FALKEN ZIEX ZE-512 or FALKEN ZIEX ZE-912?

[SharkyX]

I can get these for about $4 difference, any suggestions as to the better tire?

[stat1K]

personally don't care for either. had premature wear on the 512 set, had horrible handling with the 912 set. these were both on my civic, lowered about 2.5" on drop springs. previous tires were barum bravaris 2's and they had considerably better tread wear and handling. If you're looking at cheap tire options you might consider the bravaris, although they are a lot noisier from my experience. i would take a look at yokohamas or even the pirelli's available at whatever size you're looking at because they last about 20-30k longer. worth the money imo.

[SharkyX]

personally don't care for either. had premature wear on the 512 set, had horrible handling with the 912 set. these were both on my civic, lowered about 2.5" on drop springs. previous tires were barum bravaris 2's and they had considerably better tread wear and handling. If you're looking at cheap tire options you might consider the bravaris, although they are a lot noisier from my experience. i would take a look at yokohamas or even the pirelli's available at whatever size you're looking at because they last about 20-30k longer. worth the money imo.

ive not driven my car 7k miles in the last 4 years ive owned it, Also ill most likely never go over 70mph. My last set of tires got dry rot before i was even half done with them i put so little wear on them.

As far as bravaris, ive never even seen that brand before. the other brands you listed for my size tire are MUCH more expensive than these.

I can get Hankook Ventus HRII H405 for about the same price

[stat1K]

barum is the brand, discount sells them. they're a german manufacture if i recall correctly. hankook i have also had bad luck with. had a pair on a company hyundai that lasted 20k. both rear tires were worn beyond belief.

falkens aren't bad by any means but on my car the pair of 512 i had lasted 23k before needing replaced.

[SharkyX]

Discount Tire Direct is where i was looking, for the size i need 205/50/15 they did not have a super great selection. Everything under $100 was falken, khumho(every pair ive owned had had dry rott), hankook and nitto

[stat1K]

i'd honestly lean to nitto in that list, truth is most tires suck under 100 each lol...

[gp02a0083]

The last 2 sets of the 912's ive had only lasted about 30k. Both sets ended up having a sidewall bubble / failure near the end of the tires life. I have used Fusion Hri's in the past, H rated tire , lasted about as long as the falken's. Only downside was the handling in the rain with the Hri's near the end, the 912's still had some bite left at that point. Now I got kumho's and been happy with them for the last 1,000 miles

[Dr_Snooz]

Sharky, what are your plans for this car? From other threads, I know that you don't have a place to work on it and rarely drive it. Nevertheless, you're shopping for springs and tires and brakes and engines. You're planning all kinds of work and mods but are unwilling to spend any money on anything. Help me understand why you're spending all this time and money on a car you don't think is worth spending time and money on.

[ShyBoyCA6]

He could be crying wolf. I yet to see any pictures of the car let alone any work done to it. As snooz mentioned what is your plan? If you don't have the work space, how would you get it done? Don't cheap out on parts. Calculate how much money it would cost for everything. A never seen a old member post a lot of threads with silly questions. Make up your mind on what you want. Simple as that.

[SharkyX]

Ive had the car for about 4 years now, it was $200, other than rims i never did much too it(mainly because i do not drive it alot) its not so much that im going out looking to spend money on the car, Just trying to take care of multiple issues that have kind of piled up at once. Car needs new shocks which i already have so was going to get the guy installing them to throw on springs. Current tires have started to dry rott as i mentioned above, I don't need an expensive tire because im not racing the car or going over 70mph, ill never put 30k miles on the tires so i have zero need for a high mileage super expensive tire just need something on the rim.

I have people to work on my cars for next to nothing, (socks springs ect)
As far as the engine question from another thread that is for a different accord, its for a hatch i am looking to pick up for next to nothing thats in overall good shape except for the engine and was just feeling out if it was worth dropping a new engine in it.

now @ShyBoyCA6 , had you bothered to click the links in my sig you would had seen pics of my old 3g and the current one.

[87accordlxi]

I've had 912s in the past and they were horrible if there was any amount of snow on the ground. I couldn't even get up modest inclines from a stop. If you're using them as a 3-season tire, they're fine.

