Falken FK 452 Tyres. Good buy?
Discussion
LocoBlade said:
ozzerr said:
Quite sure i have seen a tyre review online where the continental contact sports have the same grip if not better in the wet and dry and they give more miles than the falkens albeit the conti's are twice the price.
EFA 
Mine cost £68 a corner fitted for 225/40-18" FK452s (a price match of Bracknell Tyres by Micheldever), Contact Sport 3's are £142 fitted going by the price on eTyres
Edited by LocoBlade on Monday 26th January 00:07
I got 245/35/18 but cost something like 78 a tyre. Through blackcircles.
I can only compare them to the run flats that were absolutely shocking so at the moment i think they're amazing.
I've got the ZE 512's on the Forester and I'm very happy with them, not the grippiest thing but very predictable on and over the limit (would have got the 452 but they don't do them in 215/55/17).
Just bought a set of ZE 912's for the Saab and they feel good so far (only had them a week). There is a little bit more tyre noise but I'm hoping this will go once scrubed in.
Just bought a set of ZE 912's for the Saab and they feel good so far (only had them a week). There is a little bit more tyre noise but I'm hoping this will go once scrubed in.
Kentish said:
Hammer67 said:
Similar money as Falkens and also very good vfm are Kumho KU31.
I guess it may depend on which car but I found them to lack grip in the wey and terrible in the cold on wet roads.Falkens are pretty damn good, even if they were half the price again they'd still be good value.
I switched form Kumho to Michelin Pilot sport and then to Falken (on the same car) and find the Falkens are excellent.
FWIW Reading the reviews, the KU31s are said to have an exceptionally progressive breakaway - apparently they're the favoured choice for BMW e30 drivers for that reason.
Chris71 said:
Kentish said:
Hammer67 said:
Similar money as Falkens and also very good vfm are Kumho KU31.
I guess it may depend on which car but I found them to lack grip in the wey and terrible in the cold on wet roads.Falkens are pretty damn good, even if they were half the price again they'd still be good value.
I switched form Kumho to Michelin Pilot sport and then to Falken (on the same car) and find the Falkens are excellent.
FWIW Reading the reviews, the KU31s are said to have an exceptionally progressive breakaway - apparently they're the favoured choice for BMW e30 drivers for that reason.
The Kuhmo were predictable but they did let go sooner than the much grippier Falkens.
I can corner a lot harder in the wet now.
This may of course be different on another car, I have 270bhp and 4WD FWIW.
btdk5 said:
Thats a pretty good price!
I got 245/35/18 but cost something like 78 a tyre. Through blackcircles.
I can only compare them to the run flats that were absolutely shocking so at the moment i think they're amazing.
£78 is actually a bloody good price for the 245/35, they're OEM size on the rear of mine and I was quoted around £95 fitted for those so I did "cheat" a little perhaps by picking the 225/40 for comparison as it is the cheapest of the bunch in that rim size, but still anything of that size/performance under £100 a corner is very good value IMHO.I got 245/35/18 but cost something like 78 a tyre. Through blackcircles.
I can only compare them to the run flats that were absolutely shocking so at the moment i think they're amazing.
BTW, for those getting them fitted for the first time, don't judge them straight away as they do seem to need a good scrub in, so the first 50-100 miles they might seem a bit lacking in grip.
Jaguar steve said:
bigdods said:
I have 452's on the TVR, Omega and Golf. Work as well as or better than the more expensive brands I've tried over the years. 452's give excellent grip in the wet and very nice progressive predictable breakaway when pushing on in the dry. I find I hold a better line and carry more speed with these than the previous bridgestones (on the TVR and the Golf).
I tried 512's on the Omega, they were shockingly bad. But the 452's that replaced them are excellent. I've just bought a full set of 912's for the omega as it only does motorway miles, but for anything sporty 452's are the only way to go.
I tried 512's on the Omega, they were shockingly bad. But the 452's that replaced them are excellent. I've just bought a full set of 912's for the omega as it only does motorway miles, but for anything sporty 452's are the only way to go.
The XJ is a motoway mile muncher too. Good to see you've bought Falkens twice and just the two types I'm intrested in. Is there much difference in the real world between the 452's and 912's? My use is mostly long distance touring so I'm looking for a quiet comfortable ride rathet than outright performance. Not very PH I know but tyres make a hell of a difference when you're in the car all day.
FWIW I wouldnt consider anything but the 452's for the Golf and the TVR.
Best price for falkens is usually camskill.
t to a blanket! And the price is fantastic! Jaguar steve said:
bigdods said:
I have 452's on the TVR, Omega and Golf. Work as well as or better than the more expensive brands I've tried over the years. 452's give excellent grip in the wet and very nice progressive predictable breakaway when pushing on in the dry. I find I hold a better line and carry more speed with these than the previous bridgestones (on the TVR and the Golf).
I tried 512's on the Omega, they were shockingly bad. But the 452's that replaced them are excellent. I've just bought a full set of 912's for the omega as it only does motorway miles, but for anything sporty 452's are the only way to go.
