Tires

Hey...I just bought Riken Raptor VR tires for my 2000 GSR. Originally I had Dunlop SP sport ultra high performance summer tires (which didn't last long but handled great). The Riken's were recommended by a big 10 tires guy over what I had originally ha come to buy, Yoko AVS ES100's. He said the Riken's would last longer, perform just as well, and were cheaper. So I went with the Riken's even tho I have never heard of them. The Riken's are all season UHP tires and the dunlops were summer UHP tires. Should I be feeling any difference in handiling? The Riken's are louder and seem to not handle the road as well. Did I just buy some shit tires or do they just need some breaking in/alignment? Any feedback is greatly appreciated. Anyone else own Riken's or even heard of them? Thanks guys.

Well the added noise and reduced handling are expected...you went from summer tires to all-season...meaning more tread, less of a contact patch. The extra tread means more road noise..
And the all-season means better wet and snow traction...meaning the focus wasn't all on dry handling...so it wont stack up as well to summer tires.
Give them some time, and make sure you get the pressure correct and see how it goes...you'll appreciate them when it snows.

Thanks igovert...I live in GA so we hardly get any snow maybe like an inch if we are lucky. I told the guy at big 10 about the Rikens and he said he would swap them out if I wanted. Do u think I will be more satisfied with the Yoko's?

Yea I live in GA as well and you won't have to worry about snow all that often. I have never heard of those tires before. I mostly stick with Michelin tires for touring and all season. They are a little more expensive but they are great tires. :2cents:

Well, the best advice I can give you, is go to the wheels and tires sub-forum...in the main menu. Post your question there, and wait to hear from a few people like Grant@tirerack.com He is very knowledgable and wont steer you wrong.

i love my yokos...they were $$$ though.

You gotta be careful about guys at tire stores. I had a similar experience last winter when I was talked into buying a different snow tire than I had intended. Turns out a lot of tire stores buy in bulk to save costs, then try to sell off the tires to the unsuspecting. Combine that with a comission and incentive policy and you are pretty much gaurenteed to get ripped off.
Tire Rack seems pretty good though. Their web site has a cool user-based rating system too.
I have heard a lot of good things about the Yokos, though I think my next tire will be the Falken Azenis Sport or Kuhmo MX, both of which all the autocross guys seem to like.

After looking at my post I realised I totally sound like a rep. for Tirerack or something. heh. I'm not.
^_^

Thanks for all the input guys...I went ahead and returned the tires and bought some BF goodrich G-force sport tires. The reviews on tire rack were great for them and they have been rated has the best handling v/z rated tire. They havn't come into the shop yet but i am sure I will be more satisfied with them.

And you tire rack reps. need to stay out of our forums.

pep boyshas great tires

Thanks for all the input guys...I went ahead and returned the tires and bought some BF goodrich G-force sport tires. The reviews on tire rack were great for them and they have been rated has the best handling v/z rated tire. They havn't come into the shop yet but i am sure I will be more satisfied with them.

Let us know how you like the BFG's I am going to need to get new tires in about a month or two. I am tring to decide if I want to try a different tire than Michelin.

FYI, those letter ratings are speed ratings, not handling ratings. I've posted a few full explanations of the speed rating system. Tirerack also has an article somewhere on thier site explaining them. So if you do some searching, I'm sure you'll find it.

yeah I know the v/z is speed rating...but it's saying it's the best handling tire in the v/z speed rated tire catagory.

got the tires on today...my alignment was screwed to hell and all I have done to the suspension is put an eibach pro kit on it (1.25 drop!!) But yeah they got all that fixed and put the bf goodrich g-sports on. They feel awesome. Very tight handling, alot better then the Rikens.

FYI - Riken Raptor's are made by Michelin...google Michelin Riken Raptor. They were built by Michelin and are a perfectly fine tire...if you run your tires hard and don't get alot of wear out of them, they are about half the price of Continentals, Michelins, Pirelli's, etc. So why pay more? They are Z-rated tires. I have a Porsche and we have Nissan drift car. The Riken's are a little noisier, but they run fine for what you get out of any ultra performance tire. Don't sweat it. I paid half what I would have paid for Michelin Pilot Sport or Dunlops and get about the same tire life. Works for me! I go to alot of Porsche meets and drift rallys and alot of guys are using these tires just for the price point alone. Just thought you might want to know. If you are looking for a super high performance tire...you have to shell out the big bucks. But I'm just not willing to do that every year. I have better things to do with my money! Hey our drift car is to the ground, so camber can be an issue and I have a welded rear end. We went through a set of Continentals in one month! $1200 in less than five weeks. I put Rikens on for $550!

Riken Raptors, I recently put a set of Raptors on my 2006 Honda S2000. I only have about 2500 miles on them but they have impressed me. They have a better ride and are more quiet than the bridgestone potenza 050 factory tires that came on the car. The raptors stick just as good wet or dry as the bridgestones.They also look great on the car. My driving style is aggressive and I drive the car daily. Even if they only wear as long, or short I should say, as the factory tires they replaced 23,000 miles approx.; at half the price sounds like a great deal to me.

I've had the Riken Raptor's before and they are great tires. In fact, I just put them on a Dodge Caliber SXT Sport. Not only do they handle in dry conditions but when it's raining the traction is awesome. They also handle very well in snow conditions. I live in OK where you never know from day to day what kind of weather will be on hand.

I just finished putting 65,000 miles on these tires and have impressed me more than any tire I have driven. Handle well, are quiet and good in wet weather. I am buying a new set this week. For the money, I love them on my Camry.:smile:

Got these new on an Audi S4 lease return, less than 16K miles and one went flat, not slowly, but dead. put on lift to pull tire, tread separated from casing, not one but FOUR were separating. Had to replace 4 tires after 16,000 and less than a year. No response from Riken, Michelin (whom distributes) ran away fast since they don't manufacture, just distributed. No warranty, poor quality, dangerous, 4 of 4 bad tires, not worth risking your life. Spend another 100 and get something safer, or spend less and get sumitomo, but safety is far more important than saving $20 per tire.

I had Riken Raptors put on my 530 BMW 4 years/50k miles ago and they are just now down to the wear marks.
These tires have impressed me. They handle fine, road noise is not an issue and they perform great in the rain.....when it rains. I'm putting a set on my wife's E320 Wagon because the Yokohama Envigor's only lasted 20k on the rear. Just priced the Raptors online for only $75 225/55-16 ....for that price I can buy two sets.

I had Riken Raptors put on my 530 BMW 4 years/50k miles ago and they are just now down to the wear marks.
These tires have impressed me. They handle fine, road noise is not an issue and they perform great in the rain.....when it rains. I'm putting a set on my wife's E320 Wagon because the Yokohama Envigor's only lasted 20k on the rear. Just priced the Raptors online for only $75 225/55-16 ....for that price I can buy two sets.


Welcome to AF!


I've never heard of Riken Tyres, are they a US brand, or something imported from Asia?

owned by Michelin.

They have them for a good price here. http://www.tirebuyer.com/

owned by Michelin.

They have them for a good price here. http://www.tirebuyer.com/


Ahh, so it's a budget brand for Michelin?
You would expect them to be very good tyres is that's the case.

Aloha,

I am shopping for front tires for my car and I never heard of the Riken Raptor. One dealer has them so I've been checking out reviews about them. This thread seems to favor the Raptor but when I read the reviews from the Mercedes Benz Auto forum most of the bloggers were complaining about these tires. Anybody have a theory about why there is such a discrepancy in opinions between these two forums? :confused: