and then clear turns and then i will finally have pictures

: ) yay

This post has been edited by 97celiman: Dec 4, 2008 - 11:51 PM

[97celiman]

btw those are eagle f1-ds3...if you can afford it id get some : ) and of course if your running a 16

[6strngs]

SHUZAAAMMMMM

just came yesterday!!!!
if you have 16in wheels they are 49.00 a piece closeout sale!!!!!
GB highly recomend rode in a mini cooper s with them as street tires they are gummy (treadwear is like 280)
they'll only go for like 20k though

and its prob cuz its winter but i live in texas it just broke 32 here (oooo ahhhh)

will be going on my gt-s wheels and then clear turns and then i will finally have pictures

: ) yay

lol. I love how they jump from $49 for 205/50/16, to $141 for 205/55/16. lol

[BonzaiCelica]

Well the reason why im settling for falken is cause i'm on a budget. Trying not to spend no more than a grand on wheels and tires. I mean all other local stores and tires shop charge you alot for wheels and tires. like 1100-1200.

Mainly cause im ordering these rims and tires package from edgeracing.com
I want the silver finish 17" Raze R74 . and plus i still have to do alignment for my cars since i havent done it since i put in new shocks and lowering springs.

It going to be $900 for the rims and tires plus another $70 for alignment. My current credit card only allows me a grand to spend thats my credit line.

I mainly drive very moderate or like a grandma sometimes. I really like to drive my car hard sometimes whenever i get the chance. But thats every once in a while. Would you suggest i just try the fk 452 and then go to a better tire later on. or go with the zx-912 since i mainly just drive normaly. How much longer you think the 912 would last. i mean 912 is all around season performance tire. and 452 is summer tire correct.

What tire would you suggest that i get later on that has pretty good tread life and grips well like the 452's..??? edgeracing is located in miami. here is the link to the tires and bundle packages with a selection of the different tires to choose from.

http://www.edgeracing.com/1994/Toyota/Celica/bundle/2843/

[6strngs]

well, I just looked at the bundles for the raze r74 wheels. it looks like you have the sumitomo HTR Z III as an option there for only $10 more than the falkens. Normally, I'd say sumitomo's are also pretty cheap tires, but tire rack did a test on these new HTR Z III's and wrote them an amazing review! might be worth giving them a shot

[BonzaiCelica]

alright then thx then 6 strngs, Ill look into them your probably right. but ill also read the review for the 3 different tires for myself...

This post has been edited by BonzaiCelica: Dec 5, 2008 - 8:14 PM

[richee3]

Hey, I have a question. 6strngs, you seems really knowledgeable on tires, so this one especially goes out to you. You say the Falkens are cheap crap, but I've had a different experience. But then again, I've driven like a grandma on these tires so at 20,000 miles I'm just to the point where most other people are at 10,000, so I'm guessing that I'm about to start experiencing the problems that everyone else has had. I was planning on buying the 912's when these wear out, but you say they are utter crap too.

So my question is, what are the best tires I can get for under $100 apiece? Best in this case means a good balance between grip and tire life. I know $100 isn't much, but I'm on a tight budget

[6strngs]

Hey, I have a question. 6strngs, you seems really knowledgeable on tires, so this one especially goes out to you. You say the Falkens are cheap crap, but I've had a different experience. But then again, I've driven like a grandma on these tires so at 20,000 miles I'm just to the point where most other people are at 10,000, so I'm guessing that I'm about to start experiencing the problems that everyone else has had. I was planning on buying the 912's when these wear out, but you say they are utter crap too.

So my question is, what are the best tires I can get for under $100 apiece? Best in this case means a good balance between grip and tire life. I know $100 isn't much, but I'm on a tight budget

well, I assume you have stock rims, going by your sig, and that you want the stock size of 205/55/15. I don't know if you meant $100 installed, or $100 without installation so I'll assume you meant installed. Also, some people like to order their tires from places like tire rack because they are usually cheaper, and then take them to a tire shop to be installed, but, usually when you do this, the tire shop will jack up the price of installation just cause they won't be making as much money since you didn't buy the tires with them, anyway, it comes out to be about the same price depending on what tire shop you go to. So, my recommendation is to have 2-3 different tires in mind, call around and ask how much the shops in your area would charge for these tires with installation if you bought them from them, and then ask how much it would be if you brought the tires in and wanted them put on (keeping in mind that you also have to pay for shipping with tirerack). when you find a price you like, get the salesman's name and set up an appointment.

