When I bought my MY99 at 9,500miles the front tyres were quite worn and I was given a pair of Falken, ZIEX tyres.

I have just fitted them and have not yet given them any hard treatment.

I have not seen these discussed on the bulletin board, is this because they are not well regarded?

Murray53

 

Never heard of the ZIEX...

I had 17" Falken FK-451's fitted to my new my00. Initial impressions of grip very good (but they're off the car for winter now). Very noisy on the motorway though.

Richard

 

I have only ever had one set of Falkens on my car - given free. They were crap. Never again - even if free!

 

Are you now using two different brands of tyre on your Impreza?

Most people agree that this is a very bad thing to do on any car, especially an Impreza as they are very sensitive to tyres.

One should even be careful of mixing old and new tyres of the same brand, as the difference in rolling diameter between the old and new tyres can put unnecessary stress on the 4wd system.

Many people swap the tyres front to back mid-way through their life to minimise this difference through the lifetime of the tyres, and also so that all the tyres wear out at the same time, meaning that they can then be replaced as a set.

Apologies if you already know this, or if it isn't applicable to you!

On the subject of Falken tyres, a friend of mine swears by them and always fits them to his MR2.

Andrew.

 

IMHO
Horses for courses on tyres preferences.
My understanding is that Falken are between a budget and a premium tyre, intermediate for performance and price.

again IMHO.
I will always fit the best quality/performance tyres i could afford. This is not always the mosrt expensive mind you, being they are the only bit of the car (under usual circumstances) that is in contact with the road.

 

I had Falken ZE502's on my car. Never had a problem with them! I run Toyo's now and am very happy with them too.

 

Thanks for the advise.

The tyre type is ZE502, the name ZIEX is also on the tyre wall.

I now have these on the front and the original Bridgestones on the back. Going by the wear to date, the rears will need replaced at the same time as the fronts, is this typical, fronts wearing at twice the rate of rears?

I guess the fronts will eventually match the rears and I will replace all 4 at that time, around 10K from now. Other than buying 4 new tyres now ( which I am reluctant to do for financial reasons) any suggestions?

Murray53

 

I've used Falken GRB 215/40 x 17 and 205/45 x 17 ZE502's The GRB's are the best for grip but don't last as long as the ZE502's. I now run P-zero's 205/45 x 17 which beat the falkens hands down, but then again they are a lot more expensive. Basically you get what you pay for.

 

Anyone know where I can purchase Falken FK451'S from in the Bristol( or Wakefield) area? - as I hear from a very reliable source that they are significantly better than Toyo Proxes - which I have on now!