Kumho ku39 or falken 452

[Chrisinit]

Which should I go for the Kumho scores better on tyre review sites but I hear it wears quickly. However the falken is a good all rounder?

Thanks

[sharkrider]

I've been in a car as a passenger with the 452's driven hard, and was impressed...

I have just had the KU39's on... (my review is on tryre review, for these and the maxxis)

compaired to the maxxis Z1's I had before, they are equal in wet grip, but only manage about 60% of the dry grip the maxxis gave up...

fair all rounder for a mid-range tyre, but I wont buy again if I can get hold of the maxxis this time round....

[Chr15py]

Not used them on the skud but have had both on my mr2 turbo and they are both fantastic tyres.

My preference are the Falken 452s - just always seemed more planted and better suited to all conditions. Never had any issues with aqua planing either which in a rear engines car is important. Wear wise, fairly similar - approx 8k miles although the 452s wore a little quicker.

Chris

[ckyliu]

I've heard a lot of very good things about the Falken 452, but I believe it is now out of production (replaced by the 453 but not in all the sizes they did on the 452, certainly not the MkI Fabia's anyway). So, if you can get hold of a set of 452s, I'd get them snapped up!

The 912, which is still in production, is not as good as the 452 and from what I've read (no first hand experience of this) neither is the KU39. I've just bought my second set of Vredestein Sportrac 3s as they were going for under £70 each at mytyres.co.uk, I'd say they are comparable to a 452.

Edited 21 August, 2012 by ckyliu

[Chrisinit]

Thanks for the advice guys .

Looked at the vredsteins and for the size I want on occy spiders, they are plus £85 notes so a bit out of my price range.

Think I will go for the 452 in a 205/40/17

Thanks

[Wardy]

I last ran the 452s on a remapped Octy2 vRS TFSI and they coped with 235-odd BHP without much problem. Obviously they'd break traction eventually but I liked them. Wear seemed acceptable as well.

I'm contemplating buying this time round for my current Octy as my Parada2s are about to wear out, especially as I'll need to buy 4 at once as I've rotated them! But really can't decide whether I'm better with Rainsport2s or Hankook V12 or Evo2.

Interested in your views on the Maxxis range Sharky as they'd come up on my radar and I know they sponsor the British Drift Championship and they're quite well regarded for bicycle tyres but that's all I know! And the drift champ is hardly a good measure for long-term wear

Cheers,

Steve.

[sharkrider]

Hi Steve

the maxxis to go for is the Z1 victra... my review is on page 2 here..http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/Maxxis/MA-Z1-Victra.htm

NOTE: they also do a "drift" version of this tyre, don't buy it, its more expensive, and has compounds in to make it smoke you wont confuse them its called "drift" theres some for sale on ebay.

the v1 is only average (I had it on my fiat) the Z1 victra has almost track day tyre dry weather grip, very thick tread blocks on the outer sides, makes them a little noisey, but boy do you get incredible dry grip from them..

unlike yoko's ect, they still work in the wet, at least as well as the KU39's I have on now do.

I am likley to get a new set of 4 Z1's for the prague trip, and put the kumho's on ebay, as they have spoiled my car a bit now... just not having the grip the maxxis gave means I don't enjoy a spirirted drive as much :(

alot of people don't recognise the name, (apart from the cyclists) but they are developed and exsist in motorsport! they have their own race series in malaysia!

note: they dont work well in the cold winter months... I noe have a set of winters

[Chrisinit]

Gone for some 452's still got some left at blackcircles.com and they were cheaper than Camskills. Will let you know how I get on, plus they will be on my freshly refurbed alloys

[G.P]

unlike yoko's ect, they still work in the wet, at least as well as the KU39's I have on now do.

Yoko's dry track tyre's scored an A in the recent wet weather braking test's, one of the Maxxis road tires scored C. Out of interest how many miles do you get from a Maxxis compared to others?

That said some tyre company's are not quite been so truthful with there results. .

[sharkrider]

to be honest GP , I'm generalising.... I've never used yokos... just a general consensus (last one was json on the track in the wet) that they don't work well in the wet...

I'm going on feedback , not experiance with yokos....

the maxxiss lasted longer than the contis... the contis did about 12k the maxxis about 15k, the KU39's I have are down to 5 mill (I just checked the tread today) and I have only had them on for 3,000 miles :(

(note: I have a set of winters for the winter months )

[Wardy]

Know what you mean about certain Yoko products, but I have to say my current Parada2s have performed very well in wet and greasy conditions, as well as dealing with standing water without drama.

[Herschel]

I'm getting 4 x FK 452's fitted tomorrow morning; could have had 453's, but know how good 452's are so will wait for reviews of 453's.

I'm swapping Kumho's off the fronts, as they are shocking in the wet, and with winter coming up I just couldn't risk it (still have 4mm on them, and they're useless).

Conti originals (factory fit) on the rear, still with 4mm as well, but want all-round swap for same tyres on both axles.

Edited 11 October, 2012 by Herschel

[Wardy]

453s have just started to be fully distributed in the UK, at the start of this month. So yes, reviews are thin on the ground.

They're also likely to be another £20 per corner extra over the 452, which is disappointing.

[G.P]

When there is no stock left of the 452 the 453 will slowly come down in price. .

[Wardy]

We'll have to wait and see, but I hope that's the case.

What I've seen before is as stock levels of an old model reduces, the price of those increases....

My other thought is whether Falken have designed this tyre to compete with similarly priced competitors, around the £90 mark in 225/40/18 size - the likes of the Rainsport2 and Hankook V12 Evo.

[Babs]

I like both, but would recommend the 452's over the Kuhmos

[Raf_]

Right had the 452s for the same amount of time as the ku39s which I had last so I can do a proper comparison.

The ku39s were on the wear indicators now where the 452s have loads of thread left I'll measure them when I get a chance.

Grip wise the 39s were worse in the wet than the 452s. In the dry there wasn't much difference.

So my conclusion is the 452s are loads better

Sent from my Galaxy S2 not a Crapple!