Tyre wear rating

[Stock323iSaloon]

Before you buy your tyres, do you take the UTQG tread wear rating into account? Due to my budget constraints, I can't just go and buy what I want (e.g. Pilot Sports) so I have shortlisted Bridgestone Potenza RE040 and Falken ZE512's. My brother who sells tyres for a living recommended Potenzas out of the 2, but it has a much lower wear rate of 140, as opposed to Falken's whopping 360. Potenzas are oem for many sports cars like 350z, RX8 etc.) so I'm sure they are pretty good, but not sure about the longevity/performance balance of these....Give me wisdom!

[BigFas]

what's your driving style? Does it differ from wet to dry? Constantly driving hard? Pootling along?

the wear rating on the falken's of 360 suggests a harder compound which means less grip in the wet and also more road noise. the lower the rating, the softer the compound, the higher the grip levels in both wet and dry and again, reduced road noise.

I've been using Falken's for about 2 years now, FK03's and FK451's with no problems except being very skittish in the damp so have to adjust cornering speeds appropriately.

[Stock323iSaloon]

You know me Fas, I drive like a father of 4 so my priorities are really boooooring:

- lasts for a reasonable mileage (+12k miles will be nice!)
- average or above wet road performance (had a scary spin last week)
- above average dry road performance
- each tyre costs no more than 80quid (i only have 17's)
- rim protection not necessary but a bonus (ZE512 have them, RE040 don't)

[BigFas]

Falken's will be fine, check out the FK451 prices for 17's.

They're good in the dry, good in the wet, only need to be careful in that "in-between" damp period where it's only starting to rain, or just drying out.

[330-Singh]

I have the Falken 451's on the rear of my car and I am not impressed in the slightest in the wet or dry. I get alot more wheel spin and sliding about.

I have previously used more premium brands such as Dunlop, Pirelli, Michelin etc...IMO it is well worth spending the extra £.

I will be interested to see how long the Falkens last in comparison to the premium branded tyres.

My 2p worth