Falken 451s vs the world!
 

I badly need to replace the rear S-02s on my MY02 car (stock rims). The fronts aren't all that good either (original tires and the car has 26k miles) and my friend pointed me at some threads over at a 300zx forum that talk about the Falken 451s. Specifically a lot of the guys over there recommend them as their standard "price matters" tire, normally over the Yoko ES100s which they also like. On the other hand those guys are more of a "dry straightline traction is most important" bunch rather than a "cornering grip is most important" bunch, which is more what I had in mind. Honestly my needs are good traction in the dry (I don't drive an S to not be able to handle) and reletively low cost. I could spring for new s-03s, but I'd really rather spend a little less right now. Past that, tread life isn't so important (I'm about to graduate and money will be less tight in the future) and wet traction, though nice, is much less important than dry. I have been happy with the grip from my S-02s, and don't want to drop too much, although a little more progressive overstear limit would be nice.

So anyways, how much am I giving up moving to a tire in this class? I can get the set of Falken 451s front and back for $350 shipped. Between those tires and these at tirerack, and reading the above, where is the price/performace sweet spot? The way things scale it looks like you pay a lot more to jump past the $350-400 point, and at that point the Falken looks pretty good.

Shipped from Discount Tire Direct:
Falken 451s - $350
Yokohama ES100s - $390

vs

Plus Shipping from Tire Rack:
Kumho Supra 712s - $304
Fuzion ZRi - $332
Avon M500 - $350
Bridgeston RE750 - $504
Yoko AVS Sport - $594
Bridgestone S-02 - $668
Bridgestone S-03 - $728
or any others you might pick

Thanks for answering!

i just bought a set of these in 225, 255 18's. i never had the stock s02's on my car, so i can't compare them to those. so far the falkens are pretty quiet compared to the kumho's and yoko (all season) i had before. i haven't really had a chance to push them yet, but i read from a few sources that the sidewalls aren't as stiff as some of the competition. that may become more of an issue if you are on stock rims. all and all, i haven't found any flaws with them yet considering the price. i plan to put a few auto-x's on them so before too long i should have a more in depth opinion.

I have the Falkens on 17's right now. They are ok, I thought I would give them a shot because the azenis weren't out when I bought them. Since then a lot of new stuff has come out. If I were you I'd go with the Hankook R-S2 for 16" fitment. 205/55 front, 245/45 rear. Price should be right in the same ballpark.

i was chosing between the M500s, the ZRi's and the Kumho MX's myself. the M500s won. Autocross has proven 'em to be pretty decent, but not great... they are pretty darn quiet compared to both the semi-balding S02s and the Michelin Alpin snow tires ;)