Just like to share my news with you guys:
I recently came across some tires supposedly made by Falken, and imported from Japan. They're called Capitol Negotiators - NZ700.
I mistook them for Falkens and decided to buy a set 235/40/ZR18 to replace my old dying Falken GRB's. Paid $460 for the tires. $106 per tire plus tax for an 18" Z rated tire.

When I received the tires, I thought these were really stupid and cheesy because of the name "Capitol Negotiators." It did not say Falken anywhere on the tire. But then I found out that they really are made by Falken from the NHTSA tire specs site. They are imported straight from Japan and not sold in the US, I do not know why this is.

The tires are rated 360 treadwear, AA traction, and A temperature. I thought this was to awesome for a Z rated performance tire. So cheap and such great treadwear. Anyhow, they are rotational steel belted radials, and they have a pretty cool aggressive tread pattern.

My impressions:
The tires are on now, and I've put about 300 miles on them so far. They handle a bit better than my old Falken GRB's which by the way did not last long with only a 200 treadwear rating. I can take 45mph corners at 80mph etc. They are not as noisy as the old Falken's either. I do not know about wet traction as of yet, since it has not rained lately. Will keep you guys informed about the tire as wear progresses.

I am most pleasantly surprised at my purchase and would just like to let you guys have the seller's contact information. I do not know him personally and I am not trying to promote his products. If you would like to save some money and get some great tires, this is the guy to call. He ships across the US as well. I can bet you can deal or negotiate with him and bring the price down. He sells various different plus sizes such as 245/45/17, and he can also distribute Pirelli's. His name is Michael, email is trimauto@attbi.com. Phone # is (650)823-4460. My fiance picked up the tires so I never even saw the guy, but she says he's nice and great to work with.

Well I hope you guys like my little write up here, and trust me, I was doubtful at first too, but now I have em on my car. Guys in the bay area california can come sit in my car for a spin if you guys wanna see how they feel and grip.


** Same tread pattern as my 235 40 18's

 

Wow..that is cheap for a ZR-rated 18 incher....sweet tread design

 

Very cheap indeed, never thought I'd luck out having my fiance buy tires!

 

Wish I could say it hasn't rained here lately (see my sig pic).

Nice tires. I'll have to go with those when my current ones wear out.

IanS

 

I kinda miss the rain, kinda like sliding around every so often. It gives me an adrenaline rush whenever I feel like I'm gonna fly off the road.

 

Capitol Negotiators?

That sounds like Engrish on that sidewall...

 

Hahaha yes, it sounds like engrish, but you know engrish products are always well made, although just not well marketed!

Tires depend upon Negotiators by Capitol performance great treadwear!

 

Of course he was nice to her! Probably hoping she'd be nice too ... If you are in the Bay Area, you get to try the rain grip this weekend. I'll be testing my 150 mile Kumhos too.

 

Yes I'm definitely going to take them for a spin in the mountain roads this weekend. Right around Lawrence Labs Berkeley area, by Grizzly Peak road. Should be a challenge.

 

I used to own that road! Back in the day I used to race Porsches in my MGB. They'd walk me on the straights, I'd be on their tail coming out of the twisties. Roasted them once I got the 240Z. We should have an East Bay meet sometime. I live 10 minutes from Berkeley, go to school in Orinda.

 

I'm asian and I think its true to some extent. A lot of asians use poor english and they think its really cool.

 

I could see it taken that way (I did a bit too). However ... I was in Taiwan as a kid. Everyone, and I mean everyone, said "Go to the Paris Museum." My parents were confused. Why would there be a Paris Museum in Taiwan? Anyway, it sounded like a big deal, so we finally got a taxi and said "Paris Museum", and he took us right away to ... the Palace Museum. They just don't have the same "r" in their dialect that we use in English. BTW, it was a spectacular museum if you are into Asian treasures ...

