Need new tires soon, opinions wanted on Falken tires...

[SilverY2KCivic]

As mentioned, I'm looking to get a new set of rubber for my stock '00 Civic DX rims. Right now I'm eyeing the Falken ZE502 ZIEX tire. Anyone know how good Falkens are in general, or preferably how good this particular tire is? If I don't get the ZE502 ZIEX Falkens, I'm also looking at the Pirelli P6000 Veloce. I've heard the Pirelli's can tend to wear out a bit fast, and aren't as good of a tire as say the Falkens. ANy opinions on this? Also, my tire size is 185/65 14, it's to my understanding that I can fit a 195 width tire on my stock rims, is this true? And how bigger of a tire can I SAFELY fit onto my stock 185/65 "14 rims?

[1CiViC4u2Nv]

i have the 502s on my Civic, although they r mounted on 17s, i love the ride and they are pretty decent in handling and tire wear. For the price, u can't beat the falken ziex 502. i have also had nittos, yokohamas, and Toyos, and i like the falken the best out of these...

[92AccordCoupe]

i am just about done with my first set of my ze-502s on my car. they're mounted on 16" rims. i've gone nearly 40k miles on them and i plan on getting at least another 5k before i can afford a new set.

they're great tires! wet handling is excellent and they offer good resistance to hydroplaning. i've driven them in light snow (less than 3 inches) and have had pretty good results...although they didn't work well this year because the tread is getting quite thin. (i have blizzaks mounted on my stock rims, but i was too lazy this year to switch them out )

these tires are also very quiet on the freeway... i know this all too well cuz i don't have a/c

since these are unidirectional tires, it's even more important to check your tire pressure and rotate them regularly.

as for your wheel size... if you go up to 195, get 195-60/14 rather than 195-65/14. this will keep your overall tire diameter the same as stock (so you don't have to recalibrate your speedo), plus the suggested wheel size for 195-65/14 tires is 6" vs. your 5.5" wheels. in fact, you can't really choose because the ze-502s are only available in 195-60/14...you can't even get 185-65/14. just click here to buy them directly from falken...

[SilverY2KCivic]

Thanks for the recommendation to get them. Actually they DO come in my stock size, it's just towards the bottom of the list "185/65HR14 145 $41" But they do look like very good tires, and I'm really liking the tread design of them, one of the main reasons I want thme, but also because they handle well.

[92AccordCoupe]

duh! :o, i guess the do come in your stock size!

what's better is the h-rated tire have an even higher treadwear rating...420 vs. 340 (for the v-rated).

[PFCfutrell]

You're buying tires because they have pretty tread designs? What's this world coming to, geez.

[SilverY2KCivic]

Originally posted by PFCfutrell
You're buying tires because they have pretty tread designs? What's this world coming to, geez.

Um no, I'm buying tires because my current ones are worn down, and I need new ones, I just wanted to replace them with a tire that had a more aggresive tread design, rather than the crappy stock tires I have on my car right now, which don't provide much of any kind of handling, and what goot are supposed all season tires, if they don't have even decent traction in the rain? I never said I was getting new tires just because I want a better tread design, if that was the case, I'd wait till the ones I have were warn, but since they ARE, that's why I'm getting new tires.

And incidentally, since I got a good deal on some Konig Helium rims, I'm getting them fitted with some Kumho Ecsta 711 tires. They were on sale for $28/tire! Good tread design on them, and I hear they handle very well.