Anyone riding on falken ZE-912/ZE-512 tires? yes i searched -_-, I think these tires have what Im looking for but I want opinions Options

[richee3]

profile matters alot. But any UHP tire will give a harsher ride, its one of the tradeoffs you concede for more grip.

All right, Im going to get the 912's since they are the replacements for the 512's and alot of people seem to like those. As far as snow goes... Ill try them out, if they suck Ill just bolt on my stock rims/allwheathers until spring. Thanks for the input guys. Anyone who has the urge to can hijack this thread now

Good choice! I <3 my Falkens After you get your 912's could you PM me and tell me how you like them? Since I'm getting a set for my next set of tires.

[enderswift]

will do sir. may take a while, Majoring in M E eats ALL of your time

This post has been edited by enderswift: Dec 2, 2008 - 7:26 PM

[GriffGirl]

THREAD JACK!!!

I got new tires on Wednesday and I really really love them so far, granted I only have like 80 or so miles on them but I've driven them on dry pavement and in good ole' Oregon rain which = 3 inches of water in the ruts on the highway, and I absolutely love them. They handle great, are smooth and much quieter than the POS Khumo Ecstas I had on before.

Yokohama S Drive 225/45/R17

[enderswift]

oooooo fancy. nice rims too

[GriffGirl]

(too bad they're chewed to all hell LOL)

[BURNSJ2]

griffy you got the same rims and tires as me! how do they feel to you?
i had those yokohamas on it when i bought it. i think i shoulda stuck with those. instead i got the falken 512s.

This post has been edited by BURNSJ2: Dec 2, 2008 - 9:35 PM

[Valo666]

I used to sell Falkens...ALOT...I originaly had a set of FK452s on my celica, I had 512s on my civic when i bought it, and ive driven in cars on 912s...personaly...I like falkens for being sooo freaking sticky...when they are new..like Manny said. My 452s, not even 20xxxkm on them. One season...gone..bald as hell. And my car was aligned properly too. My 512s, lasted me 6 months, like 10xxxkm on my civic, and it was aligned properly too. 912s, same story. They are amazingly good tires when they are brand new, but when it comes to highspeed driving, or bad roads, they melt like a wet news paper. What I was running on my celica before I parked it was a set of Toyo Proxy TPTs. They were pretty cheap, good grip, quiet, good tread wear/life. I liked them. Right now on Keroppis celica im running a set of General Exclaim UHPs up front and a set of BFG Traction T/As that i got from my work for free (go tire repairs). The generals are good, cheap (about $110CND per tire for a 205/50R16) and are lasting pretty good.


As for wanting an all season that will be good in the winter, the best one is a winter tire. All season tires are 3 season tires, they loose grip at about 7 degrees C, or about 40 degrees F (just guesstamating..but some where around there). But when you also use a UHP tire or any thing that is suppost to be a dry weather/performance tire...you arent gonna get the grip you need at all. I always buy winters for my cars. My supra, winters, my celica, winters, my civic, winters, my girlfriends celica, winters. Its a $400 safety poloicy....u spend $400 on gettin tires that will make sure you have grip in the snow and wet and the cold, and $400 isnt that much compaired to crashing your car and having to repair it. The winters ive been running for the last 4 years on the different cars has been Perelli winter carving tires..I was going to get some Nokian's but they were out of stock with more coming in in Feb.


EDIT: Also, the 512s have been discontinued, and superseaded by the 912s. So if some one says that they have a brand new set of 512s for sale, check the manufacturing date on the DOT # on the side. Most likely they are at least 2 years old sitting or they are used.

This post has been edited by Valo666: Dec 2, 2008 - 9:46 PM

[brthrurik]

the 912's are much better in snow than the 512's were, but still not intended for heavy snow.

