Anyone using Falken Azenis RT-615 as Daily Driver?

How are they in the rain and how long do they last?

Thanks
David

 

Pm SRtech he has them on his car.

 

The suck as a daily driver. I won't get 10K out of mine. They are great for autocross, though! I have to get another set of wheels and tires for street. The BFGoodrich KD2s lasted me 35K with half a dozen autocrosses. They weren't quite as sticky as the Falkens, but if you only want one set of all-around tires, they are good choice.

Steve

 

I have 'em on my CRX...they're not all that as a daily driver. Wear hasn't been a big issue for me, as I've got about 20k on them and they're holding up reasonably well. Ride is a bit stiff, but that could be the .25 inches of suspension travel I have talking.
Deadly in the rain and not great when the temperature dips below about 40 or 50 degrees...the rubber definitely hardens up a bit.

 

As people are hinting, don't do it. Assuming "daily driver" means just that, and not "weekend toy", don't do it. They don't last that long, they aren't good in standing water. They aren't good when it's cold. You really don't need that level of grip on a public street anyway.

Don't do it.

 

I think it depends on what you mean by "daily driver". We have three vehicles and the milage varies quite a bit:

'99 Miata = 4000 miles per year (Falken Azenis RT-215)
'05 F150 = 8000 miles per year (factory)
'06 Cooper S = 8000 miles per year (factory all-season)

I've ran the Falken Azenis RT-215's on our Miata for about 3 years now and they've held up great! I even rented them out for someone to use for a drivers school. I live in a desert climate where we don't get much rain or snow so they've worked great! A little noisy though, but the grip is fantastic! But the thing I like most about them verses all-season tires is that they don't squeal when you push it around tight corners. In the Mini I hardly push the tires in a turn and they squeal like a pig. It draws a lot of unwanted attention.

We need to get some RT-615's ($98) for the Mini. Our second choice would be Kumho SPT's ($57 each) or for more money, Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 ($95 each)

SIZES
RT-615 215/45/16
SPT 205/50/16 or 205/45/16
GS-D3 205/50/16 or 205/45/16

 

Thanks for the feed back.

 

OK, I'll speak up for the other side. I have 15000 on mine, over 18months. A couple of track days, but the rest of the miles have been commuting. Not much rain in Albuquerque, but when it rains it dumps. They use the roads to drain the water to the river... I really like the RT-615s as they are stick like the proverbial, seem to wear really well even though I am running pretty agressive camber (-1.5R, -2F) but 0 toe. I thought I'd get less than 10k out of them, so I'm happily surprised. About 2 track days in the next month and they'll be toast, but I'm going to replace them with the same tire, for sure.
btw, they don't squeal as mitchman said, and I wouldn't spend a NE winter with them, but for dry hot summers--way to go!
Also, my car weighs 2500lb, so maybe that's helping with the wear.

 

i was talking to a miata crowd at one of their autox and they all got about 15k on them them, and they ran them every couple of weekends for their autox (they were in teh series, so they did alot), and like me, they drive like that on the streets around here as well. They all said they were good in the rain, but we havnt had a wet summer in years tho, but when it does rain it pours here as well, so i guess thats saying something. A good friend of mine runs them on his JCW and loves them. I will be buying a set as soon as i can burn the last few 32s off my run flats (i give them till june, they stick pretty good and wear like iron, crazy old run flats)

 

I had them on my 325iS and did not like them on the road. The car had rather stiff suspension and with the additional stiffness of the 615 sidewalls, it was not happy motoring. Fast--if you didn't make the mistake of getting the tires even slightly warm--but fast. I think the milage you get depends on car weight and how hard the tires are used. That may be why the Miata people get more miles from them.

I had some Hankook R212's that I liked better for the street. Not quite so good for autox, but much less tendency to overheat, and a nicer ride. About the same price as the 615's.

cheers,

Joe

 

I'll second the vote for the Hankook Ventus R-S2 Z212 (215/40/17) . I've had them on for 2500 miles and love them. I have no direct comparison between the 615 and 212 although I considered both before deciding on the Hankook. It also dumps rain here when we do get it, so the Hankook was a better choice for me.

 

As others have said, it all depends what your daily drive is like, and what your expectations are. I wouldn't recommend them for a 50 mile one way freeway commute, but for a 13 mile commute like mine where I have a choice of freeway or back roads, they've worked out great for me. I've had them on several other cars in the past for autocrossing in street tire classes as well as for my commute, and loved them.

