Tires Falken or Laufenn

If you're looking for ultimate grip from a street tire then the Azenis's grip vs the Ziex will far outweigh the additional weight. If you are looking for a decent grip tire and want to get some mileage out of them then don't go with the Azenis.

I run a 205/50/15 Falken Azenis, and its pretty sweet

best drag for the $ definetly Falken Azenis...cheap and very good grippage...better then nitto 555

I just went through the entire process of fitting 15X7 wheels on my '84 GTI. Many people on Vortex had concerns that this combination would be too tight of a fit with 205/50/15 tires (especially the Falken Azenis tires - as they are supposed to be wider at the shoulder than most). I have not had rubbing problems at the shock/ spring support or the wheel wells (except a little when hitting big ol' bumps... where the outside of the tire will slightly rub the fender - nothing to be too alarmed about... just don't hit em')

Well, I love my Falken Ziex 502s.....possibly one of the best "bang for the buck" tire out there.

I've had my Azenis Tires on now for about two weeks. THe biggest suprise was how quiet they are, at least new. They are much quieter than my nearly worn out Bridgestaone PP S-02's. They have turn in and grip much like my old G-Force T/A R1's (not quite, but close). They are quite good in the wet, although I'd avoid standing water at spead in any case. In street use, they've been grippy, silent, and predictable. They also pick up stones like an R-compound tire

The tires performed great! I'm not really used to autoxing a front drive car - I've been running a B-Stock Miata for a while now, and quickly forgot what an understeer battle it is - but it was clear that the Azenises are somewhere inbetween a street tire and a race tire. They seemed to like about 40 PSI in the front (they were rolling over with 38) and no matter how high the rear was (ended at 54 psi) I couldn't get the car to rotate.

In short, these are by far the stickiest street tires I have ever driven on. They are substantially better than the Kumho Ecsta 712s that I had before. They are also about 1/2" wider for the same section size. These feel more like R-compound tires than summer tires, in that they break away very slowly, and are nearly silent. Exit speed on my favorite off-ramp has increased by about 5 MPH compared to the Kumhos. Wet performance is about equal to the Kumhos. They are quiet on the highway, although very stiff.

Around Thanksgiving last year, I had two Michelin MXV4 Eco+ OEM stock tires that were worn and need of replacing. I followed suggestions of colleagues and Consumer Reports and bought two Falken Ziex ZE-512, and installed them on the front of my 1998.5 Turbo Passat Wagon. Although I kept the same size (195/65/R15) I was impressed immediately: much better handling, steering response, road feel, as well as seriously improved wet and dry grip. Extremely stable at 90mph+ speeds, and good cornering. After about 1000 miles however, I thought I had front-end or transmission problems, as there was this terrible WHOO=WHOO sound coming from the front. I took it to a shop and they said no trouble, just tire noise. Noise worsened, so took to VW dealer in Maine while on the road; they said that car was aligned perfectly per spec, but Falken tires were \"cupped\", and worn on the inside.

Same as driving the F1's in the snow. Maybe even a bit worse. Don't even think about it.