Tires for Touring: Falken SN-828 any good?

Andrew,

I think you can get the Falken Ziex ze-912 in the Touring OEM size of 195/55R16 for a lot less than the $104 DiscountTire.com sells it for.

For instance DiscountTireS.com sells it for $86.32:

Falken ZE-912 - Discounttires.com with the lowest prices on tires and wheels, carrying all name brands, and having a huge inventory. In most cases, shipping is one to two days guaranteed.

And I believe the cheapest place to get them may be OnlineTires.com, which sells it for $77:

OnlineTires.com - Discount Tires, Continental Tires, Hankook, Uniroyal, Nexen, Uniroyal Tires.

Good luck.

 

I've driven the high performance v rated Falkens on 2 previously owned Mazdas and they drove, handled and held up very well, but that wasn't on a Prius. I liked them a lot on a regular high performance car. I only wish the manufacturers provided us with info on lrr.

hwell:

 

I would stick with the stock size.

To answer your original question, I don't have experience with the SN-828 but I've had 4 sets of the Falken Ziex ZE-512. ( replaced by the ZE-912) The 512's were great tires with excellent dry and wet weather grip. I bought mine from EdgeRacing.com. Vucantire.com is another good source.

I plan on replacing the Kumho's that came on my Prius with ZE-912's when it is time for replacement. I'm sold on Falkens as a low-cost but high-quality tire.

 

My kind of thread!

Big question is gas mileage!!!!! let us know all the dirty details:cheer2:

 

On one Mazda,(black Mazda 3 v-6, loved that car) the Falkens were a 205-55-15 v rated tire, and they did great. In Nashville, they ran around $125.00 each--plus bal, etc.
The newer Mazda was 205-60-17 v rated, also good Falken tires, but these ran much more $$$ as they were 17".

eace:

 

FWIW, Consumer Reports rated the rolling resistance of the Falken Ziex ZE-512 (often called the predecessor of the Ziex ZE-912) as "Good" -- only its third highest rating.

But I'm not convinced that the Touring OEM tires have better (lower) rolling resistance.

 

I can't give you hard numbers on a Prius but I switched from the stock Michelin Energy LRR tires that came on my Jetta TDI to the Falkens without any change in fuel economy. My wife was still getting 50 to 52 mpg on her 80 mile commute to the university. Most recently I changed to a B/F Goodrich and saw a sudden 4% drop from 45.3 mpg to 43.1 mpg (5K miles before vs 5K miles after) on my 170 mile commute. (50 minutes of 80 mph highway + 20 minutes of gridlock)

I've not put enough miles on the Prius to need to replace the Kumhos that came on it.

 

I just got my first flat with 14900 miles on an 09 touring with the OEM Brigestone Turanzas 195/55R16 that came on the car. I have been running 42/40 psi. Unfortunately the tire can't be repaired so I am looking at having to get at least 2 new tires. I don't know if I should just get a whole new set. There is approx 3/16 inch tread depth left on the 3 remaining tires and I can't estimate how many more miles I can get out of them. I don't know if I want to be locked into continuing with the OEM tires. The most important attributes for me in a tire are good mileage, good tread life, and good ride/low noise. I wouldn't want to choose a tire that would signifigantly lower fuel economy. I'd love to hear any experiences you all have w/ tires other than the OEMs for the touring. I have looked around at tirerack.com and looked at some reviews but found none specific to the prius.

Sorry for the minor highjack but perhaps this will add more discussion of touring specific tire experiences as they relate to economy, tread wear, and ride quality without starting another tire thread.

 

It seems we owners of 16" tires are all in that limited option boat...and the 2010 Prius not offering 16" tires won't help our long term prospects either

 

I spoke with a friend who is a mechanic who said that I could expect about 5k more miles out of the current tires. I'm opting to just replace all four so they will be matched. He also spoke favorably about the Falken ziex ze-912 which my local Sears sells for 128.99 but has a buy three get one free special which puts the cost per tire at 96.74. Shipping from discount tire is 37.24 ups ground plus 86 per tire which brings the cost per tire from discounttire.com to 95.31. I'm heading down to Sears now to get them since I don't want to be without the car for the shipping time. I'll report back about the Falkens with driving impressions and gas mileage when I put the cold pressure back to the same 42/40 psi at which I ran the Bridgestones. Cheers.

 

Thanks. Remember that new rubber does not give used rubber milage.
Please keep us posted.
:rockon:

 

Yes, I read here that Michelin says that the rolling resistance of a tire will lower (get better) by 25% over the life of the tire.

 

Interesting about the rolling resistance... So, I did a commute 52 miles each way (posted speed limits of 55 and 60mph I go about 7mph over normally) yesterday on the new tires. I did not notice an appreciable difference in the mileage, but with the variations in winds for me, my mileage jumps around enough so as to be confusing as hell at times. I have to look at longer term averages as my mileage per leg of the commute has varied as much as 6mpg. Gotta love those strong tail winds. The Falken ziex ze-912 tires do seem a little bit quieter than the turanzas were. And the ride seems a bit smoother now. This could just be the shine of a new set of tires but my initial impressions are very positive. In a couple of weeks I should have better data on mileage and impressions about performance in wet conditions.

 

Did you state what happened to the tire?

 

Also, i was looking at the 185/60/16 at tirerack.com for a possible replacement in the future. Any thoughts?

 

Too skinny.

 

My 2007 Touring (purchased used) has Sincera Falkens on it. The car had 60000 miles when purchased and the tires looked new. I suspect that they had come from Discount Tire. We've had it for a couple of months now and I see no appreciable wear showing up on the Falkens. And we are averaging 45-50 MPG overall. Hope this helps.