Are the falken tires any good?

bigdogdan2 said:

How can you tell these are LRR tires?

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The MXV4 and the MXM4 are both Micheline Energy Tires. The MXM4's seem to appear as the tire sizing escalates above 16 inches in diametre. The below photo is a MXV4 Energy off a New Beetle 2006. The tread pattern is exactly the same as the MXM4 version provided in my above link.

I am leaning towards the Hankooks right now because of the price and the light weight on the tire, I am getting them at $71.00 per tire out the door if I pick them up,,,most of the 17" tires that I read on the reviews are either a 25 LBS or 26 Lbs out there, the H405 Ventus hankooks are only 21 Lbs.,, 16 to 20 Lbs less on a car got to help on mpg's and the unsprung weight.

Good Tire MAXRPM.

I have been happy so far with the Altimax HP's. Relatively quiet, good dry and wet, but I haven't put too many miles on them yet.

I just had 4 falken tires I bought over the internet, and installed. Falken says they'll pro rate the tire if it's normal wear. I called them up and sent emails, and sent them copies of my receipts from purchase.

Also keeping receipts of every 5,000 mile rotation.

They'll honor it, or I'll head down and end up on national news.

fase2000TDI said:

They'll honor it, or I'll head down and end up on national news.

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You'll have to run for office. That post was way too funny.

I just got rid of some Falken 329 tires (similar to 529) on my gently driven '06 GTO. They had a 30K miles warranty, but were shot at 12k miles. Dealer didn't blink or accused me of destroying them, said that Falken was aware that they were wearing out too fast and has changed the tread compound for longer life. I used the prorated difference to get BFG tires. With the warranty, I was still on the hook to pay for installation.
With the Jetta, I think your very best bet is to get some Mich Energy tires at Costco. They wear well, quiet and and give good mpg.
I have gotten decent tread life and similar mpg savings from the super cheap GY tires at Wallymart, but they are also mediocre in dry weather and pretty dicey in rain. If you are unemployed and the wolves are at the door, those GY tires at Wally mart are worth looking into. Other wise, give you your money to the giant mummy on top of the tire.

MAXRPM said:

I have been reading reviews about tires,,, and it seems like the best bang for the buck are the Hankooks, overall the price is half on what you pay for the high rated tire out on the market Like Michelin and Yoko everybody seems to be happy the way they ride and last ,,,,,, I have had them on commercial vehicles before and they were great, now I am reading excellent reviews about these tires for lighter vehicles now, what do you guys think?

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I hang out on the GTO board ('04- '06) and one member claims to work for the NHTS division and is involved with tire testing. He said by far, the best tire (fewest failures/recalls/defects) is michellin. The worst tires as a whole are made in China and Korea is not much better. Hankook and Kumho have had their problems. Having said this, I will say that I have Hankooks on my '96 Impala SS because they are one of the few companies that still makes tires in 255-50-17 size.
I still say go for Michellin, they have quality that you can't see, but it is still there. Sure, all tires look round and black, but Mich tires are built with higher tolerances so they are less likely to need a ton of balance weights, they have advance tread compounds, the belts are of better quality. Believe it or not, much of the ride of your jetta resides not on the suspension, but on the tire and Michellins ride well.

Bridgestone to Yoko experience

I recently wore down a set of Bridgestone Potenza G 009. I thought they were amazing tires. Responsive, quiet, grippy, and just overall a great tire. Wanting to support my brother's shop, I was limited to his vendors availability. So I replaced the rubber with Yokohama Avid H4S. They are also amazing tires. They're grippier than the Potenzas when pushed hard at the expense of more noticible road noise, a little numbness with an on-center steering wheel, and I've also taken a 2-3 mpg hit, which I'm hoping will improve once the tires wear a little. The mileage could also be a MAF sensor starting to show it's age as I've notived bad MAF symptoms.

My advice though, get a set of Potenza G 019, the G 009 replacement, if you're a casual driver looking for a well-mannered tire. Get the Avid H4S if you're sportier side demands a little more grip. By far though, I think either of those two tires are the best in category.

A good link comparing the two with some others:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/testDisplay.jsp?ttid=108

Michelin

LRR Michelin's are the best overall in my opinion. The NB has 53,000 miles and the tires will easily make it to 65k. Be persistent and consistent on rotations and keep your vehicle aligned. There is not a state I have traveled that does not have "alignment demons" on the roadway. Hitting mother's nature as small as a possum can knock out the alignment and cause "feathering" along the edges of the tires. Alignment today is critical and some factory settings are done for safety first and not necessarily for tire life. A competent technician can "modify" the factory spec's to amount to a "neutral" alignment that will improve driveability and give longer tire life. My LLR tires were factory installed. I have had 3 alignments over the life of the vehicle. Pay for lifetime alignment and you will get your $ worth. These are strong cars considering their size but suspension pieces do take abuse and need attention regularly.

Spend the $ right the first time.

fase2000TDI said:

They'll honor it, or I'll head down and end up on national news.

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You will have to get in line behind the bankers and other thieves to get national attention. Do you work for a bank, perchance?

aja8888 said:

You will have to get in line behind the bankers and other thieves to get national attention. Do you work for a bank, perchance?

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There are other ways make the CNN feed.

Plus, I thought the bankers were in line to get their hook up from Obama...

I had two sets of Falken 912's on my '94 BMW 325i, got 72K (mostly hiway) on the first set; they did start to get loud at 55K. I had at least 40K on them when I sold the car. Good in the rain and not too bad in the little snow I now experience in SE Virginia. We get lots of rain though and the tires were really good. I recently bought two sets of 502's for my daughter's Volvo and for the 530i. The 502's are quieter than the stock BMW stuff. When time comes to re-shoe the beetle, it's getting Falkens. Try Highperformancetire dot com. Good prices and better service. They also go under hptire.net. Good luck.

I've been happy with my 18" Falken 912's, though I only have about 20,000 km on them.