Tires Falken or DUNLOP

I've got a set of Dunlop SP Winter Sport 3D on the STI this year. So far I've been impressed.

I use falken rt615 both for auto-x and summer driving. best bang for the buck, and don't worry about wet weather traction, i drove through some of the nastiest storm on them without a second of hesitation, as a matter of fact they are better then any other tire I had so far

I spent this weekend driving my R with the OEM Dunlop A/S M+S tires in light snow, snow that was about 6" deep, ice covered roads and wet roads that were iced over in certain locations (black ice) such as bridges etc.

Well I finally had a chance to road test the new Dunlop SP Winter Sport 3D tires on the R32 on wet ice in freezing rain. Bearing in mind that I have driven VWs on top quality snow tires for many years, I can say I was pleasantly impressed with both the R32 and the Dunlop 3D tires.

I had a set of Dunlop wintersport M3s on my last car and was really happy with them.

While I won't say that the M3 or 3D is the best snow tire ever they are a fantastic all season tire that will get you through the worst that winter can throw at your car.

Living in Denver and spending a considerable amount of time in the CO mountains I have had Dunlop WS M3's and 3D's and I would rank both as the best winter tires I've ever driven on compared to Pirelli's, Blizzak's, and Michelin Artic Alpin's. Their ability to do it all, from deep snow, ice, wet slushy mess, to dry roads is unparalled.

Ok..prior to purchasing the Falken Ziex Ze 912 tires I couldn't really find many reviews on them so I figured I'd share my thoughts. Initial impression was they felt like they offered a more comfortable soft ride compared to the Dunlops. But the Dunlops gave a better sharper steering feel that is more responsive than the Falkens. The Dunlops had a better road feeling vs. the Falkens, which seem to feel more floaty and slower to respond. Drove the Falkens in the rain tonight and they felt pretty good. From a dead stop the Falkens gripped better with no wheel spin. Whereas the Dunlops would often spin out even when new. Falkens definitely performed better in the wet. In cornering, the Falkens seem like they have a stiffer sidewall, which I like. In comfort and noise, the Falkens definitely seem quieter than the Dunlops and absorb road bumps much better than the Dunlops.

I currently have a set of Falken's 225-40-18 and I must say that I have gotten about 23k out of them and at about the 20k the tires had cracks all over, the handling wasnt great but wasnt bad, they are not noisy in my opinion.

Compared to the Dunlop SP-5000 Sports on my GLI, which have a couple years on them at this point and only cost $74 apiece, the Falkens are awful; they don't grip, they're ugly, and they're noisy.