Owners most consistently favor the Falken FK452 for dry grip and value for money, with comfort and steering response also attracting more praise than criticism. Wet grip is less convincing: positive accounts outnumber complaints by about two to one, but a substantial minority lack confidence in the rain. Tread-life opinions are almost evenly divided, with roughly one in four owners describing disappointing wear. Noise is similarly split, with nearly as many finding it loud as quiet. Returning owners have varied experiences, so there is no consistent pattern of grip holding up or deteriorating as the tire wears.
What owners mention most counted across 192 reviews
Very cheap but made in Japan so they must be good I thought. First impressions are bad. Ugly compared to previous soft Dunlop Sport that look "cool". Traction very good but cornering grip for the first 400 miles are terrible but fun around UK roundabouts. After 500 miles the tire is fantastic and well suited to wet UK roads. They seem to be wareing very slowly and I find hard to believe. I suspect there are two types of tire, one that is soft and grippy the other hard and nasty, while the FK452 must be a rare medium compound ideal for spirited road driving but softer brand names should set faster lap times on the track.
Great all round tire. I've done 10000 miles and there is about 4mm left on the fronts and the rears are barely worn. Very pleased with the wear on these tires. Just about to swap front and rear around now. Dry grip is superb, as is the wet grip, although the fronts are starting to spin up under hard acceleration in the wet. The car had Dunlop Sport Maxx 16" as standard but I didn't get the chance to test these as i put on the 18" rims so I can't compare the Falken's to any other tire. Would definitely buy again in future
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Good, affordable tire. I use 235/45-17 in front and 275/40-17, which gives me good traction. The tire is good in any situation. I used the Pirelli P-Zero before, but cannot find and noticable difference between those and the FK452. Please mark I am an average driver and I do not push my car to the limits :-)
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These tires are great. Although you cannot push them at all in the first 300-500 miles I found with my car, very skitish, and they slide alot. Then they get bedded in and grip fantastic. No wheelspin now when pushing hard in 1st gear, wet grip is also very good, I used Toyo T1R 's before these and these are just as good overall. Big thumbs up for these tires. Would def recommend
I think this tire is designed for average driving and Japanese car. I used ContiSport Contact, it gives positive road feedback, giving you full confidence in cutting lanes and corners. I regret to put on the FK452, my sport edition becomes unsporty. Unable to achieve the manoveurs. Wonder the reliability of those reviews.
Lucky I was able to find a Lexus IS250 buyer from ebay Singapore. He was using Potenza RE050, unhappy with the road noise as it is wearing out. FK452 will definitely suit Lexus, comfort and average grip. FK452 is good in wet conditions only. Dry grip is horrible, need to push extra to achieve pick-up
I am going back to CSC2/3. Though more expensive but worth the penny.
Having read the reviews on this site, the FK452 seemed too good to be true. Unfortunately, I was proved right. I honestly believe the reviews posted have been done so by the manufacturer!They might seem like value for money, but make sure you build in the cost of your excess and loss of no claims! I've decided to quit while I'm ahead and go back to the PS2 before I have to claim, or worse. If you are driving RWD, don't touch them. The old adage, 'you get what you pay for' is proven. Still very suspicious of the reviews.
Just about to buy my third set of FK452. That in itself is an indication of my satisfaction. Over 40,000 very mixed miles, both one-up and with the whole family aboard, these tires have always performed excellently. I have found that the dry grip limit reduces significantly once the tires are down to around 3mm. However,they always retain a very progressive breakaway in wet or dry: it's just a little earlier in the wet...
Snow is another thing though. I may be expecting too much, but traction in snow is very poor indeed, even with all the electronic assistance provided by BMW.
I don't think you'll find a better tire for anything near the price. I've just ordered a pair for the rear of my car, replacing the 17,000 mile old pair for 96UKP each inc delivery. Wonderful!
Hands down best tire I've ever used. Bridgestone Potenza S-03s were struggling after I got my car remapped ^_^ but these babies are outstanding. Grip and traction are phenomenal in wet and dry, and when they are finally approaching their limit they let you know. Sublime. Hope they keep making them cos I'd buy them forever.
We replaced the existing Continental Sport Contact 2 tires with Falken FK452.
We've now driven over 1000 miles on the new tires, so they are well bedded in.
The tires are considerably quieter than the Continental tires, although ride comfort is about the same. Harsh/rough at low speed on the poorly maintained Sussex town and country roads. OK at faster speeds.
There is a strong tendency for the tires to tramline, e.g. follow indentations in country road surfaces rather than ride over) especially at lower road speeds, so we tend to meander down the road...
I sometimes have to grip the wheel firmly to make the car go where I want.
The tires do not provide significant useful protection for the standard BMW rims on the car. Although they have some rim protection it is lower level than the edge of the rims and too close in the the rim edge to be effective. The same could be said of the Continentals they replaced however.
That being said, I remain convinced that the tires offer very good value for money at around half the price of the Continentals and Goodyear-Dunlop and Michelin tires we considered when making the purchase. I remain unconvinced that the higher priced tires would be significantly better in performance.
As a footnote, I purchased the tires online and had them delivered to my home. However the local tire fitters charged almost ?100 to fit them and conduct tracking adjustment. So there was no overall saving for the extra hassle involved.
I replaced the existing Continental Sport Contact 2 tires on this car soon after purchase due to uneven tire wear. The tracking issue causing the excess wear was solved during installation of the new tires.
I chose Falken FK452 tyes based on price and the reviews on this site. Basically it was a value for money proposition. I didnt want to spend heaps on 4 new tires having just purchased the car.
One thing to note: I purchased the tires on line and had them delivered to my home. I then had to pay almost ?100 to get them fitted and have tracking adjusted. Not much if anything saved for all the hassle.
They have now done over 1000 miles, so are well bedded in. I'm generally happy with the performance.
They are considerably quieter than the Continentals that were on it.
I have noticed a tendency for the steering to tramline (follow depressions in the road surface instead of riding over), whether that is the car or the tires I cannot say.
The tires do not offer very much protection for the rims from hitting curbs & etc - while they do have some rim protection, on the standard BMW rims on this car it is useless as the protection is too near the edge of the rim, and not sufficiently proud of the edge of the rims.
Despite these small issues, I think the tires offer excellent value for the money and I'm not convinced higher priced tires will be noticably better.
I'm really unsure about this tire. They were good when they were new, and i struggled to actually wheelspin the car as they gripped the road so well. Unfortunately, as they've got more and more worn, they havelost grip faster than other tires i've owned. They spin in the wet and sometimes in the dry under slightly hard acceleration. I was expecting more from this tire given all the good reviews i've read about them.
