Falken ZIEX ZE310 EcoRun Reviews - Page 3

Bought the Falken ZIEX ZE310 EcoRun for the Jeep Compass 1.4 170hp 4x4 2019. Driving in this car is not sporty by any means so was looking for a mid range tire for the daily commute. Drove around 10k kilometers and overall impressed especially by the aquaplaning results and wet weather handling. Always felt in full control even through heavy rainfall. Live in a mountain region so a lot of B road driving and poor quality roads, the tire was pretty comfortable and more geared for an easy commute rather then more aggressive driving, going faster you are always in control however just does not have the grip. The tire size and car itself do not help however previous hankoook ventus prime 3 felt better when pushed. Wear is average, a fair bit of difference in depth between the rear and front, got to take into account the 1.8t car weight does not help. I would recommend the tire due to good price and safe handling in wet for a daily commute.

The tires lastet about 42.000km before they were replaced because one of them blew. I dont see that as the tires fault because its likely that I have damaged the sidewall on a forest road myself.

As a road tire, they are good vcalue for money. At the time when one of them failed, they had about 4.5mm of tread left, so they were not worn yet. The wet grip went a little worse at around 6mm, however it was not too terrible, still better than my winter tires (Fulda Kristall Montero 3)
Dry grip was excelent, I have never managed to break them loose. However, I am a relaxed driving, with spirited driving you probably can.

As mentioned, these tires were also driven on forest/logging roads. As any summer tire I know, this works kinda decent in the dry, but depending on the soil, its like ice skating in the wet. However as this is not what the tire is intended to do, I ignored this when rating this tire.

Noise and comfore were both absolutly fine, the car was very stable when driving on the autobahn (usually Cruise controll at 120km/h) Cant say much about higher speeds because I dont go fast very often.

Fuel consumption was ok, however tire tests indicate that this is not the most efficient tire you can get.

I would have bought these again, however they were not avalibale fast enough. They were replaced with Pirelli Cinturato P1, wich are significantly louder inside the car.

Brought these in 205/50/R15 to fit my new "15x7 alloys (5.9kg per alloy), and in this review I'm comparing them to my old Yokohama Advan Fleva V701, Goodyear EfficientGrip Performance, and Avon ZV7's in 195/45/R16 on "16x7 alloys (9.7kg per alloy), so bare in mind this slightly skews my comparison.

For context, I brought lightweight flow-formed alloys as the TU5JP4S engine in my C2, though a brilliant, 8k-revving NA bundle of fun that it is, struggles with low-end grunt, and cutting approximately 8kg of unsprung weight on the driven-wheels, and 16kg total is a significant upgrade on a small ~1000kg car. 205/50/R15 after careful consideration was the perfect dimension for my car, though I'm disappointed that this is a rare size especially for premium performance-orientated tires, with only dated Continental PremiumContact 2's, Hankook Ventus Prime 3's, and Yokohama Advan Fleva V701's being the only respectable options in this size, though for some reason this size is 30% more expensive than those identical models in similarly sized 195/50/R15, 195/55/R15, or 195/45/R16 accordingly...

...which leads me to the Falken ZIEX ZE310 EcoRun tires; relatively recent design, V-rated, and a reasonable price tag of ~£90 per corner fitted; virtually identical in price to the same offering in 195/55/R15 and 195/45/R16, as it should be given the dimensions are really similar. This honest pricing combined with it being a modern design/compound is what sold me, despite it being a Premium Summer Touring tire as opposed to UHP.

300 miles in, I think these are an excellent 'control tire' in the sense that they are very neutral tires in all fronts; they don't give off a 'wow-factor' in any given category of measure, but at the same time there's nothing that makes me think these are terrible tires at all, which in itself is a complement. I can't see anyone being disappointed in these, especially at the price-point, whether you're an old grandma in an MPV seeking comfort, fuel efficiency, and safety, or a spirited driver (myself) in a warm/hot-hatch seeking performance. They're very predictable tires which is good for any kind of driver.

They are very quiet and smooth on bumpy surfaces and motorway driving as a strength, however I would've preferred a stiffer sidewall as they offer very little sensation through the steering wheel, though once your senses adjust to it, you can feel the sidewalls twisting between the road surface and the rims when quick-flicking the steering wheel, giving a delay between steering input and direction change. For a spirited-driver, these tires reward smooth, Prost-like steering inputs, and as long as you drive like that, you can carry pretty impressive speed in the bends, though it must be said there is more confidence-inspiring tires out there. You can push them in the wet without feeling unsafe in the slightest. Naturally, going to a bigger aspect ratio tire means a loss of steering response is expected, but I do think there is realistic room for improvement in this area. With that said, these are classed as a 'Premium Summer Tire' rather than UHP, but I had little choice in this size. I would've brought the Yoko's again but I don't think paying 30% more for the same tire in an extremely similar size is fair pricing.