I tried 512's on the Omega, they were shockingly bad. But the 452's that replaced them are excellent. I've just bought a full set of 912's for the omega as it only does motorway miles, but for anything sporty 452's are the only way to go.
The XJ is a motoway mile muncher too. Good to see you've bought Falkens twice and just the two types I'm intrested in. Is there much difference in the real world between the 452's and 912's? My use is mostly long distance touring so I'm looking for a quiet comfortable ride rathet than outright performance. Not very PH I know but tyres make a hell of a difference when you're in the car all day.
But ended up with some on a mk2 golf about a year ago, ze 512's, fitted on the front with toyo rs on the rear....al seemed great until it rained..........OMG, they are totally hopless in the wet! Dreadful things. So bad , I took them off fitted some toyos and sold them on the bay!
Are the 452's really lots better than the 512....have to say they really put me off Falkens again..I need some 225/40 18 for the mondeo soon, that runs toyo rs at the mo, but they dont last long, only about 11k miles on the front and about 16k rear. But i dont want it saddled with duff bots for a year, just to save a few quid!
Anyone compared 452s to Toyo Rs?
s3fella said:
Are the 452's really lots better than the 512....
Massive difference. The 512's I had were ok in the dry but scary in the wet, very little lateral grip, absolutely hated them. The 452's are the exact opposite. Excellent in the dry and wet good grip, predictable breakaway at the limit. Perfect for the TVR and Golf, just going to try the 912 on the omega for motorway miles as its had good reviews as a good all rounder (but not in the same league as the 452 for pure performance).Oh and dont forget you need to scrub any new tyre in, so wait a few hundred miles before you judge any new tyre.
Chris71 said:
Kentish said:
Hammer67 said:
Similar money as Falkens and also very good vfm are Kumho KU31.
I guess it may depend on which car but I found them to lack grip in the wey and terrible in the cold on wet roads.Falkens are pretty damn good, even if they were half the price again they'd still be good value.
I switched form Kumho to Michelin Pilot sport and then to Falken (on the same car) and find the Falkens are excellent.
FWIW Reading the reviews, the KU31s are said to have an exceptionally progressive breakaway - apparently they're the favoured choice for BMW e30 drivers for that reason.
Regarding the breakaway, I found them fine in the dry, but as they wore I really didn't like the way they let go in the wet. Around half life they got quite slippy.
LocoBlade said:
ozzerr said:
Quite sure i have seen a tyre review online where the continental contact sports have the same grip if not better in the wet and dry and they give more miles than the falkens albeit the conti's are twice the price.
EFA Mine cost £68 a corner fitted for 225/40-18" FK452s (a price match of Bracknell Tyres by Micheldever), Contact Sport 3's are £142 fitted going by the price on eTyres
Edited by LocoBlade on Monday 26th January 00:07
The Conti's DO grip better, but only slightly, and they let go MUCH more suddenly. The Falken's start slipping earlier, but you can hold them at a slight slide beyond the point at which the conti's would have suddenly decided not to play any more.
Falkens were better in the wet as well. By a country mile.
As has been said, an excellent tyre. The low price is a bonus.
Oli.
Thinking about purchasing a set of these based on these reviews, at £580 (mytyres, 2*275/35/19,2*245/40/19) they come in at almost half the price of a set of RE050's as i currently have fitted.
The one thing which no-one seems to have commented on though, which is important to me, is the wear rates of these. Has anyone actually wore a set out yet?
The one thing which no-one seems to have commented on though, which is important to me, is the wear rates of these. Has anyone actually wore a set out yet?
Chris71 said:
This business of tyres taking a while to bed in... does it really differ greatly from make to make? Definitely overdue a swap and I'd like to get something before a road trip in about a months time, the thing is, will I still be teetering around on the release agent?
I found some T1-R's I once bought terrible when new, sold them before 500 miles they were that crap... while Eagle F1 GSD3's and Toyo T1-S never really needed bedding in imho... just 25 miles of hard use and they were as good as they ever were.Dave
Jez- said:
Thinking about purchasing a set of these based on these reviews, at £580 (mytyres, 2*275/35/19,2*245/40/19) they come in at almost half the price of a set of RE050's as i currently have fitted.
Total for all 4 Falken FK452 tyres £496.20 inc shipping from camskill. That doesnt include fitting, do mytyres include that in the price ? could explain the difference.Cant say wear rates seem worse than any other tyre. The 452's on the rear of my omega (rear wheel drive) are down to 4mm after about 18k motorway/A road miles which is about the same as I had from the Falken 512s before and the Michelins before them. Should get 25k out of them before replacing. Fronts have about 5mm left (same mileage obviously!) but are being replaced next week due to my knackered geometry eating the inside of the tyres.
They also seem to be wearing at least as well as the previous bridgestones on the Golf and TVR but thats a subjective view, I'm not sure how many miles I've covered since they were fitted.
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