200TW Tire Review - Falken Azenis RT660

[MasterC17]

Last year, I provided my thoughts on the Yokohama A052. TLDR; Fast - but awful wear.

This year, I fitted 305/30/19 Falken Azenis RT660's to the car. The good news - much better wear! I was able to get six full track days out of the RT660's prior to the inner edges cording.

Pro's:
Fast Warmup (1 Lap)
Decent Wet Performance
Good Treadlife
Superior Grip - Comparable to A052
Lots of Sizing Availability
Responsive, Easy to Drive
Relatively Quiet on the Street

Con's:
Greasy When Overdriven

In effect, I feel like this tire is comparable to the A052 when looking strictly at lap times. Warmup seems to be a touch slower, but not to the point of being an issue on an EV. The falloff with heat seems a little better than the A052, but if you overdrive the tire it will get greasy. That being said, getting more than double the tread life at a similar price-point makes these the clear winner over the A052, in my opinion.

Interested to see if anyone has run these and the Bridgestone RE-71RS and has some comparison notes!

 

[stevehifi]

great review.

A052s are excellent for time attack since they heat up so quickly (they don't even really need a heat cycle). They are also extremely quiet on the street. Problem is that they do wear very quickly, and they don't have a strong sidewall so steering response isn't as good.

I had heard that RT660s are pretty noisy on the street, is that the case in your experience?
Also how is steering feedback compared to the A052?

 

[MasterC17]

great review.

A052s are excellent for time attack since they heat up so quickly (they don't even really need a heat cycle). They are also extremely quiet on the street. Problem is that they do wear very quickly, and they don't have a strong sidewall so steering response isn't as good.

I had heard that RT660s are pretty noisy on the street, is that the case in your experience?
Also how is steering feedback compared to the A052?

RT660's were certainly no louder than the A052.

Much quieter than, say, the Federal RS-PRO's.

Steering feedback does seem a bit more responsive on the RT660.

 

[dsgerbc]

I had heard that RT660s are pretty noisy on the street, is that the case in your experience?
Also how is steering feedback compared to the A052?

Mine are pretty noisy.
The steering feedback is fine with pressures in the higher 30s, and kinda mushy in the low 30s.

 

[MasterC17]

Mine are pretty noisy.
The steering feedback is fine with pressures in the higher 30s, and kinda mushy in the low 30s.

This is a good point on tire pressure, I tended to run about 36psi hot.

 

[SK360]

Great writeup. The A052's are a tad quicker at autocross I'm guessing because of the quicker warmup but wear sucks... a lot.

Ran 660's all this season after having RE71R the previous 2 and I found the 660's needed a lot more pressure compared to the 71's to feel "right" to me. I ended up at 40F/38R hot pressures whereas I ran the RE71R at 32 all the time. I found them to be louder than my RE's were on the street but not annoyingly so (I have a high NVH tolerance though)

Also very interested in the RE71RS for next season

 

[dsgerbc]

I ended up at 40F/38R

I like the feel at those pressures, but with the 3+ degrees of camber I'm running I was not getting enough action on the outside edge, per my pyrometer.
I'm much faster at 32-34ish psi, despite the mushy feel.

 

[SK360]

I like the feel at those pressures, but with the 3+ degrees of camber I'm running I was not getting enough action on the outside edge, per my pyrometer.
I'm much faster at 32-34ish psi, despite the mushy feel.

At -2.4/-2.7 (Yes I'm lopsided) I was getting way too much rollover at 32. With cold tires I found 38/36 to be quicker but once the pavement and tires get some temp in them 40/38 was my sweet spot. No fancy tools here other than a piece of chalk so who knows.

 

[Mash]

I'm getting confused at tire pressure comparisons without tire size mentioning.

Are you all running 305/30/19 or all of you believe that tire size doesn't influence impact of pressure?

 

[dsgerbc]

I'm getting confused at tire pressure comparisons without tire size mentioning.

Are you all running 305/30/19 or all of you believe that tire size doesn't influence impact of pressure?

Good point. I believe @SK360 is on 265/35/19s, and is probably a bit more prone to rolling over on the outer shoulder at the same pressure.

 

[SK360]

Good point. I believe @SK360 is on 265/35/19s, and is probably a bit more prone to rolling over on the outer shoulder at the same pressure.

This is true. I’m just a narrow guy

 

[Mash]

This is true. I’m just a narrow guy

32 psi on your tire is the same as 28 psi on @MasterC17 tire and 41 psi on a stock 20 inch.

 

[canasion35]

Anyone running the RT660’s as a daily tire?

 

[dsgerbc]

Anyone running the RT660’s as a daily tire?

Would not recommend in a state where it rains more than a few times per year. It gets quite sketchy in the wet after only a bit of wear.

 

[MountainPass]

Anyone running the RT660’s as a daily tire?

I did for a little bit between M3C races and I would not recommend it. When the tires weren't raced they were decently quiet, but after the first weekend, they became crazy loud. Obviously my range was affected because of the tire width and my 10.5" wheels so I don't know how much can be attributed to the tire alone.

 

[canasion35]

I did for a little bit between M3C races and I would not recommend it. When the tires weren't raced they were decently quiet, but after the first weekend, they became crazy loud. Obviously my range was affected because of the tire width and my 10.5" wheels so I don't know how much can be attributed to the tire alone.

Thanks for the feedback guys. The plight of wanting an aggressive tread pattern and compound for daily use but then comes the practicality of it all!

 

[MountainPass]

Thanks for the feedback guys. The plight of wanting an aggressive tread pattern and compound for daily use but then comes the practicality of it all!

I miss the blissful ignorance of an inefficient ICE toy where I had no idea if there was any impact on fuel economy!