[Legend_master]

As far as cheap tires go, I've always had good experiences with Kumo brand. Keep in mind I only deal with mild cold weather, maybe 1 snow day a year.

[2ndGenGuy]

Meh, a cheap tire is a cheap tire, IMO. If you just want something that's not dryrotted, it's not going to make much difference. All seasons will always perform mediocre compared to a specialized tire for the weather. So why debate it? Just get the cheapest ones you can throw on the car and drive em.

[stat1K]

^ that.

beyond that, and to start an entirely new debate, i will never buy tires from discount tire ever again. their fees are ridiculous now. i've been buying used tires for the last year and i'm into a set of 6 215/70r16s for a whopping 200 bucks. same tires (long trails) would have cost me 800 from discount after tax and fees and that was for 4.

[SharkyX]

^ that.

beyond that, and to start an entirely new debate, i will never buy tires from discount tire ever again. their fees are ridiculous now. i've been buying used tires for the last year and i'm into a set of 6 215/70r16s for a whopping 200 bucks. same tires (long trails) would have cost me 800 from discount after tax and fees and that was for 4.

What fees are you talking about?, my total for 2 tires came to 151.98 for 2 tires

[stat1K]

yeah that's what it says online but in NC they have a special epa tax that they charged last year. but the same 2 barum's in az would cost me 190

[stat1K]

also if you're cool with 2 14" tires for 160 be my guest. just saying that's ridiculous to me.

[Dr_Snooz]

Maybe I'm still not understanding. If you want cheap, then get some struts from the wrecking yard, cut the stock springs with a grinder and buy some used tires from a local shop. If money is an issue, there are ways to get your costs down. What keeps happening though, is that you ask about upgrades, then when someone makes a recommendation, you say, oh the car isn't worth it, I don't ever drive it, etc. etc. It's like you're looking to upgrade with the worst choices possible.

I'm just saying decide whether you want to upgrade or not. If you do, then spend the money to do it right. Upgrades cost money and if you try to cheese out on them, then you're going to spend a lot of money building yourself a pile of crap. Don't do that.

To answer your original question, I have major tire OCD. The Falkens tend to be made from very soft compounds that wear out extraordinarily fast. I am running Riken Raptors right now and am reasonably happy with them. They are made by Michelin as a cheap tire, at least so says America's Tire where I bought them. They were more than the Falkens, but are still comfortably below $100/tire.

[SharkyX]

Maybe I'm still not understanding. If you want cheap, then get some struts from the wrecking yard, cut the stock springs with a grinder and buy some used tires from a local shop. If money is an issue, there are ways to get your costs down. What keeps happening though, is that you ask about upgrades, then when someone makes a recommendation, you say, oh the car isn't worth it, I don't ever drive it, etc. etc. It's like you're looking to upgrade with the worst choices possible.

I'm just saying decide whether you want to upgrade or not. If you do, then spend the money to do it right. Upgrades cost money and if you try to cheese out on them, then you're going to spend a lot of money building yourself a pile of crap. Don't do that.

To answer your original question, I have major tire OCD. The Falkens tend to be made from very soft compounds that wear out extraordinarily fast. I am running Riken Raptors right now and am reasonably happy with them. They are made by Michelin as a cheap tire, at least so says America's Tire where I bought them. They were more than the Falkens, but are still comfortably below $100/tire.

i already have the shocks/struts , ive had them about a year and never got around to putting them on. Its not about money, its about not spending it. Lowering this car is the extent of the mods im going to do on this one, and as i said in a previous thread its more for cosmetics. I will not drive a car with cut springs that's just not safe.

And as far as shooting down opinions, i listed 2 tires that most know are in the $70 price range, if im listing these 2 tires it should be obvious that about where i want to spend. When folks start throwing out tires that cost WAY more than that , yea im going to shoot it down because that's not what im going for. I dont need $140 tires on this car. 205/50/15 is not a common tire out here for used tire shops, ive called around for months with no luck, that's why im sucking it up and putting new ones on it.

The only upgrades ive asked about for this car were some springs and these tires. Upgrades imply im looking to get something out of it performance wise, im not. Im just replacing crap that needs to be replaced, as i said ealrier my struts are garbage, have had a set of KYB's sitting for a while now that were going to be installed soon and figured id throw some new springs on with it. When i asked about the springs i was pretty clear that all i needed was something cheap, someone messaged me about dropzones, looked them up they were what i was looking for.

