First.....props to the R3V crew for setting up this product review page. Excellent addition :up:
Now....these tires. I'm sure many of you have heard of them by now since they have been around for a little while. I have been running on my first set (195/60-14s) on bottlecaps, racking up roughly 2,500 miles to this day. My opinion of them thus far? I like them....a lot. I haven't had a chance to try them out in more extreme conditions (i.e. track day) since I purchased these at the beginning of the bad weather season and my schedule as of late has not allowed me to do a high performance driving course. However, up to this point I have been happy with the results. Despite the large flat areas that make up the contact patch, the few grooves incorporated into the design do a good job of evacuating water on rainy days and deliver respectable grip in wet conditions. Only when you hit an area of standing water do things get sketchy.....but then again, that can be said for a lot of tires out there. When its dry, freeway connector ramps and twisty roads can be taken at greater than posted speeds with confidence. Only if I really push it hard does their weakness become apparent....and even then its been a predicatable affair.
Despite all these positive points I have mentioned, there are a couple of negatives. First, the limited fitting options. Falken didn't produce the Azenis Sport in a lot of sizes which gives you the shopper very few choices. In the case of the E30, there are 195/60-14s, 205/50-15s and 215/45-16s. There is a 17 available (225/45-17), but that's actually a bit oversized for these cars. Which brings me to my second point: the other 3 sizes I mentioned are all a bit undersized for the E30, so running these will give an inaccurate speedometer reading. This may or may not be of serious concern to you. The Azenis Sport is also more "square-ish" in shape once mounted on a wheel and properly inflated. This can result in a clearance problem depending on the offset of the wheels you're running and your cars' stance if its been lowered to the pavement. For most set ups, however, they should be just fine.
Finally, the cost. As the title of this thread states, these are great performance tires to have if you're on a limited budget. The 195/60-14s I have were purchased through Discount Tire Direct. Once they were delivered to me, I had a local mom-n-pop type tire shop do the mounting and balancing. My final cost (tires, mount & balance, disposal fee) was just shy of $240 for a set of four. Not a bad deal when you consider what you're getting and what similar offerings out there are commanding in the way of price. Falken has a new performance tire in the works as I type this, and its been rumored that they will carry a higher price. I have no idea if Falken plans to phase out the Azenis Sport once this new tire has reached full production, but if you find yourself in need of some replacement tires and you're looking for performance without breaking the bank, put the Azenis Sport down on your list of considerations.
Jon
Now....these tires. I'm sure many of you have heard of them by now since they have been around for a little while. I have been running on my first set (195/60-14s) on bottlecaps, racking up roughly 2,500 miles to this day. My opinion of them thus far? I like them....a lot. I haven't had a chance to try them out in more extreme conditions (i.e. track day) since I purchased these at the beginning of the bad weather season and my schedule as of late has not allowed me to do a high performance driving course. However, up to this point I have been happy with the results. Despite the large flat areas that make up the contact patch, the few grooves incorporated into the design do a good job of evacuating water on rainy days and deliver respectable grip in wet conditions. Only when you hit an area of standing water do things get sketchy.....but then again, that can be said for a lot of tires out there. When its dry, freeway connector ramps and twisty roads can be taken at greater than posted speeds with confidence. Only if I really push it hard does their weakness become apparent....and even then its been a predicatable affair.
Despite all these positive points I have mentioned, there are a couple of negatives. First, the limited fitting options. Falken didn't produce the Azenis Sport in a lot of sizes which gives you the shopper very few choices. In the case of the E30, there are 195/60-14s, 205/50-15s and 215/45-16s. There is a 17 available (225/45-17), but that's actually a bit oversized for these cars. Which brings me to my second point: the other 3 sizes I mentioned are all a bit undersized for the E30, so running these will give an inaccurate speedometer reading. This may or may not be of serious concern to you. The Azenis Sport is also more "square-ish" in shape once mounted on a wheel and properly inflated. This can result in a clearance problem depending on the offset of the wheels you're running and your cars' stance if its been lowered to the pavement. For most set ups, however, they should be just fine.
Finally, the cost. As the title of this thread states, these are great performance tires to have if you're on a limited budget. The 195/60-14s I have were purchased through Discount Tire Direct. Once they were delivered to me, I had a local mom-n-pop type tire shop do the mounting and balancing. My final cost (tires, mount & balance, disposal fee) was just shy of $240 for a set of four. Not a bad deal when you consider what you're getting and what similar offerings out there are commanding in the way of price. Falken has a new performance tire in the works as I type this, and its been rumored that they will carry a higher price. I have no idea if Falken plans to phase out the Azenis Sport once this new tire has reached full production, but if you find yourself in need of some replacement tires and you're looking for performance without breaking the bank, put the Azenis Sport down on your list of considerations.
Jon
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