-Keith

 

I just ordered a set of Hankook Ventus R-S2 Z212 in 215/40/17. These will replace the last two sets of Goodyears F1 GS-D3's. The first set was great the 2nd set was not as good. I will let you know how the Hankooks work.

 

joe- how warm is warm? I have heard that they dontlike to get hot, but on a 325 they might bhave differntly, just how slick did they get, ever run a probe on them? Thanks

Beecher

 

I'm running them on a daily driver in Florida.

These puppies are awesome in dry and seem to be wearing well. They make no noise for me.

When it rains here it pours and I do take it easy not so much from experience but because of their reputation as being a dry tirer. They are better in the rain than I anticipated.

 

My direct comparison? We saw 1.1 lateral G's on both tires - no advantage for the Azenis. And, the RT-615's get greasy when hot - the RS-2's stay EXACTLY the same over the temp range that we see, which gives them a distinct advantage, IMHO. Pressures also stay lower, hot. Coupled with the fact that I daily drive the car, the RS-2's still have my vote - hands down!

Oh, and the RS-2's KILL the Azenis in the wet...

 

The Kook's have a softer sidewall for a softer ride, more tread void which means they handle better in the rain, but the compound isn't as good as the Falken.

This is been talked about to death on other threads (maybe not on NAM) but while they have good lateral grip they don't have very good grip for acceleration and braking. Braking is especially noticable when you switch from the Kook's to the RT-615's.

This is not internet "rumors", I've personally seen this twice now on my competitors cars. One guy drove a Miata and said that he couldn't figure out why the wheels were always locking up under braking. He also mentioned the lack of grip while accelerating from the start box. When he switched to the RT-615's, he said he noticed a BIG change and his autocross times proved it.

For a street tire that won't see any autocross use, the Kook's a great tire. But if you plan to autocross, you might as well go with the best, and live with the minor deficiencies compared to the Kooks. They are just that....minor deficiencies.

 

mitchman,

would you call the braking and accel grip bad compared to something like an kumho escta mx, goodyear f1-gsd3 or yoko avs es1000? or just not quite as good as the falkens?

 

I'm not sure. My guess is that they are similar to the tires your mentioning, maybe slightly better.

I really think the key to this discussion is whether the driver is going to autocross the car or not. If not, then there are lots of tires out there (like the ones you mention) that would have good enough grip, but give much better characteristics in other areas (quiet, rain, soft ride, etc...)

Personally, I'll put up with the minor issues that the RT-615 has. It's a better "street tire" than the RT-215 that it replaced. I'm still running a set of RT-215's on our Miata and except for the road whine the create, I'm still happy with them. (actually they are a little heavy). The #1 thing I hate about our run flats is how much they squeel in the corners. I don't like everyone looking at me!

 

ill vouce for screeming runflats, hahah. ON the autox, my tires are always screeming, save a couple of seconds, even in the virtually straight (key word is virtually) they screem! They stick pretty good tho, they are dsst 3000 i think, 240 tread wear. I can hardly wait to get the 615 in a couple of months.

Beecher

 

yeah, i use my car for mostly for street driving/commuting (not a long one though ~15 miles)
and the occasional long trip, like to MOTDs

but then i do love my autoX and HPDEs (though these are about 40-60 mins away)
puts me in a dilemma : 205/45R16 hankooks or 215/45R16 falkens
kooks weigh less and have a shorter OD and are about $80 cheaper for a whole set

but then i am not really trying for a championship or anything so maybe i should lean towards the hankooks (more rain friendly) as we do get a bit of rain here, i haven't been that thrilled with the goodyears (see sig) grip is fine (.98G lateral) but the feel is decidedly odd, i miss the RF sidewalls, never though i would say that

i havent tried the kumho escta mx either though...

in addition i am a relatively inexperienced driver so txwerks comments make me think the hankooks might be a little easier for me to handle as i get more experience

 

I have seen to Kooks chunk at full tread depth when used as an autox tire on a stock MINI.

 

oh no
at least my goodyears don't do that

that is a pretty poor showing for a tire marketed as a rt-615 competitor
were there any odd environmental conditions like especially hot or something? does your mention of the fact it was a stock MINI mean something can we done to fit this? (eg camber plates) sorry if that makes no sense i dont know much about this phenomenon

 

Depends on how rough the lot is and how bad you overcook the corners.

 

got it thanks