 

Everytime I go to Panda Express (chinese fast food) near my home the nice chinese lady always asks me if I want "flied lice or steamed lice?" And I politely respond in chinese that I want tzou fan (fried rice). Its sad to see people that at least tried to learn English get picked on. What I hate most is when people come to this country and do not even try to speak English whatsoever and act snobby, as if they are too good for our wonderful country.

 

Yes definitely need a meet out here. We can drive up to the Science Museum behind UC Berkeley and take pictures way up there with the San Francisco backdrop. I know there are a few Oakland and Berkeley maximas around here, but no idea if they are on the org. A few of the closer guys should have a meet too. I'm down for it. Haven't met any other org members besides cheston so far I believe.

Should we try to set up a mini meet in the East Bay?

Have some fun in the twisties afterwards.

Go down and blast through the Caldecott tunnels too.

Sounds like fun to me

 

A local meet sounds good to me. I've gone to the lot above the Science Museum for some great shots of my bike. I dunno about Caldecott tunnel, though. Traffic is so bad there these days - wish they'd do the 4th bore. I avoid it whenever possible. I almost got taken out in there last year by an 18 wheeler with road rage!

 

Um.. yeah. Exaggerating the improvement a little?

I switch back and forth from a street tire to an R compound race tire every other weekend for autocross and the increase in speeds is not that dramatic when I'm driving on the street with the R compound rubber. I don't see a change in street tire to street tire making that much of a difference.. 5-10 mph at most.

 

I meant I could still take 45mph curves at 80mph with these tires as I could with the old Falkens. Never said there was this 35mph improvement from these tires over the old ones, that would be ludicrous. Before the car was lowered on stock springs and struts, could barely do those curves at 60mph. sticky tires + springs = much better stability and cornering.

The point of my post was that I'm just surprised that these high treadwear hard compound tires could perform just as well as softer compound tires (better performing than Falkens, Kumho Supra's, and Yoko AVS Sports) Had all of those on my car, and this is from personal experience. There is only like a 5mph difference between all of them in terms of handling, but I'm raving over the treadwear and price of these Negotiators.

 

Could some of this be comparing actual driving experience to posted road speeds? There are roads around here posted for 25mph that are no different from others posted at 45mph, and curves marked for 15mph that could just as well be normal 25mph.

Lots of variables come into play. I posted that my local onramp speeds increased about 3mph with softer sidewalls (215/55zr16 compared to 235/45zr17) just because they absorbed the road irregularities better. The front bounces less, and that means better handling.

 

Gotta love exclusive reverse racism. It's ok for friends to call each other ****** and gooks and ***** and whatever names ... but it's not ok for anyone else to call them those things.

Perhaps it might have been a racial stereotype. You know what? I don't really have a problem with that. The site is funny and several asians have already replied to this thread saying they're fine with it. Gotta learn to laugh at yourself once in a while. Ben didn't mean anything by it. Gotta learn when a joke is a joke and when a joke is a racial slander.

 

I could turn around and say that all those posts joking around between you, me, Albert, John and everyone else in the NE forum don't belong there either. It's a public forum as well.

Again ... exclusive racism. I never undersood that. It's ok for you to call me a ***** because you're asian, but if a Caucasian friend called me a *****, it's wrong? I think the comment is hilarious. Regardless of who said it.

You are using a double standard my friend. If he can't post up anything remotely like "ENGRISH" on a public forum, then the same can go for posting anything like "GHEY". And yet, I don't see you up in arms everytime someone says something is "GHEY".

The moderator used it to talk about the tire. The tire is an inanimate object. And so the phrasing is a little funny because it was from Japan. Perhaps it is a racial stereotype that Japanese people misspell words ... leading to us laughing about it. Again ... I don't think Ben goes around wearing a white sheet at night burning crosses in front of people's houses. would it have been acceptable if I had made that comment?

