Tires

[boxsta]

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!

[mhfish4933]

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.

[a24]

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.

[engineerbud]

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.

[GoFishin]

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.

[hamilton65]

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.

[Moppie]

Originally Posted by hamilton65

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?

[hamilton65]

owned by Michelin.

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

[Moppie]

Originally Posted by hamilton65

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.

[safedriver]

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?