Tire Review: Falken ze-912 and Yokohama S.Drive

[Slimjimx701x]

With the death of my oversize Falken ze-912 (205/55/15), I decided to swap out for the much smaller Yokohama S.Drives (195/50/15), after a recommendation from “Macbuddy.”

Keep in mind that I live within the San Francisco Bay Area, where we have fairly nice weather year around.

With that out of the way, I’ll start with my Falken’s short review. The Falkens are great tire overall, fairly cheap, and grip a lot better than the stock 195/55/15 Dunlop, but that maybe because of the increase of overall size. There is a slight increase of road noise, which I do not find annoying at all. However I did have issues with these tires, though the end of its useable tread wear. They quickly became horrible. What I mean is that they felt more like summer tires in winter (LOT OF COLD RAIN).

Personally I would recommend these tires (if you live somewhere with nice weather), however just be aware that these things will be completely different though the end of its life.

Now for the S. drives. What a big different this is when compared to my DEAD Falkens, just off the bat these grip a tab better than my oversized Falkens (while they were new and fully broken in). The Fit ride became more comfortable than both the OEM and the Falkens, even though these are much smaller tires. It even made the Fit even more nimble, while I’m trying to enter freeways. These tires are so much quieter than OEMs.
More about the Grip of the S. Drives: I find that center tread area and the side tread area grip differently (at least from what I’m used to). When using the center area AKA light driving, Cruising, Stop and Go traffic, the grip is slightly better than my Falkens. BUT when driving at higher speeds and taking corners at around 0.6 Gs (based on my Navi’s G-meter) the outer area of the tread grips VERY NICELY.

ATM, I cannot really recommend these tires until I finish its life cycle, to see how much it change when compared to new.

-Jimmy

[manxman]

R.I.P. Falkens. Nice review Jimmy! Info. like yours & macbuddy's should help Fit owners make a wise choice when buying tires. I will probably never wear out my stock tires considering how low my normal mileage is, but if I get tired enough of the noise and handling weaknesses, I will probably buy the Yokohamas long before replacement tires are actually needed.

[claymore]

Nice review it will help other members decide on what tire to buy.

[macbuddy]

ATM, I cannot really recommend these tires until I finish its life cycle, to see how much it change when compared to new.



Jimmy,
I am glad you like them! I really like my set. I will say that I can recommend them throughout the life cycle. I enjoyed my first set all the way down to the wear bars! They never felt bad, ever! They always stayed true, always ran smooth. They never got noisy. They always gripped well. And I could always trust how they were going to react.

I did experience some negative camber wear on the front set, but that was prolly due to all the AutoX abuse. I merely rotated them front to back one time, and they wore evenly from that point on. Even with all the abuse, they still ended up lasting 25K miles. My second set will prolly give me 30-35K worth of life (I have since gotten a dedicated set of shoes for AutoX).
Here is an interesting side-note. When the Tech pulled off the first, worn set of Yokohamas, those old 195/55R15s weighed in at ~17 lbs each. The smaller 195/50R15s weighed in at 19 lbs new. That means that they each lost at least ~2 lbs of rubber per tire! I never thought of measuring tire wear like that before!

So Jimmy, how do like going from 55 series to 50 series tires? To me, they seem to make the Fit feel even more responsive. After driving 50 series, and 45 series tires, I don't know if I would be happy going back to anything bigger. I'll admit that those "tiny" tires can sometimes "beat you up," but man, they sure are fun when they are in their environment!

Cheers,
-macbuddy-

PS-The Toyo T1Rs are great too, but dang they are so expensive!

[Slimjimx701x]

300 Miles Report:

I did a "light" spirited drive (wet roads) to test these tires in it's environment. Originally I thought the different behavior between the inter and outer tread might be an issue, however during that drive it I had no issues what so ever. Heck, it made the whole drive whole lot better.