How about I make it say, "Damn ... that's horrible English ... sorta like something you would see at http://www.engrish.com"

Judging a person's character by one post is pretty ignorant. Gotta learn to lighten up and let things slide.

 

not being rude but I need some info. I plan on buying some Kumho Supra 712 235/45/17's for $100 a piece from Tirerack.com and haveing the local tire shop install them for $14.25 a piece. Are you saying these tires are better than the Kumho's?

 

They handle almost identically. Have not been able to determine which is better exactly, but these guys sure are cheaper and last a bit longer.

 

I put on some Kumhos a week ago when I went back to my stock rims for daily driving. I posted here that Bridgestone Potenza 910's (I think - don't remember exactly right now) were rated on Tirerack as being stickier and better handling than Kumhos, but have the 40k mileage warranty. I got some responses, basically saying that the ratings are subjective (I know) and so gramps might be saying how wonderful the Potenzas are, while Joe Racer might be dissing the Kumhos as imperfect. The post that helped me decide was the guy who used the Bridgestones for his winter tires, but pulled them for stickier ones in summer. I figure he has both and can tell the difference. Maybe I should have got the Potenzas for daily use, and saved up for the Kumho 700's for autocrossing on the 17" rims. I do like the Kumhos so far, perhaps better than my Potenza 730's, more like the old RE71's ...

 

Only on maxima.org could you be considered rude for getting back on topic!

 

Kumho would have to pay $$ for me to use their 712s

 

And that would be because ....?

 

Here is a very modem unfriendly picture of the tire on my rim.
343kb - 1024x768.



18" Negotiator

 

When you run a lot of negative camber, you have to rotate those puppies!

Actually, hard to tell, but it looks a bit like a flat spot. Lock up your brakes? I messed up my Potenzas when someone ran a stop sign in front of me; I locked my wheels (no ABS) at 30 and stopped about 6 inches from his door (the idiot stopped in front of me, instead of getting the !#$% out of the way, to see what the horn blasting in his ear meant!)

 

No flat spots.. just got these guys on there, no intensive braking with them quite yet.

 

did someone just call me "whitey", "honkey", or "cracka"? i don't really care. people are all the same once you get to know them. thing that really bothers me is my bleach white friend with red hair (yeah, i know... not his choice) who alternates between talking like he's from the ghetto to speaking in mobster italian... i'm thinking split personalities...

also, i'd like to learn how to order General Tso's Chicken or Pork in chinese.. useful foreign languages are great.

 

The grip isn't to my standards

 

Your preference? Lord help us if it costs 3x as much! My RE730's weren't any stickier, maybe not even as much (I preferred the older RE71's)

 

I got the new Azenis ST5112 which also have a 360 treadware. They handle like a dream!!! Very quiet, and only $97 a piece for 235/45/17

I got Kumho 712's now too they cost me $105 for 245/45/17

I can't tell which one I like better, but the 280 treadware on the kumho's isn't as cool. The kumho's are reviewed well, but I dunno I tihnk those falkens may handle better

 

I can't agree more. I have Kumho's on my 18's and I will never get them again. I don't see why everyone raves about them. I wish I could afford RE730's in 18" but I can't...
I'm probably going to try the Dunlop SP W-10 now. They're $112 on tirerack.com now.

 

in the past I've used Pirelli P7000, AVS Intermediate, RE71. My next tire will be the Pirelli PZeros

 

Of the 3 you've used, I chose the RE71 based on both Tirerack opinions and those expressed in general on here. I liked them a lot. The RE730 was not an improvement, IMHO, so I went looking for something else. So far the Kumhos seem stickier than the RE730's. I can chirp them more, but then going from 235/17 to 215/16 would do that in almost any tire. I've heard mixed things about PZeros. Have you considered S03's? Actually, they probably are to the S02 what the RE730 was to the RE71 - a bit stiffer, not quite as sticky as what they replace. Barry Chafin switched from S02s to Michelin Pilots for autocrossing and is very impressed with them.