anyway, I just briefly browsed on tire rack for tirea around $75-85 in that size, and I saw a couple good tires. I see the Dunlop Direzza DZ101's for $75. I had these on my 6gc in a 225/45/17 and they gripped and handled excellent! no idea on the life because I only had them on for maybe 2-3K, but they still look new after that, so life should be pretty good. I also see the BF goodrich G-force sports for $84, these were ones I was considering for my 17's. I heard a lot of very good things about the performance on them, though they tend to start cupping after a while, which is where the tire tread is uneven and when you run your hand over it it feels like waves of water, it's up and down, up and down. It can be caused by too much positive caster (an alignment angle, in case you didn't know) or worn shocks. Unfortunately caster isn't adjustable on a celica, but still, to ensure long life on these, I'd get an alignment done at the same time, and rotate often. anyway, I also see BF goodrich traction TA's for $89, which I had on my stock wheels for a while and loved them, I talked about them somewhere in this thread already. And also, I see yokohama AVID V4S's for $81 and yokohama S.drive's for $88. I've heard good things about yokohama tires, in general, though I didn't like the AVS ES100's that I had for a couple hundred miles. (got them used with about 5/32" of tread and had them down to 2/32" in a month or so, but I did a lot of burning out with the freshly turbo'ed 5s at that time... ) anyway, if you need an all-season tire, the BFG traction TA or the yoko avid v4 are the only two that are. Those two also will most likely be the longest lasting of the 5 I mentioned. For more of a performance, summer tire, the S.drive, dunlop, and g-force are the way to go. Personally of those 3 I'd go with the dunlop because it's cheaper, and I already have experience with the tire and know it's a quality tire. the decision is ultimately yours though based on your needs. hopefully my input was helpful

[richee3]

It was VERY helpful. I know all about caster and camber, since my tires are WAYYYY off. Lucky me -_-

I do actually need an all-season tire, since it's getting ready to snow here. We get a lot of rain and snow here in southern Illinois, and a longer lasting tire better suits my needs since I know my stock GT is slow and I don't do a lot of aggressive driving. That $100 was before installation because my parents always pay for mounting and balancing as long as I buy the tires. The tire shops here are gay and will rob you blind as you can see from my earlier picture of the Cooper's I had. My stepmom had the car for the day since I had school, and they told her that "my car needed performance tires, and there was only one company that still made tires that would fit my car." We had them check the alignment too (which I knew was out since my steering wheel was sitting sideways when I was driving straight) and they said that everything was aligned. They knew full well the life of those tires, and knew that even if I could get the maximum life of the tires that I'd have to come back soon because I was destroying the edges of the tires. The reason I had to buy new tires anyway was because they were so far out of alignment that the Kumhos I had before were cupped really bad and one of them was ruined. Anyway... I'll need new tires before too long since I got them aligned when the car was lowered and now it's back on factory springs, so I will definitely look into the BFG's. Thanks for your input!

This post has been edited by richee3: Dec 11, 2008 - 5:43 PM

[BonzaiCelica]

took your advice 6strngs on buying that bundle of raze r74 and sumitomo HTR Z III. Just ordered them. They should be here in a week. I'll see how they perform. But ive read good stuff about them after you told me to look into them. Thanks!

[6strngs]

took your advice 6strngs on buying that bundle of raze r74 and sumitomo HTR Z III. Just ordered them. They should be here in a week. I'll see how they perform. But ive read good stuff about them after you told me to look into them. Thanks!

Glad I could help. Let me know how they work out for you Do yourself a favor though, when you get them check the tire pressure in them, I'm sure they set it before they ship them, but shipping from miami to CA they are sure to be exposed to all different kinds of temperatures and elevations (especially if they go by plane). If you don't have an accurate tire gauge (cheap $.99 ones from walmart aren't that accurate, lol, though the $3-4 digital one at walmart surprisingly is fairly accurate before it breaks 3 weeks after you get it.) any tire shop should be able to do it for free. 99% of all passenger cars call for 32-38 PSI. The stock pressure for the 6gc is supposed to be 33, but since you are going with a different tire size, that's no longer applicable. Set it anywhere between 32-38 based on preference. Slightly higher pressure can result in better gas milage, while a lower pressure will give better traction and handling. 35 is the happy medium that most cars call for and the pressure the tire shop will set it at if you don't tell them otherwise. hope this helps

This post has been edited by 6strngs: Dec 11, 2008 - 9:04 PM

[BonzaiCelica]

hey 6strngs well thanks for da help. And also ya ive been wanting to ask how much the tire pressure for the tires need to be at when you get upgraded tires and u answered it without me even asking. The tires im getting are 215/45/17. So you say 35 psi is a good enough pressure with a balance between handling and good mpg. I have my car lowered on tanabe df210's and the tire size that i have wont rub on anything right?? im pretty sure it wont but just wanna make sure.

I'll look into getting a digital psi gauge.

Wasnt able to order those wheels with the package from miami. They are sold out of them and wont restock for another month . I plan on looking for shops around here that have motegi dp6, motegi mr7, or motegi ff7. I really like any of these wheels and i really like how they the dp6 look on the celica. they are similar to the raze r74, 6 spoke rim



This post has been edited by BonzaiCelica: Dec 15, 2008 - 5:52 AM

[6strngs]

215/45/17 will fit fine. I had 225/45/17 which would be about 10mm wider, and slighly taller too. and I was lowered on Tein S-techs with no problems. Whether they rub or not is going to be determined by the size and offset of the rim you buy.

