Michellins rule, Falkens drool

[dkh]

This thread may have already run it's course over a year ago, but the concerned parties may want to check out the Feb. 2008 issue of Grass Roots Motorsports magazine. They did a test (p.115) of 3 versions of the SAME tire - the Yokohama S.drive in 16", 17", and 18" diameters. The 17" version scored the best times.

Originally Posted by edevlin

As you may know, I got a set of aftermarket 18" Carrera wheels with Falken tires. They were replacing stock 17" wheels with Michellin P/S tires. First let me say, that like randellneighbor, the new wheels are beautful. But I am still getting used to how the car handles with the new wheels.

Even though the new 18" are wider, 8 inch front 10 inch rear, than my stock 17" wheels, the area of the tire that contacts the road is the same with the 18" Falken tires as with my 17" Michellins. The Michellin tire has a very flat profile on the tread, while the Falken tires are noticably more rounded, especially at the sides of the tire. The sidewall is lower in the Falken tires but the tread pattern is noticably deeper than on a new set of (few hundred miles) Michellin P/S.

I would have thought that the 18" tires would be wider, no doubt if I could have afforded 18" Michellin's they would be wider. I also would have thought that the lower sidewall of the 18" Falken tires would make for crisper handling. So far, that appears not to be the case. On hard coneriing the Falken tires seem like they are flexing (I think I am running the Porsche-recommended tire pressures) and not providing as firm of contact on the road. I understand that they have a harder rubber compound, but the tires are not sliding, it is almost as if the deeper tread pattern is making the tires "squisshy" on hard turns.

On the plus side the Falkens are a quiet tire and they provide a nice smooth ride, right up to the triple digits. I was just hoping for better cornering with the wider wheels, I guess you get what you pay for. Did I say that the new wheels look great....

Ed

[steve00s]

I replaced my Kumho's about a year and a half ago with the Falken RT-615's (225/255 17's) and they have been great. I have not driven on the PS2's so I cannot comment on them for comparison purposes. My first autocross last year with the new tires was on wet pavement and they were remarkable. Much superior to what I was driving on before. Next couple of events on dry pavement and I was hanging with the Hoosier crowd. For DE's, they were very good though got a little greasy towards the end of the sessions as they got hot. On the freeway and around town they provide a good ride and no amount of semi-normal street driving is going to get you in trouble because of the tires. I had the misfortune to get caught in the snow with them and was surprised that I actually had some amount of traction. Not the kind of tire you would want to go through a snowy, icy winter on but for a high performance tire they did an OK job. The best part about them is that they are cheap. I just put another set on for the upcoming season and they were less than $650 installed at Sears of all places.

[edevlin]

The Falken 512 is not a bad tire, actually FOR THE MONEY it's pretty good. I am running a set for my winter tires on 18 inch Carerra lightweight rims. One thing they have going for them is that they wear much better than the PS2's. Also, the Falken 512 is an all season tire, so unlike the PS2, it can be run when its quite cold outside.

Still, there is a world of difference between the Falken and the PS2's. As soon as the weather warms up I pop off the Falkens and put on my other set of aftermarket Carerra lightweight rims with PS2's and suddenly I am back in the slot.

Smooth, quiet, sticky, stiff sidewalls, the PS2 is a remarkable tire. Unfortunately, they seem to melt away before my eyes. I have gone through two sets and got gotten more than 5K out of eithor of them. BTW, I do not track the car, but I have been known to do some "spirited" driving on the back roads where I live. I would love to find a tire that does a lot of what the PS2 does for less money, it really hurts to reshoe the car with that sticky Michellin rubber....

Ed

[John V]

Originally Posted by edevlin

The Falken 512 is not a bad tire, actually FOR THE MONEY it's pretty good. I am running a set for my winter tires on 18 inch Carerra lightweight rims. One thing they have going for them is that they wear much better than the PS2's. Also, the Falken 512 is an all season tire, so unlike the PS2, it can be run when its quite cold outside.

Just to be clear, the Falkens you're talking about are completely different tires from the ones steve00s is talking about.

In terms of dry-road grip, the PS2 would have a hard time keeping up with steve00s's Falken 615's. But the PS2 is probably a better all-around tire. For the money, it had better be.

I run the Kumho SPT and absolutely love them. But I run different tires for competition.

[renzop]

If you want the car to handle better then reduce front to rear width stagger. Go with a 265 front 275 rear and see that pesky understeer go away considerably.

[flapper]

Hey guy's, I've been reading your informational thread and my situation is this. My baby came with a set of 4 mich ps's 205+255. I bought it with the fronts dry rotted and now I have a bubble(likely due to a pot hole) so I have every excuse now to get some new tires. It's my first mid-engine and the pushing into a turn bothers me. I figure it is due to the dry rot and the light front end. My q is this, with my stock 17's can I go wider up front (to more even the stagger) w/o any other changes and what is the best bang4the buck tire? Consider I live on L.I. and drive year round as long as the streets are dry,I don't drive it if the other people on the road have any weather to deal with. It's my baby. Thanks Live free or die.

[steve00s]

You certainly can go wider without having any clearance problems. If you go wider than 225 you may need to get wider rims. Going from 205 to 225 was a noticeable improvement in understeer for me and I'm not sure I'd go much wider.