Tires Falken or PHANTOM

I'm in a similar boat as you I did the 615k's last season. Personally I am overly pleased with these tires they have been everything I've wanted them to be. And I'll probably get another set of them this year.

The 615k+ is a great budget tire. I did my first season on them and got second place in my regions rookie class. Then, I kept them and still use them for less competitive/ higher run count events. I've done 3 schools on them too. I love these tires. They're fun to drive on, take heat well, and just last. They do amazingly well in the rain also.

They are Falken Ziex ZE950 A/S

Not the same tires, but I’m currently running the Falken Azenis FK460 all season in 255/35/18 and I’ve been super impressed with them considering it’s an all season. Steering is still very precise, the tires are quiet on the highway and they’re communicative as grip loads up, and it breaks away progressively.

I have ridge grapplers and I really like them, but if I were only doing what you were planning on I would go back to wildpeak AT3s. Those tires were actually amazing.

Falken Wildpeaks are the best AT tire in the rain by far. I live in the PNW and drive in the rain pretty much constantly.

I went with 265/60/18 Wildpeaks on my 22 AWD turbo and really like them a LOT. No rubbing even off road and much better grip all around especially in wet conditions. I even pulled a 1000lb trailer down 50 miles of beach without even THINKING about getting stuck. I even kinda tried to push it a few times in deep sand and the tires just didn’t dig in, they went forward even WITHOUT lowering the air pressure in the tires.

I wore out my first set of AT3s and replaced them with KO2s because the tire store only had 3 wildpeaks in stock, but had four KO2s. Drove it for a couple days and hated them. Ordered four AT4s and a week later had them changed out. Much better tire than the Bridgestones.

2 years in with these tires on stock 19’ rims. Live in Chicago. Great in snow / rain. Noticeable tire drone still like them. Sounds like a bad wheel bearing at first.

I had Falkens as replacement tires on my 626. They lasted a disappointingly short while. Next tire shop said they’re infamous for being soft and wearing quickly.