On another note, can premium tire manufacturers stop ignoring the demand for UHP tires in sizes for old school hot-hatches and neo-classic cars? We all know that modern performance cars don't offer the engagement that old analogue cars do, yet modern performance tires have come a long way over the past 15-20 years. A set of PS5's or Eagle Assymetric 6's in my size would be a dream, though of course in a proportionate price compared to the other sizes offered (take note Yokohama)

TLDR: Not a bad tire but not a special tire either, adequate enough on all fronts. Respectfully priced for what it is. Won't disappoint nor wow anyone. A safe choice of tire to avoid disappointment.

These tires are very interesting indeed. They have good grip and are very smooth and comfortable. They feel like soft running trainers have been fitted your car. They are certainly not 'Track day tires' The sidewalls are soft and they squish, this gives plenty of feedback to suggest you are finding the limit.

But for tuning in HARD on a race track they are NOT the kind of tire you want. For spirited driving on the roads however they are a perfect compromise of grip comfort and feel. I would recommend them to lower mileage users in modestly sporty vehicles. They work perfectly on my standard 325i E46:
If your car is modified with uprated suspension and brakes you should be spending more than twice this amount on a road / track day tires.

If you go on the motorway all day go and buy some horrible hard tires and don't buy these and moan. They are too soft for daily motorway use and people who expect 10000 mile on a set. I hope this is helpful.

In the spring of 2022, I put the Falken ZIEX ZE310 in the TOYOTA YARIS DIESEL that I have for the summer, specifically the reinforced High load ones since it has two types.

As soon as I walked them on I was disappointed by their relaxed feel with no sporty elements! Wrong tire you will tell me, but I have stayed in the old days, when tires like BRIDGESTONE-DUNLOP etc. traditionally had hard frames, which gave a lot of pluses to the sporty feeling, due to very good steering precision from the hard frame. Now I've noticed that even traditional brands like the ones I mentioned have softened their frame too much with corresponding negative consequences, at least for my taste.

But let's get back to FALKEN!
Yes I found them to be soft, but that gives comfort and peace. Quite expected this! But what surprised me tremendously is their progressiveness and friendliness to the limit!!! I have never driven a tire like this before. It finds traction (within reasonable limits) even on the slippery road surface of the cities we have in Greece, in places that I NEVER had traction with whatever I wore in all my cars, sports or not!!!

I haven't really pushed it in the rain, so I have no opinion.
I also don't have an opinion on wear yet, one I've done somewhere around 9000 km, about 5000 miles.

I highly recommend them!

Very impressive tire. Most impressive is that I use it on a car whose only electronic on it is the ECU. No abs, no esp, no trc, no nothing... Almera N15 2.0Gti slightly modified outputting 161hp now, sending on front wheels 138.8 of them. A set of H&R and KYB excel Gs, merged with front and rear tower brace, along with front fender bars, trying to make things safer. Having in mind all the above written, I feel that "communication" between driver and tires is a bit pricier than with all new era electronic parafernalia 2020+ cars. First of all, and I think my 50% value, is that these tires are highly predictable. They do almost nothing without inform you first. You know some tenths of sec before when the tires and which of them are to break traction point, through steering or full bucket seat I use forces. Dry braking performance (remember no ABS) is highly impressive and wheel blocking rarely occurs (F: 36psi/R: 33psi) on average+ tarmac. On slippery one, you must use your mind to brake optimally. On wet braking (grippy average+ tarmac) braking force is limited by aquaplaning resistance which I found to be a bit higher from average. Nothing special, just a safe wet braking. I don't know how do they name exactly this compound, but I found 310s very grippy with plenty of feedback on mountain b-roads. Being not exactly an everyday driver (I use my N15 mostly in weekends and mostly on b-roads) concerning this car, tread has been reduced by 2mm during first 4.000mi. But that's nothing special on my N15 gti, as I use it as mentioned above (an everyday Qashqai j11 1.7dci is my daily driven one). Over all 310s ecorun are pretty impressive during fast driving too, apart from a good comfort set. Their tread compound collaborates perfectly with a nonAbs etc car. Weel done Japs.