[6strngs]

falken tires don't last for crap. you're lucky if you get 15K out of them. even though the milage warranty is like 50K miles no real experience driving on them, but they're real soft, cheap, and overall crappy tires. same with kumhos. I've currently got a set of hankook HR-IIs on my alltrac and I really like them. Really soft tires, but tons of grip in the corners and launching. I've got about 3K on them right now and they still look new, even with how I drive on them.... but, they probably wouldn't be great for the snow. I dunno cause it only snows in the mountains here and I haven't gone snowboarding yet this year. Anyway, you might be happier with a slightly more expensive set of tires. Anything with the michelin name on it is going to be one of the best tires you can get, unfortunately also one of the most expensive. I had a set of BF goodrich traction T/As on my 6gc for the longest time. Bought them the day after I bought the car and they lasted probably a good 16-17K miles before I took them off, and they still had quite a bit of tread then too! They handled better and gave better traction than the yokohama AVS ES100's that I replaced them with too. I shouldn't have taken them off when I did

[richee3]

EDIT: Also, the 512s have been discontinued, and superseaded by the 912s. So if some one says that they have a brand new set of 512s for sale, check the manufacturing date on the DOT # on the side. Most likely they are at least 2 years old sitting or they are used.

Didn't think to check the manufacture date on mine, but I knew they had been discontinued. But somehow, Discount Tire keeps getting shipments in. And ONLY Discount Tire. They still get new 512's in all the time, so they must be in good with the right people at Falken to get the last ones.

[6strngs]

EDIT: Also, the 512s have been discontinued, and superseaded by the 912s. So if some one says that they have a brand new set of 512s for sale, check the manufacturing date on the DOT # on the side. Most likely they are at least 2 years old sitting or they are used.

Didn't think to check the manufacture date on mine, but I knew they had been discontinued. But somehow, Discount Tire keeps getting shipments in. And ONLY Discount Tire. They still get new 512's in all the time, so they must be in good with the right people at Falken to get the last ones.

they probably just get them dirt cheap now and still sell them full price with no regard for your safety a tire over 6 years old should be replaced regardless of tread life. The tread can start to seperate and cause a nasty blowout which can end in a deadly crash.

btw, those who are wondering, you can check what year your tires were made in by the DOT number on the side of the tire. Look at the last 4 digits in the last bubble, the first to numbers refer to what week and the second two refer to year. for example, if the last four are 3407, then the tire was made in the 34th week of 2007. if it's only a 3 digit number than the tire was made in the 90's... btw, the full dot number is only stamped on one side of the tire so depending on how yours is mounted, you may have to crawl under the car with a flashlight to see it. on the other side of the tire you'll just see a random assortment of 7-8 numbers and letters. These can tell you what plant they were made in and stuff like that, but I don't know how to read them. lol.

[enderswift]

...just when i thought i was settled everyone has to raise doubt again

I can live with a short life span if it means highlighting my celicas handling (its all I have ). I already have winter tires on there right now so Im set. plus I drive about 6 K a year. Think ill be good?

[richee3]

6strngs, you've got me worried now lol. I know my tires aren't 6 years old by any means, and I know they were discontinued before I ever bought them. I had heard great things about the performance of the 512 vs the 912 though, so I went with the discontinued 512. I was told the 512 was more performance oriented whereas the 912 was more daily driver friendly (still performance oriented though. Hope that little tidbit of information helps somebody out.) Anyway, I just went outside and checked the DOT number on my tires. It wasn't anything like you said, it just said V4H7. There was also the string of numbers and letters that you said, but the 4 digit code was simply V4H7 so I have no idea when they were manufactured.

Oh well, my tires are out of alignment and I've had to skid to a stop a few times, so I need new tires pretty bad anyway

EDIT: Enderswift, I think you'll be fine with the Falkens. Everyone else is saying that theirs didn't last very long. I hardly go flying around any corners as fast as I can, and I doubt if my car could do a burnout if I wanted it to. So my 512's have 18,000 miles and them and have at least that to go. Well, if they wre aligned properly, they would lol. So since you only drive 6,000 miles per year, I think you'd have no problems with 912's. That's just my opinion. In the end, it's your money and you can buy whatever tires you want. Don't buy Falkens just because someone else likes them and told you to.

