Yeah i agree that the LS wasnt great but my mom has a GS and that was a nice car quick and handled well. But she traded it in on an new 05 Magnum Hemi. The Buick was 100 times better. I know i took it to work once and we were doing burnouts and yea Traction off 70 feet marks. Not bad considering my 560 Mercedes can put down only 48 b4 it sticks and goes. One negative thing about quattro no burnouts [&o]

 

Yeah I know a lot of people run the 512's... I had a set of FK451's and wasn't that impressed by them. I was surprised to hear you raving about Falken. Not that they are bad... but... I just never found them that incredible. I had the option to go with the FK451's again, and went with some General Exlaim UHP's! I don't regret my decision, either... the Generals are a nice tire. A bit soft in the sidewall, and you can feel that... but they ride great.

I've never tried the falken all season though, which is the 512 I think. Doesn't look like it's an allseason though... looks very summer tire-ish. Wouldn't want it in snow!

 

I've only had the various iterations of the UHP All-Season tires. Z-rated on my AWD Opel Calibra, V-rated on my Camry (brfore I recked it, throo inattention to where I was going, no fault of teh tires), and now W-rated on my A8. I've NEVER had any issues, Sun, Rain, OR Snow, with grip or handling. Well, not once I found out you hafta run them a little above Manufacturers recommended, to take the delay out of their response time. That half-a-heartbeat time between action and reaction can seem like an eternity, in an emergency. Outta curiousity, you haven't sdaid what it was you found teh 451's lacking in...;

Incase anybody's wondering, I found a decent price on some HPAS Yoko Avids, at discount tire, and there's a store less than 5 miles from where he stays.

 

The 451's were mediocre in rain, ride comfort was not great, and dry pavement... Hrmm... was on a FWD car and understeer was predictable, but I ended up with Ventus rubber on it afterwards and it seemed about the same.
Sweet looking tire though! And they are priced well.

I've just had pilots potenza's and firehawks... and although it is hard to justify their cost, they are better tires.
As you can see with the generals... I was NOT able to justify their cost. haha

 

Well, I've been rolling Falkens for a while, now. Before that I'd went through Michelins (pre-Pilot, remember, this was a loooooooooong time ago), Goodyears (I don't remember which ones, tho), Pirellis (LOVED how they handled. HATED the cost..., once I got outside of Italy), and a couple of off-brands, over the years.

The price? Oh yeah, that's what makes me feel soooooo much sooooooo better than everybody. They're ALMOST priced down in the econo-tire price range. Almost, but not quite. In 225/55-17 I paid just a shade under $600. for 4 and an alignment, total cost, out the door... I'm expecting to drop about half that for gummi for the kid, but then, he's not supposed to be wheeling that crappy Buick like *I* whip my Aud.