Falken Ziez Ze912 tire review: nice tire!

[Adam Lee]

Just a brief review, as I am thinking of it.....I replaced my original (yes!) Prius tires at about 44k miles last month. About to head out on a long-range New England trek for the hoildays, I thought it wise - no more squeaking by on some pretty marginal tires!

Got a set of the stock size tires - 185/65-15 (right?) at Sears, including all costs - alignment as well - it was just over 400 bucks.

I put snow, ice, heavy wind at highway speed driving - over 1600 miles! - and they are great. Mileage is similar, traction both wet and dry is great.

I recommend these tires! I think they were on sale at Sears in December. I apologize for the large font size - my eyes are old!

Adam

[Boo]

Thanks Adam for your review.

The Falken Ziex ZE912 sure sounds like a great tire.

Its strong points are impressive -- outstanding dry and wet handling and braking, and low price. In fact, it's Consumer Reports 2nd highest rated performance all-season tire (H speed rating). And it comes in the OEM tire size of the Gen II Standard Prius and in the hard-to-find OEM size of the Gen II Touring Edition.

But its weaker points are reportedly its snow and ice performance, rolling resistance and tread life.

If you haven't seen it yet, here's a scan of the Consumer Reports November 2009 tire tests:

Consumer_Reports_Nov._2009_Tire_Tests-1.doc

[PriusLewis]

I have to respectfully agree with Boo. I bought 912's in July. I liked their turn-in, grip and lack of noise. After breaking in they were down about 1-2 MPG from my Low Rolling Resistance tires (I thought that was a decent trade-off). But once it snowed here in Denver I couldn't even move on a flat parking lot. In November I replaced them with General Altimax Alpines, which at least go in the snow. The 912's will go on one of the kid's old Chrysler products (roughly the same size tire). And oh, by the way, the fronts were half worn out after 4 months (no, I didn't rotate them and should have).

[Adam Lee]

FWIW - My initial drive on brand new Ziex 912's consisted of:

1. ~600 mile enduro-run to suburban Boston; Dec.23rd
   
2. ~250 mile jog from Boston to downeast Maine (Naskeag point, to be very specific! town of Brooklin) Dec. 26th
   
3. ~700 mile jaunt from snowy Brooklin, Maine to snowy Alexandria once more; Dec. 29th
   

Along the return trip, we started with a snowstorm departure on two-lane windy downeast roads. That entire day, a 30-40mph consistent gust off the coast made any attempt at highway speed driving a real white-knuckle adventure. Did I mention the average high temp along the 15-hour ride was 25 degrees? Cool day!

My observations are that the snow handling was great. I never slipped at all while driving, even after giving a hard brake to "test the snow out" at the beginning of our long day's journey into night. Yes, it was slippery enough to slide; but I never lost driving traction at any speeds.

I believe Maine uses NO salt or chemicals on its roads, neither does Mass - just LOTS of sand and abrasives. My Prius got a real winter workout over the holidays, that's for sure!

Now, were I to actually live in such a climate; there is no doubt I'd have a separate set of rims shorn with dedicated snow tires - possibly studded - depending on legality and requirements. I had an '86 900T SAAB kitted out with a winter set like that.

However, as I live in NOVA and commute daily, these Ze912's provide me a fine balance of performance in anything so far. Don't ever get much in the way of snow or ice. Already racked up lotsa miles since I got 'em....sheesh.

Anyway, for a budget-strapped fourth grade teacher like myself, 400 bucks including alignment with the results I have had so far works for me!

PS...I next get to "winter-test" the Ze912's in another winter wonderland, the Mt. Washington Valley in New Hampshire when we visit relatives near Intervale and North Conway! Now, there is indeed some snow to be found there!

Adam

[SageBrush]

I bought Zi-Ex for my car back in 2006 and was not happy. Although traction was great, mpg took a 15% hit for 20k miles, and they were worn out by 40k miles. I bought the wrong tyres for what I wanted, based on specs that were out of date. OP's tyres are I believe yet another new spec.

The moral to this story is not that I dispute OP's experience, but be aware that Falken changes formulations often, and documentation lags.

Regarding money, I like the idea of spending more upfront, and getting a tyre that lasts quite a bit longer. My most recent tyres are Michelin Hydroedges that cost about $500 at Costco and are rated 90k miles. I think they will last the rating.