Wet Roads Note: On my usual heavy rain driving, I have a habit of intentionally "diving" into large puddles of water when no one is around. These tires channels water very well, better than both the OEM and the Falkens. I never lost grip between the tires and the roads, under normal driving. On spirited "dives" I only once lost grip once. It was a puddle of water that was 2-3 inches deep (driving at 55-65MPH), however I have never lost control of the car.

So Jimmy, how do like going from 55 series to 50 series tires? To me, they seem to make the Fit feel even more responsive. After driving 50 series, and 45 series tires, I don't know if I would be happy going back to anything bigger. I'll admit that those "tiny" tires can sometimes "beat you up," but man, they sure are fun when they are in their environment!

Micheal, the funny thing is that I never felt beat up while on the 50s (at 35PSI).....the current tires felt softer than any of the noted tires. Going from 195/55 to 205/55 to 195/50, I can say that I find that the 195/50 is so far the best feeling for the Fit. Entering freeways became less painful now. I think my overall mileage went down, since the 205/55. But I cannot give you an actual number yet. And the car became more nimble though corners. So win-win for me. :)

[macbuddy]

Jimmy,
That's right, I forgot that you aren't running on lowering springs, or coilovers, so you can't appreciate getting "beat up!"

Actually, having driven on both, I found the 50 series Yokohamas to ride as well as their 55 series siblings. Of the two, I personally prefer the look of the 50 series, plus they are lighter, smaller, and cheaper. Since they are smaller and lighter, you should find that accelerating, and braking will take less effort. The shorter sidewall is responsible for that quicker steering response, hence the more nimble feeling through the corners.

As for mileage, you should see an improvement. Your new S. Drives are about 2 lbs. lighter, and over 1" smaller than your previous Falkens. So now, not only do you have less rotating mass, but that mass also is spinning in a smaller diameter orbit. Both characteristics are conducive to rotational efficiency.

Keep an eye on your mileage, I predict that you will see an improvement. Try these two driving tips:
1) ...stop "stomping" on the accelerator!
2) ...restrain yourself from the practice of shaving off speed via plowing through puddles! :)

Micheal, the funny thing is that I never felt beat up while on the 50s (at 35PSI).....the current tires felt softer than any of the noted tires. Going from 195/55 to 205/55 to 195/50, I can say that I find that the 195/50 is so far the best feeling for the Fit. Entering freeways became less painful now. I think my overall mileage went down, since the 205/55. But I cannot give you an actual number yet. And the car became more nimble though corners. So win-win for me.

[Slimjimx701x]

Jimmy,

Actually, having driven on both, I found the 50 series Yokohamas to ride as well as their 55 series siblings. Of the two, I personally prefer the look of the 50 series, plus they are lighter, smaller, and cheaper. Since they are smaller and lighter, you should find that accelerating, and braking will take less effort. The shorter sidewall is responsible for that quicker steering response, hence the more nimble feeling through the corners.

As for mileage, you should see an improvement. Your new S. Drives are about 2 lbs. lighter, and over 1" smaller than your previous Falkens. So now, not only do you have less rotating mass, but that mass also is spinning in a smaller diameter orbit. Both characteristics are conducive to rotational efficiency.

Keep an eye on your mileage, I predict that you will see an improvement. Try these two driving tips:
1) ...stop "stomping" on the accelerator!
2) ...restrain yourself from the practice of shaving off speed via plowing through puddles! :)

The funny thing is that I love the looks of the 205/55/15 on my stock high, but I prefer the performance of the 195/50/15.

As for gas, it's probably a good idea should be a good idea if I turn off the throttle controller. :p

[EXWRX]

It should say you are getting an improvement. The tires are a bit shorter, and lighter. The shorter tires will require less effort for the engine to turn, but won't send you as far per revolution. You may be getting an improvement due to less weight, but with shorter gearing, the offset due to weight is likely eaten up in increased revs and friction.

[Witcher]

I've had the Falken ZE912 for about 10,000+ miles now and I personally don't like them at all. I don't really have much to say in detail, but from my driving on them they haven't felt much different from the oem dunlops whereas I was expecting a good deal of difference in road noise and handling. Next time I get tires I'm definitely looking at tires from Yokohama.