falken tyres -any good?

xyz123

hi
am in need for 2 tyres for my civic. came across falken SN 828 on blackcircle.

are these tyres any good?

i do low mileage (around 7k a year) and tyre size is 185/70/R14. i did found some michelin cheap at kwik-fit but they are gone now.

any other decent alternatives?

Keith

I've got the Falken 912s and they are fantastic, very well priced too

bengalknights

Avon make nice tyres and are pretty cheap usually

roysterer

never falken heard of them sorry.

d3matt

There's some good tyre reviews online and a quick search should find your tyres in a test somewhere.
The AutoExpress tyre test is a good place to start.

Lum

Falken seem to be fairly well respected from what I've seen on car forums. Haven't tried them myself.

If the alternative is a set of Kwik-Fit own brand ditchfinders then I'd go with the Falkens.

MyTyres.co.uk, while expensive, have a decent review and test section next to each type of tyre they sell. May be worth a look.

xyz123

Lum wrote: »

If the alternative is a set of Kwik-Fit own brand ditchfinders then I'd go with the Falkens.

.

alternative is continental eco contact 3 but they are £30 dearer...

xyz123

d3matt wrote: »

There's some good tyre reviews online and a quick search should find your tyres in a test somewhere.
The AutoExpress tyre test is a good place to start.

thanks, did look there just couldnt see falken in the list. also looked at recent which? survey which also ignored falken.

mikey72

look at
http://www.tyretest.com/summercar_tyres/falken_ohtsu/sincera_sn_828/index.html

xyz123

mikey72 wrote: »

look at
http://www.tyretest.com/summercar_tyres/falken_ohtsu/sincera_sn_828/index.html

thanks for that. i looked there before and to be honest got confused with their rating system. they have 5 stars shown and then in brackets a numerical rating shown. but starts and numerical ratings dont seem to match. for example very first result (which is average of all results) shows it receiveing a 3 and a half star but the rating says it is 2.48....

d3matt

Generally the tyre the tops most reviews is Continental Contipremium-Contact2. Surprisingly many other 'premium' brands don't do so well as the other 'budget' brands.

However many people make the mistake on concentrating too much on the brand and not the model of tyre. All tyre manufacturers make many different models of tyres of slightly different uses, climates or driving styles. So when someone says "I found Falken to be rubbish", take it with a pinch of salt, unless they tell which which model of Falken tyre.

A good value tyre brand is Kumho. Not widely recognised in the UK, but Mercedes factory fit these to many of their models. I've used the Kumho Ecsta Sport KU31 on a couple of Saab 9-5s and I've found them to be excellent tyres and half the cost of most of the premium brands. The KU31 has also done very well in the tyre tests.

Another tyre I can't praise enough is the Marangoni Mythos if you want a 'sporty' tyre at a fraction of the cost of the premium brands. Also done very well in the tests betting others in many categories.

Trouble is that a tyre can't be all things to everyone. Where someone complains that a tyre wears out fast, what it probably means is that it was extremely grippy and safe tyre, yet they never knew or luckily never needed to find out. Soft compound = grips well, but wears fast. Hard compound = long lasting, but less grip when needed.

I would prefer to have a safe tyre that grips than a hardwearing tyre that doesn't. Then choose a slightly more budget brand (but one that does much better than the pack in the tyre tests) and around half the cost of the 'premium' brands. If you have to change the tyres slightly more frequently, you're still winning.

It's all still very confusing unless you do a lot of research. Just too much choice out there. Don't believe what the high street retailers are telling you though. They just push what they want to sell you.