This post has been edited by richee3: Dec 3, 2008 - 12:59 AM

[enderswift]

appreciate the reply richee, Im not too worried about their tread life but if you're getting 18+ K, I should be alright. Dont worry, I did ALOT of hw on tires before I narrowed it down and im not one to simply go on recomendations alone. Its kind of my own little ocd tendency to research something to death before I commit. Just wanted to get the communities input since the reviews on tire rack are just too wide ranging.

oh yea I think this website might clear up your manufacturing date question:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/tec...e.jsp?techid=11

[6strngs]

6strngs, you've got me worried now lol. I know my tires aren't 6 years old by any means, and I know they were discontinued before I ever bought them. I had heard great things about the performance of the 512 vs the 912 though, so I went with the discontinued 512. I was told the 512 was more performance oriented whereas the 912 was more daily driver friendly (still performance oriented though. Hope that little tidbit of information helps somebody out.) Anyway, I just went outside and checked the DOT number on my tires. It wasn't anything like you said, it just said V4H7. There was also the string of numbers and letters that you said, but the 4 digit code was simply V4H7 so I have no idea when they were manufactured.

Oh well, my tires are out of alignment and I've had to skid to a stop a few times, so I need new tires pretty bad anyway

EDIT: Enderswift, I think you'll be fine with the Falkens. Everyone else is saying that theirs didn't last very long. I hardly go flying around any corners as fast as I can, and I doubt if my car could do a burnout if I wanted it to. So my 512's have 18,000 miles and them and have at least that to go. Well, if they wre aligned properly, they would lol. So since you only drive 6,000 miles per year, I think you'd have no problems with 912's. That's just my opinion. In the end, it's your money and you can buy whatever tires you want. Don't buy Falkens just because someone else likes them and told you to.

yeah, sorry I didn't do a very good job at describing it. it's probably on the other side of the tire. on one side you'll see something like "BJCD AMH" while on the other side, it'll be the same numbers/letters followed by 4 numbers, example: "BJCD AMH 1308" That tirerack link will explain it better, I'm sure.

it's not like you'll die immidiately if your tires are 6 years old, though tire shops will try to tell you that so they can sell you stuff. lol. But, if your tread is seperating, which will look like there is a large air bubble underneath a section of the tread of your tire, it can be dangerous. and older tires are more likely to seperate. Most tire manufacturer's recommend to replace your tires if they are more than 4 years old, except a couple companys, such as michelin, recommend 6 years. When I worked at America's tire/discount tire, we recommended tires after 6 years old, and refuse to touch anything more than 10 years old. honestly, if you take your tires in for a rotation, they should be able to spot if you have any seperation (that is, if you're lucky enough to get somebody who knows what they're doing.) I'm positive though if you took it in for a rotation, and asked them to tell you what year your tires were from, they would do it for you.

one last thing, be sure to check all 4 tire's dates. even if you bought all 4 at the same time, they can still all have different dates on them.

[richee3]

Enderswift, I'm glad you did your homework before deciding on your tires. That's more than a lot of people can say. I got 18,000 miles out of my 512's already and have quite a few more to go, and the 912's are supposed to last longer, if I'm not mistaken. I think you'll be happy with them.

6strngs, I just went out and looked again after reading that article, and I found the manufacture date. All 4 of mine are 3307, so the 33rd week of 2007. They aren't separating at all, no problems there. The only problem I've had with these tires is that I only have two options for getting my tires aligned. One place SUCKS!!!! And the other charges out the a** for it. So I got my tires aligned when I had my car lowered, about a week before I got these Falkens. Then since my struts were already blown before I lowered the car so needless to say my Eibach's weren't the best thing for them. So I raised the car back up and sold the springs just to have some extra money and replaced my struts. Anyway, I haven't been able to afford another alignment since then so the outsides of my tires are starting to get chewed up pretty bad. But they've still got a while to go. Rather than paying for another alignment, I'm just going to lower the car again When I buy new tires, I mean. Get all of that done at once.

But yeah, Discount Tire is still getting 512's in so if anyone else orders them, they really should check the dates. I'm guessing you won't be getting 6 year old tires, but nonetheless, it's worth it to be safe. I didn't even think about checking the date or even know anything about that when I bought mine.

