Dec 2008, I bought a set of Falken Azenis. $171 each, not cheap. They were very grippy at first, but the OEM Dunlops seemed to have better sidewall stiffness. They only lasted about 10k miles, and the last ~3000 miles sucked, the rubber had become very hard. Last week I tried to lay some rubber on a patch of concrete, and the resulting black marks were just rubber-dust, i could blow it away by waving my hand. So the last few months it has taken nothing to kick in traction control. Overall I don't think they were very good value. I just switched to a set of Kumho SPTs, we'll see if those are any better. Much higher treadwear, 320 vs 180, so they should at least last quite a bit longer.

 

Agreed.

But.

You can't really expect to get that much life out of a tire with 180 treadwear. The Falken's(Which I put through 5k street miles, 3 track weekends, and 20 autocrosses) Liked to overheat and had bad wear characteristics. I was also running around -2.5 degrees of camber which didn't help the wear issue either.

When it first came out, it was the tire to have, but that was years ago. If your looking for something to last long, go with the Kumho SPT or Falken FK452.

 

Yeah, I wasn't surprised as the 10k I got out of them, but I was just disappointed that they got all hard and crusty too soon.

 

get some bf goodrich gforce. i love them muchooooooo

 

I have used the Azenis on my Miata. They wear out rather quick, 4000-5000 miles on the rear and 9000-10,000 on the front. I have never run a set for more than 4-5 months and enjoy them. They are also very cheap in the Miata size.
I am new to the Rx-8 , any tire suggestions would be appreciated.

 

Good to hear. I just got some [on PoLaK's RP03 rims], but haven't run them yet.

I really like/liked my Toyo T1R's tho'.

 

What was the Load Rating on those Falken Azenis? I had Load Rating of 86 on my 8, at one point of time (very cheap), but I couldn't take no corners at all. 91 load rate and nothing less on the 8 with W or Y speed rate.

You had OEM Dunlops? I thought the factory tires are Bridgestone Potenza

 

Very good tires for the money I paid for them, but after 6k miles they are quit noisy. I still like them and I think they look cool, with 300 treadwear which will last longer than the Falcon

 

Mazda used both manufactures tires on the RX8 for OEM.

I ran Falken Azenis in 05 & 06. At first I was impressed. Much less so when I put them back on in the spring of 06.

 

I didn't know that, I thought they use only Bridgestone. Learn something everyday, that's what I love about this car...

 

i think everyone around here has tried them. work well for what they are and i consider them a cheap track/street tire. you get what you pay for

 

This is only my uneducated and cost conscious opinion but you don't always get what you pay for. I am running Hercules Raptis W rated 245/40-18 tires and they are a year old and still run great on the street and the track. The wet weather handling has diminished some but overall I am highly impressed considering I am right on the bumper of guys running tires that cost more than twice as much. I get these tires because a friend owns a tire shop and gives me all for for $400.00 mounted and balanced.

If you are a track addict then tires get expensive real quick and I have found that the advantages of a better tire are minimal if you just run for fun. I have had Pilot Sports, Bridgestone, and Yokohama and all were decent tires but none of them absolutely trounced the Hercules in terms of all around performance so i just cannot justify the cash spent on them. These tires are decent in all conditions whereas my expensive Bridgestone were lousy in the rain.

That being said, the Kumho SPT are a great tire for the money and my buddy can hook me up with a deal so I will likey try those soon.

 

^Agree about fun vs. absolute performance. If you are not racing, get a tire that is fun & affordable. Just be ready to wave some turkey by who spent the $$$ on dedicated track tires.

Back to the original post. I have found that Dunlop Star Specs deteriorate rather gracefully. They seem to stop wearing, from day to day use anyway, while there is still some decent tread left, and they don't turn into rocks. I was surprised how many miles I got out of mine. Again, once they get down to 3/32nds or so the performance falls off, but not off a cliff like some other tires do.

It's a nice combination. Banzia grip (and wear!) for most of the tread depth, and then they seem to turn into 400 treadwear UHP summer tires for the last few 32nds of an inch of tread depth (still suck in the cold).

 

^

I've had the same experience with my RE050 Pole Positions. Things have a treadwear rating of 140 (!) and yet I have 22k miles on them with plenty of tread left, driven through two winters with them, and even did a track day with them. Not entirely sure how that happens.

 

yep,

but when they are flat worn out. they have a lot of stuff left.

beers

 

Falken 452's haven't failed me yet. Well, I am staggered so I just had to order rear tires, but they ran great. Going for the Yoko S.Drives next. Heard nothing but good things about those.