That's right, after many weeks of battling a suspension issue (mechanic didn't change out lower control arm bushings like I asked, and paid for), and I got the car aligned so she's driving straight, it was time to replace the sneakers on all four corners. I logged 26,100 miles on these Falken FK452s, and if it weren't for the uneven tire wear on the fronts, I would have been able to eeek out another 5,000 I believe. The rears, however, were due. I drove these down past the tread indicators. Falken should consider making them louder, as even with the indicators hitting pavement, I couldn't hear any difference in the road noise.

Here were the condition of the old tires. LF had the worst outer edge wear, and all tires had 'feathering' either on the inside or outside edges. i am still trying to nail the perfect alignment numbers to limit these results.





Generally, I was very pleased with the Falken 452 model, the ride was very good, the wet handling was excellent, the one winter snowfall that I drove in, it did pretty decent, considering the tire's purpose. You would have thought i would go out and replace them with exactly the same tires now...but you would be wrong. Not because the tire disappointed me, but because a new tire caught my eye, and considering the price it was going for, I took a small chance on this one instead, and saved some considerable coin in the process. Price comparison towards the end of this post

Hancook Ventus V12 Evo
The tire tested extremely well against the class favorite - the Michelin PS2

Car and Driver article, just click.

Anyway, here's the technical comparison between the two.







The Hancook V12s have a tread width slightly smaller than the Falken 452s, but the overall section width is larger. This should help protect the lip of the rim just a little more. These differences were minor, and more importantly, load ratings were identical.

My tire dealer of choice was Discount Tire (the one on Rufe Snow in Watagua, TX to be precise) because they balanced all of my tires the last time I was in at no charge when I repaired a bent rim thru them.

I went in, knowing that these Hancook's were showing up at $182 on their website, but hearing about their price matching policy, I brought a printout from the Tire Rack and Onlinetires.com, with shipping, coming out to $172.50 and $154 respectively. If I could get a per tire price somewhere in the middle, I would be very happy.

I didn't even have to negotiate, Discount Tire gave me a price of $148 for fronts and $167 for the rear. I told him I was happy I didn't have to break out my printouts, and he just smiled. After taxes and mounting/balancing, I left the store with a bill for $753. My 'online' quote was $851...needless to say, I was happy keeping the extra c-note in my account.

Balancing was a normal spin balance, however, there is a Discount Tire about 20 minutes away that has the road force balance machine. At 70mph the wheel starts to shake a bit, so I'm going to get that taken care of tomorrow.

I've only driven about 45 minutes total today, so no true testing comments as of yet. They feel sooooo very good though, softer than my falkens, but thats expected with all that fresh tread and rubber.

I'll come back and add to this thread after a couple thousand miles to let you know if my impressions have changed

Here's some pics of the new tires.

 

Hancook. The OTHER road meat.

Hope they work well for you, please keep us updated now and then. Wet weather grip when you have had the experience...

 

Hi Matt,
Thanks for all the good info. My Pilot Sports won't last forever, so I'll be interested in your impressions down the road.
Thanks!
Brian

 

Will do brian! If you get in a pinch, the Falkens are really good. I just can't believe these Hancooks would rate so high to the Pilot Sports, #2 overall out of 10 tires chosen to compare. In the wet, the V12 gripped just under the PS2s, and had a better braking number than them. The Car and Driver crew were surprised. Need to break them in a bit and i'll push them a little.

 

I have always been a pirelli fan, my Jag has Continentals with one rear looking slim.

With respect to edge wear and road noise. Remember Jag designs quiet, reserved fine automobiles with great performance but. They will recommend a tire pressure that emphasizes ride and quiet over hot performance or tire wear.

A little tire pressure usually evens out tread wear both from increased pressure at center of tire as well as less roll over in the corners. Usually stiifer side wall gets you around corner a little faster but they will break loose quicker. Road noise will increase.

Balancing your tire pressure to each other front and rear can also give a great deal of influence over understeer and oversteer (let me know if the spouse buys that when you are playing around with this).

I would be curious as to anyone running pirelli p-zero's on an XK8 or XKR and how they stack up against the Continentals and Michelins. The continentals are real inexpensive but do not handle anywhere as good as the Pirelli P6's im running on the Sebring (for sale) or P3's on the Alfa. I have run a lot if michelins on BMW's, they always broke loose sideways in the corner a lot sooner than the pirelli but were controlled as they broke loose where throttle steering was a lot of fun (on the track guys, not on the streets!). The pirellis always stuck well, went where pointed and wore like iron with the compromise of a lot more road noise due to stiffer side wall. I tried Falkens on the alfa as I liked the square edged look and they are no slouch. Lowered about an inch with the Falkens the car looked great but had a conflict with the headers and turning radius so I went back to Pirelli.

Let us know how they work out.

Steven (1avguy)

 

Matt,

Just in case you missed this further validation for your selection:

 

Can you blame me then?

On a side note, the tires/wheels benefited from the road force balancing machine, all were 1.5oz out of balance on these machines and got matched almost perfectly. I've got a slight (ever so slight) vibration between 65-70, then it smooths out again.

They did however, swap the 9" and 8" rims accidentaly, not realizing the staggered-ness of the setup. I did the reswap back at home that night.

 

Texas had some snow this year, did you drive in the snow and ice? How did the Hankooks do? How would you compare those tires with your Falkens?

