The OEM Pirelli's only lasted 24K miles. The tread was getting thin and wet traction was starting to have a high pucker factor. Being on a tight budget (my wife just started college), I had to find a good compromise between cost and performance. I opted for Falken Ziex ZE-612's from Discount Tire. Reviews were mostly positive and the price was right at $135/tire.

On the drive home, it felt like a new car. Great traction and none of irritating road noise the Pirelli's had developed. I'll get a better feel for them during my morning commute tomorrow.

 

I have a set of Falken Ziex-912's on my Eclipse, and have had mixed results. This is the 3rd set I've driven on (don't ask, I seem to attract nails on the road), and had issues with two of them. First one wouldn't align. Tire shop said something was weird with the tread where no matter how they aligned it, it would still pull to a side. Second set was perfect for about 5 months, then a metal bracket of some sort jumped out in front of me and flattened a tire in 5 seconds. The wear was uneven between front and back, so I decided to keep the 3 good ones as spares and just get a new set. This set is similar issues as the first, where the car pulls to one side, then I rotate tires and it pulls to the other side. I think I have it narrowed down to two of the tires as being defective, but I have about 10k on them already so I'm just dealing with it till I get my house and can get my Mustang already. Just a heads up though. Keep an eye on them Falkens.

 

Years ago, I had some Falkens on a Lincoln LS (I don't remember which model though) and they were decent enough. That and good reviews on ZE-612's was enough to get me to bite on them. We'll see I guess.

 

http://bossmustangsonline.com/the-pa...%27s-%2711-gt/

So far these are great. Have always had good luck with Kuhmo's and Hankooks when shopping for a budget tire. I will probably go with some Hankook Ventus for my Boss when the PZero's are worn out.

 

No offense guys but $45k Boss 302 and y'all are buying the cheapest *** tires you can buy for them.
It's amazing how a really good set of tires will actually improve handling. I learned a long time ago to not compromise on tires.

 

As for the OP, falken don't last very long. Check out Nitto if they make your size. Good tire good price. Hankook will last longer but wet weather handling sucks. I would shop around before I went with Falken, Hankook, or Khumo.

 

Too late. As noted in my first post, Falken's are already on the car.

 

I read that. Was just adding my opinions to whoever else was reading this thread. Falken is a quiet tire. Soft rubber compound descent handling. Just never seen them to last long. Keep us posted later down the road on how they are holding up.

 

Gotcha. I knew they weren't the best available but if I can get at least 2 good serviceable years out of them, I'll be happy.

My daily commute consists of some twisty suburban roads and interstate so I had the chance for a good road test. Grip seems to be at least on par with Pirelli's but you're right, they are much quieter. On the interstate, they ride smooth, tracking was excellent, and again, very quiet. No regrets so far but I'll post more updates as I get more miles on them.

 

The new Kumho 4X all season is very nice. I had them on my last car and it was almost impossible to make them churp. Wet handling was really great as well. TireRack did a comparo and they beat all the others in UHP All season.

 

So far the Ecsta's are great for what my wife needs. Comfy quiet tire with decent handling and performance. She's not taking corners at 60 mph by any stretch of the imagination, so for now it's all good. Glad to hear you had positive experience w/yours. We have a set of 'Kooks on the family van and they have been great, lasting a long time and delivering solid performance.

The staggered tires for my Boss won't come cheap, and we'll see what's out there in a year or 2. I doubt I will have 20k on them until 2014 rolls around. Some of the Boss owners on forums are trying the new BFG Comp2's, will keep tabs on their feedback. The real challenge will be to find a competent shop that can mount and balance them without nicking up the rims!

 

We put Hankook Ventus's (Venti?) on my daughter's Fusion. She really likes them.

I considered the Kumho Ecstas but not having any experience with the brand, I went with Falkens.

 

I wasn't too happy with the Falkens I had (ZE-912's i believe, all season) on my Speed 6 - but I for the price they were just right.

IMO a good band aid until money opens up for a decent set. Just got a set of General G-Max AS 03's for the Mustang w/ RTR wheels and I find the noise level lower than stock :shrugs:

 

That's pretty much my plan. I've got to get my wife out of college before I can layout the money for a top tier set of tires.

 

It's been about 3 weeks since I put the Falkens on my car and I'm still very pleased.

Likes

o Quiet
o Smooth ride
o Great wet and dry handling

Dislikes

o A slightly "numb" on-center feel

I'm also averaging about 1 mpg better since I put them on. However, I'm not entirely sure that can be attributed to the tires.

I'm still quite happy with purchase at this time but I'll need to see how they do over the long haul.

 

How old is your wife, if she just started college???

 

She's 41 and going BACK to college for a career change.

 

ah, cool cool.

 

I will probably be getting another set of 4X's when I get ready to head to Germany next year since the weather isn't good for the P's and it's a law there now you have to have all seasons till April.

 

I had new tyres fitted for the run to Spain this year. I went with my Mustang garage guys recommendation and fitted Accelera PHI's.

The car was originally fitted with P Zero neros (as was my 2007 vert) and I have always been less than happy with their wet weather performance and noise.

What a difference - the car is completely changed for the better.
The tyres were fine in the UK in the wet and on the run down to Spain via Germany (where it rained from time to time) Austria, Switzerland and France.

The car feels more stable in the wet with better grip. With the Pirellis the back end was away at the slightest hint of dampness - no more with these.

In the dry the tyres are just as good as the P Zeros but the most significant change is the almost 100% reduction in road noise. Over the 2000' trip the car has been a joy at high speed prolonged cruising, with little road noise we were actually able to listen to the radio at 90mph (on the autobahns of course).

My car is used as a daily driver and a GT in the true sense when doing the runs to Spain from the UK and back. I'm not a racing or track guy so these quiet tyres that perform well in wet weather and are fine in the heat suit my purpose well.