Falken Ziex Ze-512 Tires

[Lexusfreak]

Hi everyone,

Has anybody had any experence with an all season performance tire by Falken called the Ziex ZE-512 ? If so, I'd like as much detailed feedback as possible with regards to ride & handling & how they have performed in the rain & snowy conditions & general pro's & con's. I know they came in first place overall in a recent popular consumer magazine of 21 high performance all season tires but would also like any & all comments from others who have actually owned them. Any help is appreciated! here is the link to this tire: http://www.falkentire.com/tires_512.htm B)

[lexcalibur300]

Yes, replaced original Michelins with Falken Ziex 16x225x55 on my SC300 based this and other forums experience and recommendations. Also reviewed the Consumer Reports edition featuring performance all-season tires. Paid $107 each installed at Discount Tire -- much less than comparable tires I was considering.

Falkens are outstanding cruisers -- smooth and very quiet. Approximately 1/3 the road noise of the Michelins at high speed. Also, prior tires had a "granular" feeling whereas Falkens are smooth -- like a Disney monorail! Keep in mind though, the Falkens are new compared to 40K on the Michelins -- but they still had considerable tread left.

Having traveled some distances and through serious thunderstorms this time of year in the South, wet condition performance excellent in my view -- but no experience with snow nor a factor in the South.

Performance grip may not match the Michelins, but I have not pushed to that extent to know for sure. Falkens definitely have a different feel so difficult to compare on general road conditions in lieu of test track. Also, road feel consistent with "rolling resistence" ratings in Consumer Reports -- Falkens seem to coast freely. Overall, enjoy these tires much more as they enhance the elegant road feel of the car.

PS - I have usually used Michelins for all my cars in the past.

Lexus luck to you...

[lexcalibur300]

Yes, replaced original Michelins with Falken Ziex 16x225x55 on my SC300 based this and other forums experience and recommendations. Also reviewed the Consumer Reports edition featuring performance all-season tires. Paid $107 each installed at Discount Tire -- much less than comparable tires I was considering.

Falkens are outstanding cruisers -- smooth and very quiet. Approximately 1/3 the road noise of the Michelins at high speed. Also, prior tires had a "granular" feeling whereas Falkens are smooth -- like a Disney monorail! Keep in mind though, the Falkens are new compared to 40K on the Michelins -- but they still had considerable tread left.

Having traveled some distances and through serious thunderstorms this time of year in the South, wet condition performance excellent in my view -- but no experience with snow nor a factor in the South.

Performance grip may not match the Michelins, but I have not pushed to that extent to know for sure. Falkens definitely have a different feel so difficult to compare on general road conditions in lieu of test track. Also, road feel consistent with "rolling resistence" ratings in Consumer Reports -- Falkens seem to coast freely. Overall, enjoy these tires much more as they enhance the elegant road feel of the car.

PS - I have usually used Michelins for all my cars in the past.

Lexus luck to you...

[mspin24]

I dont know how they are on a Lexus but I had them on my 2001 Honda Accord EX V6 and let me tell you, awesome bang for the buck. I'm in Raleigh, NC so we don't get a lot of snow here but we do get rain and I feel like they did just fine. They are a good choice but let me tell about one that I found and did a little better then the Falkens on there rating, at least the rating opinions I got. Nitto Tires. I have them on my 96 ES300, just put them on a couple of weeks ago and really like them. I went a lower profile tire to get better handling and I think I lost some of the comfort in the ride but let me tell you the car sticks to the corner. I picked them up at Discount Tire. Check them out www.tires.com. Thats my two cents if that means anything. Good luck in your tire buying experience.

[Lexusfreak]

Thanks for the responses so far everyone! The Falkens are actually not for my ES.....I have Toyo Proxes TPT's on them & they are outstanding! The Falkens are for my wife's 2003 Ford Focus ZX5 205 50 16's which are a fairly odd size for such a popular car. Her car is leased & half way thru the 3 year term......& the Firestone Firehawk GTA-02's that came with the car are without a doubt the WORST tire I have ever driven on secone to only the Bridgestone Potenza RE 92's. I have a huge problem returning the car when the lease is up with a lot of tread left (it's not worth the expense & aggravation keeping the old tires to mount later) so I wanted a good inexpensive tire with not a huge amount of tread life (the Falken's in the 50 series are 30,000 miles which is great in our case) & the Falken's fit the bill to a tee & are about $30 a tire cheaper than the Toyo's & were on a budget.

Any other folks have these that have used them in the northern states during snow season? The Consumer Reports says they are pretty good......but any 'real world' feedback would be of great help.