[ShyBoyCA6]

well the other members told you how the tires you listed are bad and what not. instead of buying cheap tires save up for better tires. either way they are gonna rot or wear out within the range stat1k listed. I rather have tires that are gonna preform good, but since money is the issue then just pick from the 2 listed and choose. I say choose the 912, i was gonna choose those but i rather get azenies for my car yeah they cost more but i think my car is worth it for what it has. Its up to you really they are just giving you feedback on whats good and whats not.

[2ndGenGuy]

The 912 has a 480 treadwear rating and is warrantied for 65,000 miles.
The 512 has a 420 treadwear rating and is warrantied for 40,000 miles.

This means the 912 is a harder rubber, less prone to wearing. It also means it will grip like poo compared to the 512. Not that the 512 will be amazing, 420 is a pretty high treadwear rating for a tire anyways. All it means is that it will be marginally better than the 912 in terms of grip.

So a "better" tire is relative. What is important to you in a tire is what makes it better. Do you want it to last longer, or do you want it to have better grip? That's the most basic tradeoff in a tire. There's other things too, but since you're not looking for the top of the line tire, you gotta decide which you would rather have for the price.

[SharkyX]

The 912 has a 480 treadwear rating and is warrantied for 65,000 miles.
The 512 has a 420 treadwear rating and is warrantied for 40,000 miles.

This means the 912 is a harder rubber, less prone to wearing. It also means it will grip like poo compared to the 512. Not that the 512 will be amazing, 420 is a pretty high treadwear rating for a tire anyways. All it means is that it will be marginally better than the 912 in terms of grip.

So a "better" tire is relative. What is important to you in a tire is what makes it better. Do you want it to last longer, or do you want it to have better grip? That's the most basic tradeoff in a tire. There's other things too, but since you're not looking for the top of the line tire, you gotta decide which you would rather have for the price.

Thanks for the information, either one should do ok in rain yea? I most likely would never drive my car in snow... IF it ever snows in VA have my 4x4 for that

[Dr_Snooz]

I'm not picking on you Sharky. I just want to make sure I'm on board with your project.

I have found the reviews posted on tirerack.com and 1010tires.com to be very helpful when trying to figure out what tire to choose. They get into particulars like wet traction, etc. Probably not much on resistance to rot though. I would keep the tires out of the sun if you aren't doing that already.

[MessyHonda]

The 912 has a 480 treadwear rating and is warrantied for 65,000 miles.
The 512 has a 420 treadwear rating and is warrantied for 40,000 miles.

This means the 912 is a harder rubber, less prone to wearing. It also means it will grip like poo compared to the 512. Not that the 512 will be amazing, 420 is a pretty high treadwear rating for a tire anyways. All it means is that it will be marginally better than the 912 in terms of grip.

So a "better" tire is relative. What is important to you in a tire is what makes it better. Do you want it to last longer, or do you want it to have better grip? That's the most basic tradeoff in a tire. There's other things too, but since you're not looking for the top of the line tire, you gotta decide which you would rather have for the price.

the size he is looking for is for the 50 series profile that has a 360 on the 912.

OK i agree with stat1k. I have owned 3 sets of Falken tires in all different sizes

1. falken 512 205/60/15 with the 420 treadwear. they wore out quick and i had my car lowered with out camber kits and the camber ate them all up
handling was alright only when the tires are warm. not the best tire for a 15 inch rim
2. falken 452 205/50/16 300 treadwear. I finally got some 2nd gen prelude arms to correct the camber. these tires did not last at all. only around 20k and they were already wearing out like crazy. they did handle really good and never had a problem with them besides just wearing out fast. at the end they cost too much money.
3 falken 912 205/50/15 with 360 treadwear. i have these on my Si rims and only after 15k they are started to wear out. they do handle alright but once you break the traction they do not recover grip and have to back off the throttle. so far they are a good daily driving tire but not the best

after all this im going to upgrade to the yokohamas S-drive 205/50/15 just because i had heard good things on them.

[Oldblueaccord]

Could look for a used tire place. We have them all over in the bad sections of town.

For a cheap new tire I do like the Riken brand I had a set on my 90's wagon and they were great in the rain.

wp