Who's running Falken's..??

[VacMan]

I have 2 sets of 512's, one on my cabrio (225/45/16) and one on my BBS RS001's (225/50/15, currently mounted on my little bro's car). I don't have anything bad to say about either set at all so far other than they're a bit squeamish when they're brand new, but what tire isn't? I'm really happy with them for the price.

Tim

PS Incidentally, I run General UHP's on my E39, and if I could have gotten them in the sizes I wanted for the E30's I'd be running them instead of Falkens. :)

[Al Canuck]

Jay, getting a little defensive, are we? I'm glad you're happy with them, I also know several people who are happy with them. Like I said, I used to sell a ton of them. I still have faith in the Falken tire brand, but not in the 512. I run RT-215's on my E21 323i, and plan to order some 912's for the 630csi. I may go with the Kumho ASX instead, as I really liked them on my E32. Not sure yet, still several months before that car needs tires.

You can break it all down to anecdotal evidence all you want. But the fact is, in my business, that much anecdotal evidence adds up to a whole pile of headache for me, when I get calls from once happy customers, now cursing about the tires I sold them. Bad for business, and it NEVER happened when I pushed Yokohama, previous to Falken. I've yet to have negative feedback from an AVID H4S, or V4S owner. I mention those tires, as they are fairly close to the Falken 512 in spec, and only marginally more expensive.

Threads like this are excellent, because people get to see and hear arguments from both sides of the fence. They can make their mind up, buy what feels right, and hopefully come out ok in the end. Thats all that matters, is a consumer is happy with his or her purchase. You're happy with the 512, I feel they're rubbish. Clearly, we both know a thing or 3 about tires.

Let's agree to disagree on this one, ok? Doesn't matter much anyway, the 512 is a thing of the past now.

Al

[mtechnik]

^^nice.

@EjNight- Thnx

[Mystikal]

Jay, getting a little defensive, are we? I'm glad you're happy with them, I also know several people who are happy with them. Like I said, I used to sell a ton of them. I still have faith in the Falken tire brand, but not in the 512. I run RT-215's on my E21 323i, and plan to order some 912's for the 630csi. I may go with the Kumho ASX instead, as I really liked them on my E32. Not sure yet, still several months before that car needs tires.

You can break it all down to anecdotal evidence all you want. But the fact is, in my business, that much anecdotal evidence adds up to a whole pile of headache for me, when I get calls from once happy customers, now cursing about the tires I sold them. Bad for business, and it NEVER happened when I pushed Yokohama, previous to Falken. I've yet to have negative feedback from an AVID H4S, or V4S owner. I mention those tires, as they are fairly close to the Falken 512 in spec, and only marginally more expensive.

Threads like this are excellent, because people get to see and hear arguments from both sides of the fence. They can make their mind up, buy what feels right, and hopefully come out ok in the end. Thats all that matters, is a consumer is happy with his or her purchase. You're happy with the 512, I feel they're rubbish. Clearly, we both know a thing or 3 about tires.

Let's agree to disagree on this one, ok? Doesn't matter much anyway, the 512 is a thing of the past now.

Al

Agreed, I appreciate your maturity here.

Jay

[mtechnik]

Well the 512's were mounted this morning.. so far so good.

Only thing i'll have to get a little accustomed to is what I can only describe at this time as "sidewall flex" in sharp highway turns/ on- offramps. Only feel this for about a sec. and the tire then plants the car in the corner.

I'm just guessing at the moment that this has to do with the higher profile tire. (Still have 205/50/R15s up front; at least the front ones are good tires)

BTW I've only driven a total of 80km's/ 49 miles on the Falkens today

[VacMan]

Well the 512's were mounted this morning.. so far so good.

Only thing i'll have to get a little accustomed to is what I can only describe at this time as "sidewall flex" in sharp highway turns/ on- offramps. Only feel this for about a sec. and the tire then plants the car in the corner.

I'm just guessing at the moment that this has to do with the higher profile tire. (Still have 205/50/R15s up front; at least the front ones are good tires)

BTW I've only driven a total of 80km's/ 49 miles on the Falkens today

That might also be you burning through the initial coating they put on the tires. That's what I mentioned about them being squeamish when I first got them. They would slide on initial turn in, THEN stick. Now they're very progressive and I like them much better.

FWIW, every new tire I've driven has had some of this, but these were worse than I was used to.

[mtechnik]

ahh thnx VacMan

[Al Canuck]

Hmmm, I had a good laugh today. Customer of mine called me, asking for new tires for his 88 325i Cabrio. I said "Hey, didn't we put new tires on it last summer?". He says "Yeah, new Falken 512's, but they're fucked now, totally bald".

I asked him how many km on them? His answer? Ready for this? About 7000km! We changed the oil on the same day, and he's not even due for another oil change yet!!!! Elf 15w50 oil lasts longer than Falken 512's!

Apparently all 4 tires are to the wear bars, and showing camber wear in the back ones, nearly to the belts. 7000km, not even long enough to need a rotation yet.

This is a gently driven E30 cabrio, used to run around Vancouver, no racing, no autocross, older owner, etc. It's on Bilstein Sport/H&R Sport, all new control arms, tie rods, swaybar links, steering rack, alignment, everything you could think of, has been replaced.

More of that "anecdotal" evidence again.;)

[mtechnik]

Hm this tire is kind of like a mystery then...

[mtechnik]

Well...after 150km on the 512's, the squeamishness :) is about gone now.
Handling is about razar-sharp now comparing to my previous all-seasons.

Threw the car around a rather tight one-lane roundabout and tires wouldn't squeel for shit.!

[sticksdaman]

im not seeing how these people are getting 7000kms out of this tire ive put in ATLEAST 4,000 miles on mine and i cant see a single sign of wear

-felt the need to chime in-

[e30_lover_CT]

I just had all 4 wheels shod in Falken Ziex ZE-912's. I like them so far. Nice and grippy, quiet on the highway. Not a bad deal!

[mtechnik]

How is the breaking-in going?

[duodvlhntr]

Kay, so this reply is slightly belated but, I'm running the ziex 512's as well. I'll share this with all of you, I was down to the treadbar on all four tires after a month and a half. They lasted about 6000 miles. The consolation for this was that they were $220 mounted and balanced.

Obsolete now but, I need a higher post count so I throw in my experience whenever I get the chance...

[E-rich]

not that my opinion really matters but if there anything i have learned from my recent time at discount tire as an employee. falken 512s are garbage...soft as hell sidewall..shitty treadware/life/ cheap for a reason..the new 912s are supposed to be a lot better. tires are not somethign to be cheap on. if you cant afford atleast a mid grade tire for an extra 80-100 bucks a set..wait another week and buy something worth your trouble...my 2cents