Anyone running on these at the moment? What are they like? There are some on ebay i have found and they dont look bad value for a mid range tyr> These ones in the link attaches will fit a VRS wont they? Not sure what the XL means on them though? Any help there appreciated!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2X-New-225-40-18-FALKEN-FK452-XL-2254018-225-40-18_W0QQitemZ160490402481QQcategoryZ9891QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp4340.m263QQ_trkparmsZalgo%3DDLSL%252BSIC%26its%3DI%26itu%3DUCI%252BIA%252BUA%252BFICS%252BUFI%26otn%3D8%26pmod%3D230458793172%252B230458793172%26po%3D%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D4786339687676474186

I have them fitted and they are a great tyre. Done over 10,000 miles on mine and still have 4mm tread left. They grip well in the wet and dry. Some people report being slippy in damp conditions but this is something I have never experienced and I drive down mostly twisty country roads wirh mud and leaves on etc. You can buy them cheaper from camskill and save £20. When its time to replace, I am buying another set of these again:thumbup:

I had falcon 452s on my BMW 530i and found them excellent for the money. Good grip (except in the depths of winter), reasonably quiet, and wore well. They were the most populare tyre in the 5 series owners club.

I changed the front bridgestones on my astravan to the Falken 912 tyres.

The Falkens are much more grippy in wet/damp conditions than the bridgestones and also much quieter.

I will definately be putting them on my Octy when the sawtoothed dunlops are worn out.

I just need to decide on the 912 or 452.

Cheers

Dave

thats great thanks guys, i have just placed my order on camskill- didnt even know they existed! THANK YOU!

the only downside for me with these tyres , is that they offer very little rim protection!

Just to add a spanner in the works, I have 452's all round on my vRS, the rears still look new, the fronts are getting ready for the bin! 4-5K covered............although this could be partly due to the extra power and swmbo's driving style.

Was going to suggest Camskil also, iirc I paid 65 quid per tyre.

Falken tyres are made by Sumitomo Rubber (Japanese). They own the Dunlop and Falken brands. Dunlop are the premium brand and Falken the 'value' brand. Most of the Falkens are obsolete Dunlop patterns (i.e. when Dunlop introduce a new tyre the old moulds are used to produce a new tyre for Falken).

I used to sell tyres and I had mixed success with Falkens. They are not a bad tyre, but we had quite a few returns (cracks, delamination etc.). This was a few years back, so they may have improved since then. My recommendation for a good value tyre is the Kumho KU31 ECSTA - always popular with owners. Trouble is supply can be a bit hit and miss.

I am on my third set of 912's I do a lot of miles and I can't believe the quality these tyres offer for such low cost, of coarse you will find better tyres but you will pay 80% to 100% extra for them.

I haven't got a Vrs but my PD140 is remapped and I still get approx. 30,000kms from the fronts.

i run the 452s on the front of my Octy vRS PD & they seem to be OK

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/Falken/FK452.htm

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyres_For/Skoda/Octavia-vRS.htm

i've put 4 of these

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/Uniroyal/Rainsport-2.htm

on SWIMBOs Furbie & they are a fantastic tyre. i'll never put anything else on the Fabia

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyres_For/Skoda/Fabia-vRS.htm

When the Falkens need replacing, i'll put the Bridgestones on without a doubt

Edited 23 October, 201015 yr by cavdad

the only downside for me with these tyres , is that they offer very little rim protection!

+1

i have 452's all round.

the fronts are heavily worn after 7k miles

The rears are fine although the inside edges are feathering badly....but i've heard this is common

rainsport 2's for me next

what i dont understand is why at the service they said that the wheel is mis shaaped on the rear and was common for a VRS. Have any of you experienced this?

Do you mean the wheel or the tyre?

If it's 'sawtooth' wear on the rears, try getting the geometry checked out. I've just bought a 2008 Octavia, and the rears had weird bald spots on the back and a noisy ride from the rear, so they put new tyres on (horrible ones!), and I am going to get a geometry check next week, as Skoda apparently changed the settings to deal with this.

I had Falken 912's fitted to my Octy Estate when the Original Bridgestones wore down. The Bridgestones did about 36k on the fronts and 40k+ on the rears (I did swap front to back at around 20K)

The Falkens appear to be wearing about the same, grip about the same and are quieter than the Bridgestones, Paid about £58 per tyre fitted 205x55x16.

