99grnmaxgxe

iTrader: (11)

I'm wondering what Treadwear is when looking at tires. I've seen 320, 360, etc. I have Falken 512 ZIEX and it says that the treadwear is 420. So what does this mean?

Ammi

iTrader: (26)

The treadwear grade is a comparative rating based on the wear of a tire when tested carefully under controlled conditions. Each tire company uses their own rating system so it's different from one another.

CCS2k1Max

iTrader: (2)

My condolences. It means the center of the tread will wear at 420 while the outside edges will wear at a rate of 120 regardless of rotation or tire pressures. Spend a litle more $$ next time.

99grnmaxgxe

iTrader: (11)

D@mn these tires are that bad huh?

CCS2k1Max

iTrader: (2)

Ammi got 40K out of them, everyone else who kept them that long only got 20K to 25K miles.

I sold mine around 3000 miles and even at 47-48 psi, the outer edges were still wearing faster than the center (rule of thumb at those pressure is the center gets to wear faster, but not on the 512s). My take on the cause is the 512's awful sidewall roll as minimal lateral forces act upon them.

zebpwgc

is this true?

zebpwgc

UTQG Treadwear Grades are based on actual road use in which the test tire is run in a vehicle convoy along with standardized Course Monitoring Tires. The vehicle repeatedly runs a prescribed 400-mile test loop in West Texas for a total of 7,200 miles. The vehicle can have its alignment set, air pressure checked and tires rotated every 800 miles. The test tire's and the Monitoring Tire's wear are measured during and at the conclusion of the test. The tire manufacturers then assign a Treadwear Grade based on the observed wear rates. The Course Monitoring Tire is assigned a grade and the test tire receives a grade indicating its relative treadwear. A grade of 100 would indicate that the tire tread would last as long as the test tire, 200 would indicate the tread would last twice as long, 300 would indicate three times as long, etc.

joe360

i thought treadwear of 420 is pretty good..

CCS2k1Max

iTrader: (2)

Food for thought on UTQGs of 225/50R17s for the 5th gen SE:

OEM Crapenza RE92s: 260, rated 50K miles,
Pilot Sport A/S: 400, rated 60K miles, and
Ziex ZE-512: 420, rated 30K miles.

Grain of road salt comes to mind.

irish44j

iTrader: (38)

you're like a heat-seeking missile, CCS.....

99, I've had 2 sets of the 512s....the are decent tires if you are a "moderate" driver. Good in the rain, decent in snow, good grip. They DO have soft sidewalls, as he said, and are not the best handling tires out there.

As to wear, I got around 20K out of them, give or take, but I drive and corner very aggressively. they are a soft compound, so they grip really well, but also wear fairly fast. No problems at all with uneven wear, on either set.

That said, I much prefer the Toyo Proxes 4 I currently use.

The 512's are not the worst, and not the best A/S tire out there....good bang for the buck, for the "average" driver.


But you shouldn't listen to either me or CCS2k1Max, because he and I are constantly arguing the opposite sides of this issue. You should disregard anything either of us say and listen to EVERYONE ELSE!

CCS2k1Max

iTrader: (2)

It's his money, his car, but I wouldn't put Falkens even on my mother in law's Buick.

99grnmaxgxe

iTrader: (11)

Thanks for the feedback guys, I just barley got the Falkens (1 month) so I can't really tell any signs about them yet.

irish44j

iTrader: (38)

Falken 512's or Falkens in general?

CCS2k1Max

iTrader: (2)

The 512s for sure in either my ex mother in law or my current...

Aaron92SE

iTrader: (128)

Well, I need new tires and I FOR CERTAIN will not buy 512s again!!! They are garbage! I bought them strictly b/c they had great reviews of being a somewhat performance oriented all season tire with a GREAT treadware rating! But, I need to replace them only after 15K miles. They lasted less than my Yokohama AVS ES100s of the same size... 225/45R17. Those lasted 21K miles during my SAME aggressive driving.

I need something in a 17" that is guaranteed to last at least 25K miles but won't break the bank. I don't NEED performance tires, I just prefer it. I have track tires for the track and when I'm on the street, I can have street tires. I don't expect my car to zip around corners all the time like I have road racing slicks on.

I am leaning towards some really really cheap all summer tires that will probably last 20K miles regardless of treadware rating. B/c I know that whole rating system has nothing to do with how many miles you can get out of the car. I know that NOW, but didn't realize it when I was shopping for tires last time. If I knew these tires would be bald at less than 20K miles, I would have never bought them. I didn't expect it to handle as great as my previous Yokos, they didn't. But they had the same straight line traction as my Yokos, but less lateral handling. In a turn, I would break the tires lose much easier with the 512s when compared to the ES100s of the same size.

I was happy at first with the 512s, but after I saw how quickly they were wearing down, I could have spent my money elsewhere.

I won't spend another $500 on a set of tires again! I'm ready to upgrade to some cheap Kumho Escta Supra 712s, Sumitomos HTR Z 1 or 2, or the ASX maybe. I may be even willing to try the General Exclaim UHPs.

I can live with crappy traction. But I can't live with replacing $500 tires every 15K miles!! I need something that is guaranteed to last a long time, but maybe still offer a little straight line traction. And I need it to cost less than $100 per tire. Suggestions?

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Compar...peed_rating=YR

99grnmaxgxe

iTrader: (11)

Wow, my tires suck then. Oh well, I only paid $300 for them with installation. (you get what you paid for)

Aaron92SE

iTrader: (128)

You can find great tires for that price if they are not over 15" in size. Once you start sizing up, they start getting more expensive and wear out much faster. But the handling capabilities go through the roof with upsizing, lower profiles and good performance tires when you compare it to $300 15" H rated tires.

CCS2k1Max

iTrader: (2)

Serves you right for not reading my 512 reviews... The worse all around tire I've ever owned.

How about Fuzion ZRi? That's my summer tire and I am very happy with them for very little money and, needless to say, much better than the lousy Falken 512s.

Aaron92SE

iTrader: (128)

I didn't see your review when I was researching the 512s last summer. But everything I read gave a RAVING review. I'm not impressed at all and won't buy them again.

I'm thinking of never dumping a crap load of money on tires again. I can get 4 HTR Z Sumitomos, which are more than likely crap, for about $340 installed. That is much better than the $500 installed price I paid for the 512s that only lasted 16K miles. The Sumitomos can't be much worse than that.

Oh yeah, the Fuzions are the same price roughly. I won't be happy at paying that price unless they are guaranteed to last over 25K miles and offer great performance.

CCS2k1Max

iTrader: (2)

My ZRis have roughly 8-9K miles and I am guessing they still have ~8/32nds left (I should have checked when I took them off for the winter). Last I checked for rotation mid summer, the fronts were a little less than 9/32 and the rears were still 9/32nds (IIRC, they were 9/32nds new).

If the wear is linear (WTF is Uni-T anyways?), I figure I shouldn't have trouble getting 30K out of them and I drive them fairly hard.

99grnmaxgxe

iTrader: (11)

What does IIRC mean?

Aaron92SE

iTrader: (128)

If I recall correctly = IIRC

What I do when people start using these acronyms, I enter it into a search engine and find the answer pretty quickly.

CCS2k1Max

iTrader: (2)

What did Google bring up for WTF?

WhiteMaxima9600

Basically you want the highest number possible, only "touring" models have these (500 and up) usually performance tires have lower because there a softer rubber for more grip. It's a sacrifice, harder tire =longer life and vice versa. I look for a treadwear between 400 and 460.