Changing from Bridgestone's to Falken's

[Petrolhead159]

I Stuck 4 x Bridgestone Duellers on my Forester SG when I got it about 2 years ago.

 

You can not fault the Bridgestones on wear however i find they do lack on grip, when braking i find that a wheel often locks (with ABS cutting in), I really have no confidence in the tyre.

 

Since the way I have used the car has changed since i first bought it I now need more confidence with the car, I will be getting Falken LA/AT T110 tyres fitted in the next couple of days, I have had Falkens before & have been really pleased with their wear, grip & price.

As soon as i get these fitted I will report back on my thoughts.

My driving consists of normal road driving, doing a little off roading as i help out with a bit of gamekeeping.

[Jay762]

Thats great - keep us posted I would be interested in the grip vs wear rates against the bridgestones :)

[Petrolhead159]

had my Falken T-110's fitted today, all 4 costing £330 (205/70R15), difficult to tell how they are as I only drove the 4 miles home.

Will be going up to the farm tomorrow, so fingers crossed i won't get stuck  ^_^ 

I will report back in a couple of hundred miles with my thoughts.

[Jay762]

best stick a video camera on board just in case :P

[Petrolhead159]

went up to the farm today, didn't get on the fields as they was really water logged & didn't want to P off the land owner by churning them up.

so far I'm happy with the tyres, lots of surface water & a little flooding & the car/tyres coped fine, no aquaplaning, the little bit of mud i did get into it got out of with no issues whatsoever.

Have filled up today so I can see if economy is effected, they don't seem any louder than the Bridgestones.

1 thing i have noticed, they seem to take bumps nicer, so guessing thats all to do with the M&S Compound.

 

[Jay762]

looks the part - got its new wellies muddy :D

[Petrolhead159]

the car was caked before i got the tyres fitted, had to clean it or the fitter would have had a right grumble at me.

[Jay762]

hey - :D  track day etiquette in the high street

[david1972]

Looking forward to following this thread to help inform me ahead of future tyre purchases. Good work

[Cerberith]

Any chance you could post a photo of the tread pattern?  I'm moving to Subaru from a Defender and I'm used to proper AT tyres, the Forester I'm due to pick up doesn't have a lot of life left on it's original tyres so I'll be looking around.

 

Cheers,

John

[Petrolhead159]

Tread pattern

[Cerberith]

Thanks ;)

[Gambit]

Just got some Falken's myself so far I've liked them seem a bit more noisy on the tarmac but that could be the dry bearing problem will be able to tell better tomorrow when I've had it fixed :D 

[Petrolhead159]

tyres have now been on for a week, had all kinds of weather from dry, frosty to standing water & slight flooding…No issues what so ever, they are a little noisier on the rougher road surfaces.

off on a shoot tomorrow so i may get a chance to see what they're like off road.
 

i filled up last weekend & just filled up again now & got 31.89MPG, my previous 4 fill ups averaged at 29.59MPG. So i will also keep an eye on that too.

So far I'm happy with them, they certainly seem to compliment the car quite nicely & I have not had that 1 wheel lock up that i used to get with the previous tyres, so I'm getting my confidence back in a car that i should ouse it in.

You can probably tell from my economy that I'm not the most spirited driver  ;) (thats for the Mrs's car)  :D
 

[Petrolhead159]

This App is MPGCalc on the iphone, there is a free version that just holds 3 results.

[Gambit]

I have to agree with you with the noise but I can live with it, it's not overly loud and have had a good coverage of all types of weather other than snow and never felt once like they was not suitable for the job or the car. So 2nd your comment :D 

[david1972]

How are you faring now, petrolhead?

[Petrolhead159]

nudge nudge thanks for the reminder David  :) 

Filled up with Petrol on friday & it is still returning 31.69MPG, was at a shoot on saturday & it coped with everything just fine, so over the last week it has had various road driving & some off road.

The only issue the car will have is bottoming out in ruts, i have had it trough some very sticky well churned up mud & its pulled through just fine.

Would like to have a bash in the snow but it doesn't look like I'm going to get to play in that this year   

If i was in a position to buy tyres again then I would certainly get these again…Just got to keep an eye on the tyre wear from now.

[david1972]

Great stuff.....tyre wear is the only thing that concerns me with switching away from the Bridgestones.....previous experience tells me they wear well.

 

Will be good to hear how you find yours over the coming months in that respect too  :)

[david1972]

When you have the time and get a chance, can you take a side on shot (quite close, but to be able to see the whole tyre side profile in one go) of the tyre on the wheel too please?

 

Sad I know, but I like my tyre to look good from the side too, as well as work well  :P

 

Cheers fella

[Petrolhead159]

will do buddy, i will do it tomorrow when its light, I will be on a shoot so they will probably be a bit muddy.

[david1972]

Good man...have to say I do like the tread pattern

[Petrolhead159]

side on view

[Petrolhead159]

did use my car on the shoot today but i did go & feed the pigs, I got to play in the mud too   

[david1972]

Great shots there Petrolhead :D .....how's it coping in all that mud with the new boots on?