[GriffGirl]

griffy you got the same rims and tires as me! how do they feel to you?
i had those yokohamas on it when i bought it. i think i shoulda stuck with those. instead i got the falken 512s.

LOL Must've been the America's Tire special aka Discount Tire other places in the US. The rims were on it when I bought it, along with some horrible Khumo Ecstas and Fuzion ZRIs that I HATED.

I've only got about 200 miles on the Yokos, I literally got them a week ago, so I can't exactly give an accurate review but in the week I've had them, they've handled just as well on dry pavement as on wet pavement. I absolutely LOVE them. I did research the hell out of tires before I decided on these, and in researching them there was a really great review on Tirerack.com that strongly influenced me to get them. The person who wrote the review wrote one review a couple hundred miles into the tires, updated it a little while later, and then added a 3rd review about 10k into them. That's what I call thorough! I had a budget so it wasn't like I could just get the best tires I could find, I had to get the best tires I could find within that budget.

The really awesome part is that I printed out the tirerack.com page on the tires and brought it with me to America's Tire, where they pricematched them. It wound up saving me $100, plus another $60 because I had a coupon America's Tire emailed out. So basically it was like getting 4 tires for the price of 2 and a third

[hurley97]

Nice Griff, I would like to know your review after driving on them for a while. I want to get the S.Drive I just have no reason to yet. I have Yokohama AVID H4S right now and they are maybe about half worn if that, I got them well over a year ago. I love my Yokohama's, I fully intend to stay with the brand and highly recommend some form of Yokohama to anyone.

I had Falken 512's on my stock wheels and loved them... for 6mo before they became almost bald and horrible in anything but dry racetrack conditions, but for the money they were just fine. Not to mention they were like screw and nail magnets, or I just had bad luck with them.
When I got my rims they came with Kumho Ecsta 712's that I had so many problems with bubbles in the sidewalls, I hated them and everything about them. After having to replace one because of a bubble and 2 more bubbles in another one I replaced them with the Falken 512s again, and I loved them again, you can't beat them for the first 6 months.
Then Dustin recommended the Yokohama's and I decided to try them. (Knock on wood) I have had no problems with them whatsoever. I picked up a nail once but it didn't go all the way through, never had a bubble in the sidewall, they wear nice and evenly, I rotated them once after about 20-25k miles because I thought I probably should and there was almost no difference in tread depth, traction could be a little better in heavy rain. Overall the best tire I've had and have lasted the longest.

[CelicaST_CALI]

griffy you got the same rims and tires as me! how do they feel to you?
i had those yokohamas on it when i bought it. i think i shoulda stuck with those. instead i got the falken 512s.

LOL Must've been the America's Tire special aka Discount Tire other places in the US. The rims were on it when I bought it, along with some horrible Khumo Ecstas and Fuzion ZRIs that I HATED.

I've only got about 200 miles on the Yokos, I literally got them a week ago, so I can't exactly give an accurate review but in the week I've had them, they've handled just as well on dry pavement as on wet pavement. I absolutely LOVE them. I did research the hell out of tires before I decided on these, and in researching them there was a really great review on Tirerack.com that strongly influenced me to get them. The person who wrote the review wrote one review a couple hundred miles into the tires, updated it a little while later, and then added a 3rd review about 10k into them. That's what I call thorough! I had a budget so it wasn't like I could just get the best tires I could find, I had to get the best tires I could find within that budget.

The really awesome part is that I printed out the tirerack.com page on the tires and brought it with me to America's Tire, where they pricematched them. It wound up saving me $100, plus another $60 because I had a coupon America's Tire emailed out. So basically it was like getting 4 tires for the price of 2 and a third

hey watch yourself lady

[6strngs]

I rotated them once after about 20-25k miles because I thought I probably should

to get maximum life out of your tires I'd recommend rotating every 5-6K miles. you could do it every oil change or every other, depending how often you do it. unless, of course, there's a noticable difference in tread between front and rear. you wanna keep your best 2 in the rear to help you from losing control in the rain and whatnot.

This post has been edited by 6strngs: Dec 4, 2008 - 12:40 AM