credit crunch tyres

[swithin]

Evening all. Well thanks to another bloody nail and bad tracking had to purchase 4 new tyres.

Thanks to the bankers of the world, i decided to research cheaper makes through web reviews and eventually chose Falken 452's for the 98 320sl, replacing eagle f1's with a few hundred miles left in them. Total cost was £310 including fitting etc, £55 for tracking at another place.

50 miles in and on damp cold roads the difference is great and in a good way. The noise levels are excellent, very quiet and the grip is brilliant and their not even worn in yet.

Tread pattern looks good, though not as sexy as F1's, but for a £110 saving i can put up with that.

My driving style is hard though not "Top Gear" hard.

Will keep y'all updated as the miles pile on.

All the best

Gary

 

[BaldGuy]

Exactly the tyres I put on my CLK and bags of grip....

 

[Geff]

When I bought my 2nd hand W211, the garage put a couple of Wang Li tyres on the back. Think that was how it was spelt. They were pants and had very little grip in the wet. Had them replaced by a set of Dunlop NCT and they handle very well.

 

[BaldGuy]

Wang Li!!! thats a take away isnt it?

 

[swithin]

v wet test

Well the Falkens are gona get a good test today as it is peeing down outside and while wheels were off y'day found that my brakes of 6k miles need changing. Going down to kwik fit as they have a promotion of they'll change the pads for free for the time you own the car.

Sounds like a good deal as mine need changing every 6-7k miles!!!!!

will come back with the price.

 

[swithin]

v v wet test

Well turns out brakes are fine so thats good news. The new Falkens have more than proven themselves today, can't believe the amount of idiots out and around Woolwich today.

I had to stand on the brakes twice this morning, someone pulling into my path on roundabout without looking and someone moving into my lane on the A2 without indicating or looking!!!! The tyres performed brilliantly with no skidding or drama. Plenty of standing water around for the aquaplane test and again they performed well, as good as the f1's.

I would definately recommend these tyres and will be using them again, especially with the £110 discount to the goodyear's and their peers.

All the best

Gary

 

[mercman1969]

Falkens are a great tyre
another you might like to look into are the toyo proxies

Put a full set onto a 2.5 V6 AWD X-Type and the differece was brillian
very very quiet with ahrdly any tyre roar
bags and bags of grip

sooo much better the the pirellis Assymetrctro that were on

 

[AMGeed]

Another thumbs up from me for Falkens. Managed to get 235x40x18"s fitted and balanced for £90 a corner from Protyre. Good grip and excellent wear so far.

 

[maddog]

Falken 452's are indeed good but i have heard they are to be discontinued and replaced with a new flagship model which is perhaps why they are such good value at the moment

 

[timskemp]

My current tyre choice (Dunlop SP2000) has been discontinued and my tyre fitter (an independent mobile one) recommended a Nexen 3000. It's higher rated speed and load wise and has much better grip for £60 per tyre instead of £92 that I was paying. I'm only 2000 miles in so far and well pleased, will see if they last as long - I've been getting 15-20k miles from back tyres so 12-16k and I'm breaking even, if they last the same then it's money saved - which is a good thing.

 

[The G.F.P]

i use them

my mate has a 190+ mph skyline and swears byt them

got mine from black circles at about £65 inc delivery for 18" ers

 

[Howard]

Yep , got Falkens on my CLK430 ...

Drove to and from Derby yesterday in the peeing rain ( return journey , Derby to Tedders took 2 hours 20 in the small hours ) and the FK452's were great .

No sliding on the muddy country roads , no aquaplaning , just good tyres ...

 

[swithin]

concrete m25 test

Well the tyres continue to surprise and on the concrete section of the M25 there was little or no noise from the tyres, first time with any car. I haven't heard anything about the 452's being supereded but will only have to investigate a lot further into the new year i hope.

 

[Satch]

Falken tyres are in general pretty good and you may find that your "Falken" tyres were actually made in Europe by Goodyear because they are part of a joint venture.

Likewise if you were in Japan your "Goodyear" tyres might have been made by Sumitomo Rubber Industries who make tyres under Falken and Dunlop brand names.

 

[Dieselman]

Goodyear and Sumimoto are now the same company with over 50% of Worldwide tyre sales.

 

[x332race]

On the back of my W203 estate I have 245/40/17 ZR Continental Sportcontact 2's. I have a nail in one of them which is giving a slow puncture. The tyre is worn in the centre with about 2mm left, but there is plenty of tread to each side (overinflated, I guess) other rear is ok for 4-5,000 thousand miles.

a) do I repair puncture for about £20 and run it until it becomes illegal probably about 2000 miles?
b) get another Continential (now sportcontact 3)
c) replace both rear with Falken 452 tyres

 

[kwakdonut]

Replace the pair and sell the good one on Flea Bay!!

 

[Howard]

Yep , i agree ....

Pair of Falkens , £130 thank you sir ....

Out the good one and offset the cost of the new ones ...

 

[x332race]

Replace the pair and sell the good one on Flea Bay!!

That may not be such a bad idea!

Just how good are the Falkens compared with the Continentals?

Wher do you get your price of £130 for Falkens? I am getting £90 each fitted from sites such a Blackcircles, Event Tyres etc..

 

[Howard]

Got those Falkens on the back of mine , same size , very pleased with them so far ...

Bags of grip , not too noisy , a good tyre ( IMO )