[I3arruka]

For mid-west winters, any all season tire pales in comparison to winter tires, and as you know safety/control of your car is everything in winter driving, and could be the difference in avoiding an accident.

I likes these tires a lot, fast turning they seemed to slip a little, no too much tho. Noise was not bad at all for me.

[GriffGirl]

Guys, don't forget, a lot of places will price-match. So if you find them cheaper on tirerack.com, but don't want to pay for shipping, print out the page with the tires you want and their price and ask if your local tire shop will price match. America's Tire/Discount Tire WILL price match, and will not jack up installation. Here they charge $13/ea for installation, and $10 total for tire disposal. So you'd be looking at the cost of the tires plus $62 for installation and disposal.

[BonzaiCelica]

hey 6 strngs so the offset for the raze r74 with size 17"x7 with offset at 42 and the same goes for the motegi dp6. So i should be fine right??

Hey Griffgirl ya ill look into that when i go to any local shops. I know big o tires matches prices but i have to see if they rims i like. Ya no luck with finding the rims and tires that i wanted for Under a grand. local shops charge way to much im going to have to order online.

Should i try to stay away from tires that are directional like falken fk452, cause from what ive read rotating these tires every once in a while wont do much, or am i totally wrong

This post has been edited by BonzaiCelica: Dec 15, 2008 - 7:56 PM

[notacelica]

Hi,

Sorry to bump this old thread (although I did search!). I found this thread in Google while searching for Falken 512s vs 912s and I thought I'd share my experience.

I don't have a Celica (hence the username) but I have been using Falken 512s for the last 5 years (not the same set, obviously).

I have a competing FWD car from another Japanese manufacturer from 2002 (are we allowed to mention that on this forum? ) that came with some horrible Firestone tires stock that would hydroplane on a drop of water, and would spin when starting from a stop if the ground was wet from a normal start, I'm not even talking about "launching" or flooring it. Just casually pressing the pedal down would spin the tires. Worst tires I've ever used in my life. So around 20,000 miles I started doing research and around that time (2006?) Consumer Reports was saying that the 512s were like the best all season tire at the best price and since I live in Chicago and need all season tires, I figured I'd give them a try.

I got a set of Falken 512s in 205/60/15 size (they were like $42 each back then) and they were better in every way than the stock Firestones. They handled better in water than the Firestones did when it was dry.

Dry traction was excellent. Wet traction was very good. Traction in the snow was decent, but keep in mind you have to drive differently in the snow. I was totally happy with these tires.

But, as everyone else says, the treadlife kind of sucks. Around 20-25,000 miles, I noticed I was starting to spin my wheels when starting from a stop when the ground was wet. There was still some tread left on the tire, but I don't care what it looks like; I care how it performs. I know it says they last for 50,000 miles or whatever, and there might technically be tread left up to 50,000 miles, but the grip goes long before that.

So it was time to get new tires again and after doing some more research, I decided to go with another set of 512s. Same results. Awesome grip everywhere for 20,000 miles or so.

When those wore out I did more research and found that, as others have mentioned, the 512s appeared to be "discontinued." I emailed Falken and asked if anyone still carried them and they said Discount Tire did, so I saw they were like $70 each at Discount Tire. I was like whoa, that's quite the price increase. Then I found Discount Tire Direct (their mail order division) and they were like $52 or something, so I had 4 shipped to me and had a local place mount them. I was happy to see that they were still available since I like these tires and didn't want to risk changing to something else that might suck and then I'm stuck with it.

I got a third set after about 20 or 25k miles or so, which I am currently on.

Honestly, when those need to be replaced (which will probably happen within a year or so), I will strongly consider getting another set.

Keep in mind, I don't really drive "hard." While I floor it sometimes, I don't throw my car through corners, I don't go to the track, and I don't autocross. So I'm wondering if some of you who said your tires only lasted 10,000 miles do these things. I just drive like a normal guy and like I said, living in Chicago I need all season tires cuz we have everything from really hot weather to lots of rain to ice to light snow to 8+ inches of snow over night. I've been really happy with the Falken 512s overall. But as I mentioned before, obviously in the winter you have to drive like it's the winter; with all season tires, your lightweight 2WD car isn't going to handle like an AWD SUV with snow tires, so I don't think it's fair to be like "these tires suck in the snow!!!" lol. For all season tires I have been very happy with them.

Hope this helps.

Anyone here still using these tires?

This post has been edited by notacelica: Nov 1, 2011 - 12:28 PM

[enderswift]

well, I ended up buying the ze 912's. They are apparently the successor to the 512's. I also live in Chicago, dont abuse the car, and my experience with them has been the same as yours. These Falkens are just great tires all around. I also totally agree with the longevity claim you made, sure the tread may actually last 50k, but grip goes out the window much sooner.