Once I drove on an icy highway and had to break suddenly. Thank goodness for the introduction of ABS in cars. It may have been the Beamer and it may have been the tires, but I haven't thought of switching out of Michelin since than. How would you compare your Hankook, Falken, and Michelin tires?

How much did Discount tires charge you for repairing the rims. Was it like some alloy chipped off or just bents that they have to repair?

Got myself a bottle of Eagle One tire shine gel to protect the next new set of tires so they won't have hairline cracks from the sun.

Need to get the front suspensions and struts replaced too. Did you put OEM in yours? Or what brand did you use? I probably will take the car to a mechanic who believes in doing less. Meaning he'll change the oil for you but he won't use a washer, & etc. I need to tell him exactly what parts to replace. How many parts did you change out in yours and why?

Hmmm...I think he really didn't use a washer . There goes my synth Mobil-1. That kind of work is rather wasteful, but the dealership is way way too expensive. So what do I need to watch out when I get the front suspensions replaced? Thanks.

 

Great price! I just replaced two of the tires on mine. The front were $199 per tire from Tread Depot. I went with the Toyo 245/45ZR18 PROXES T1R 96Y. I will say they grip well both dry and wet. Not sure about how they are in snow but I'm in Florida so it's not really an issue.

 

I drove in the snow twice, they did fairly well, not so good if there is any type of ice, or very very hard snow. They did just as well as the falkens, and they have to be relatively new to do any good. Going up my driveway was almost impossible when there was ice-snow hardened on it. Had to get a running start.

Never had michelins on any car i've owned, but both the falken and hancooks are great in dry and wet road conditions. Unless you change the tires out to winter tread, driving in snow and ice will always be nail biters.

Wheel repair for curb rash, was about $120, add another $20 for a bent rim repair (inside lip on mine). They bead blast, refinish, and clear coat to original condition. Well worth it.

OEM shocks are Bilstien, pricier than monroe and others, but suits the car much better. If you can afford them, replace with these.

Lots of suspension work is needed after several years of driving, upper shock mounts on the front are the earliest to go, lower shock bushings, and upper and lower control arm bushings for me. I was trying to get rid of 'clunks' in the suspension and get my camber back up into spec so it doesn't wear out the inside edge of the tire so badly. A good alignment (by someone who understands the front suspension) and being close to camber spec can result in even wear of the tires. Mine is perfect right now. Sway bar bushings also contribute to noise over bumps.

we've got several threads dedicated to suspension issues, just need to find them in the xk8/r section. Good luck w/ yours.

 

I had the Hankool V12's on my BMW 850, and they where way better than the Toyo proxes tires I had before on the car. These are excellent tires at a very good price. Next time I need summer tires, I will definately buy them again.

My 850 would easily spin the wheels in 1st and 2nd with the Toyo's. With the Hankooks that was not possible...

In several tests they have beaten the more expensive tires.

Cheers, Jarle

 

Agree with you Jarle, the Hancooks rated well compared to the Michelin PS2s in the car&driver tests linked in my first post. I think they're trying to establish themselves in the market, I wouldn't be surprised if the prices go up this year.

 

Bilstein it should be then. Thanks.

 

DON'T get rid of your old Bilstiens, contact Bilstiens USA, I believe they are in San Diego CA. I have Bilstiens on my 1988 Corvette. They are OEM for this car. Because 1988 model has the stiffest suspension than any year Corvette, it is VERY hard to find replacement Bilstiens for the front of this car.

Bilstien charged me $60.00 per shock to recondition them which included new valves, seals, fluid, and rubber per shock.

It's been awhile but I believe I paid $140 per front shock from an outfit online (plus shipping). Now they are almost impossible to find online or anywhere else.

 

good tip greenJ, I didn't know that a company would do that.

 

I am at the wear bars of my Kumho ASXs and have nothing but praise for them. They handled Wisconsin snow admirably (2" plus) and only began to "slip" a little in the wet when they hit the 75% wear level. Considering how cheap they are, I really see them as an excellent alternative.....and you can only get them in 255/45 (or larger). It is really amazing how many manufacturers have 255/45 as an odd size. Worth some research.

 

I have had the Riken Raptors on my XKR for almost 2 years now. They are wearing well, quiet and comfortable. I will probably get the Rikens on my XJ8 when they need to be replaced.

 

How much pressure do you guys put in your tires? I've been following Jag's recommendations (think it was 32/34) but the tire guy said that I should put more pressure in my Pilots to avoid uneven ware. The recommended pressure on the tires was like 50 lb. Should I try for 36/38 next time?

I know my Michelin tires are nice because I get compliments on them a lot! I'm not looking for fancy schmancy tires; instead, I'm looking for good quality, safe and reliable tires that give good handling . A tire guy told me I could get a four season Michelin the next time to save money, and get the same quality, safety and reliability.... What do you guys think? What tire is best for the money and why? Please, please, please...I don't do summer and winter tires.

 

More pressure will generally do two things...

(1) wear more in the center than the edges, if there's too much
(2) act like a stiffer shock, and you'll feel more cracks and pavement imperfections than if they were lower. (rougher ride)

my pressures are at 32 front and 30 rear, cold of course. I started at 32/34 recommended pressures, but quickly discovered the rears wearing VERY fast in the center of the tread.

 

I'm running Riken Raptors here as well. The dealer threw them on before I bought the car. I test drove it with poor tires and was hoping to talk them down based on the cost of some new tires I could select. They opted to replace them before I got the chance, but I've been very happy with them.