Falken Heck!

[purpleheadedcerb]

I just had 2 of the Falkens put on the rear as the SO3's were shagged (hurrah!) and I must say the difference is very noticeable. I was using parts of the accelerator that I would only dream about using without spinning the wheels up on Bridgies in the first 2 gears. Price including valve and balance was £96 each.

[ridds]

Not sure what the treadwear numbers are on those but the last set I had on another car were horrifc in the wet. There's a good chance that they're a much softer compound but watch out.

[SXS]

The FK4xx's are pretty grippy, I recall DuncanM was the first to praise them on here...
Remember to drop the psi a little lower than norm for this time of the year... especially on the bridgsters...

[purpleheadedcerb]

Thanks for the sound advice Ash. The grip level really is night and day compared to the Bridgestones. If the wear level was twice as much as the SO3's I'd still buy them. Its worth it just to use the lower gear full acceleration for the first time. Can't wait to get back to a RWYB now as last time I was shockingly slow until I found some grip in 3rd gear!

BTW, was it you that I saw driving into SRR a few weeks back? You were in a Rover if I remember correctly. Only just saw you wave if it was.

Scott

[SXS]

Oh, this is what BlackCircles said on tyres, and mentioned Falkens, but only briefly:

blackcircle said:

TVR Chimera – 225/55 R16 ZR Bridgestone RE71 The Chimera carries a reputation of all brawn and not lots of brains. We understand this sentiment and it is not a criticism. The Chimera drives like a proper raw performance car. With limited luxury and maximum noise pollution the Chimera offers a proper driving experience. We queried the tyre option on the TVR Chimera as the Bridgestone RE71 offers limited performance capacity. We would like to offer the value of our experience on this matter and see a move to a directional tyre pattern as sensible if you want to optimize the drive quality – after all that is why you bought the car. Therefore our recommendations are – Goodyear GSD3 Eagle F1, Avon ZZ3 and if you are watching the cash the Falken ZE512 is a good option but isn’t a directional tyre. TVR Tuscan – 235/35 R18 Z Front and 255/35 R18 Z Rear Bridgestone S02 We love the TVR Tuscan. This is the first TVR with proper about-town quality, a real head turner. The Bridgestone S02 original equipment choice for this car is no longer with us though. This is one of the worst moves in tyre history (in our opinion). The Bridgestone S02 had been the performance tyre that all muscle cars wanted to be associated with. The first directional winner, cut short in the prime of its life and replaced by its more mature and boring older brother, the Bridgestone S03. Since it cut production of the Bridgestone S02 the performance car industry has turned its attention to the only tyre that gets close to its looks and performance, the Toyo Proxes T1-R. We agree with the industry and that is why we recommend the Toyo T1-R.

Source: www.blackcircles.com/tyres/tvr

Me at SRR recently? it werent me you saw I'm afraid, if you do see me driving around it would be in a silver/white 3000gt now she's back up and running, the only time the rover gets used is when the others are not running and/or its a big boot load or I'm over at the pods playing, but now she's dead too with a fried clutch and popped rad, if anyone wants a stripped out 300hp 11-sec rover runabout, drop me a line. New years resolution, clear my driveway and get rid of all the dead batteries!

>> Edited by SXS on Saturday 24th December 22:42

[DuncanM]

The FK451's last longer in my experience too .

All in all I think it's how god awful the S03's are that makes you appreciate the Falkens all the more .

I paid £320 for four tyres (16inch)but I'd pay more because they're so good.

BTW Please don't mistake the ZE512's with the FK451's anyone!

Duncan

[purpleheadedcerb]

That's good to know. They are the 451's. Its a local independant tyre place so I don't mind having paid a bit over the top. They really like the car and have sorted the rear sports hangers twice now for the price of a drink!

[DuncanM]

Glad you're happy with the tyres .

I use Tyres direct in MK (I'm Northants too but work in MK).

Once you've got the FK451's all round I doubt you'll use anything else .

Duncan