My Previous 06 plate Octy estate was fitted with Dunlops and as they worn down the noise from the rears got worse. I jacked up the back of the car and spun the wheels, when I put my hand on the surface of the wheel I could feel the tyre diameter was 'out of round' When I changed the tyres the noise went away.

Had 452's on the fabia vrs which were pretty good for the money but didn't last that long. I went for the 912's for the octavia as I wanted a more all round tyre. Grip in the dry is good, done 9k so far and they have loads of tread left however I have found them to be pretty scary in the wet, unpredictable understear (obviously not helped with 18's) and you can still spin the wheels at 70 on occasion. A friend who went from the 452's to 912's on the same car has said the same, he wants rid.

I have considered selling them as part warns and getting something with more grip however instead I've gone down the route of 16" alloys and some Nokian WR G2's for winter

I would say go for 452's for a vRS and stay clear of the 912's - Next year will be Contisport 3's for me

Do you mean the wheel or the tyre?

If it's 'sawtooth' wear on the rears, try getting the geometry checked out. I've just bought a 2008 Octavia, and the rears had weird bald spots on the back and a noisy ride from the rear, so they put new tyres on (horrible ones!), and I am going to get a geometry check next week, as Skoda apparently changed the settings to deal with this.

Its on the tyre, the inside tread seems to be worn unevebly. The dealer told me that it seemes to be common on the VRS and they are unsure what causes it but its not covered under warranty. Is that Sawtoothing then?

i have 452's all round.

the fronts are heavily worn after 7k miles

The rears are fine although the inside edges are feathering badly....but i've heard this is common

rainsport 2's for me next

snap. Im getting the rear camber checked this week during its routine service. Fronts will need changing at about 12-14 K miles judging by wear rate . But my PD is superchipped.

I think the 452s are a great tyre considering the price.

Had 452's on the fabia vrs which were pretty good for the money but didn't last that long. I went for the 912's for the octavia as I wanted a more all round tyre. Grip in the dry is good, done 9k so far and they have loads of tread left however I have found them to be pretty scary in the wet, unpredictable understear (obviously not helped with 18's) and you can still spin the wheels at 70 on occasion. A friend who went from the 452's to 912's on the same car has said the same, he wants rid. I have considered selling them as part warns and getting something with more grip however instead I've gone down the route of 16" alloys and some Nokian WR G2's for winterI would say go for 452's for a vRS and stay clear of the 912's - Next year will be Contisport 3's for me

ive just fitted the contis on the front and im very impressed a very good all round tyre

Its on the tyre, the inside tread seems to be worn unevebly. The dealer told me that it seemes to be common on the VRS and they are unsure what causes it but its not covered under warranty. Is that Sawtoothing then?

That sounds like sawtoothing, and as far as I know, Skoda are aware of it and have issued new geometry settings to correct the problem. check out http://octavia-vrs.com/cms/content/common-problems for the settings.

I am off to get my geometry checked/corrected on Wednesday at a local specialist.

I think if nothing else this thread has shown up what a subjective matter tyres can be, and a lot depends on how the car is driven in many respects

It's difficult to believe that manufacturing differences in one make of tyre can be so extreme that some people swear by them, others swear at them

I'm guessing that those who only get a few thousand out of Falkens would probably struggle to get more than 10k out of Michelins :S

Edited 25 October, 201015 yr by Brimma

snap. Im getting the rear camber checked this week during its routine service. Fronts will need changing at about 12-14 K miles judging by wear rate . But my PD is superchipped.

I think the 452s are a great tyre considering the price.

mine is chipped too. I have driven it quite hard so for £65 a corner it's not bad

I think if nothing else this thread has shown up what a subjective matter tyres can be, and a lot depends on how the car is driven in many respects

It's difficult to believe that manufacturing differences in one make of tyre can be so extreme that some people swear by them, others swear at them

I'm guessing that those who only get a few thousand out of Falkens would probably struggle to get more than 10k out of Michelins :S

i managed 17k out of a set of GY F1's on my last car

Just fitted some 452's to the front of my CR VRs. No reports on wear yet as they've only done about 500 miles (I used to run then on my Focus ST and got 8-9000 miles oout of the fronts but that was with 270 bhp). As mentioned before, they don't offer much rim protection.

Had 452s on my 2.0FSi with no problems - by the time I traded in they'd done around 10K, plenty of tread left all round and even wear.

(I never exceed 12 mph though ......ha, ha)