i have the 512's on my 2k2 and when i got an alignment the guy put them at 50 psi. i think this is way too high but he said due to the soft sidewalls they perform better with this. any recommendations on what psi? i run them at roughly 36/33. i care mostly about MPG over ride comfort, handling, etc. thanks.

 

My condolences. At 33-36 psi, you will get slower steering and floaty handling than a Grand Marquis. I got my 512 set up to 47 psi and the sidewalls were still unacceptable. IMO, the best pressure on those POS tires is atmospheric at a Middle Eastern tire burning demonstration.

 

i honestly know very little about tire pressure except the higher it is, the more air in the tire which changes the ride, handling, braking, and MPG. is it safe to run these tires at 50psi?? if so i will keep it.

 

The max cold pressure for the 512s is 51 psi, so that's not an issue. You may get uneven wear (the center may wear faster than the edges) at those pressures.

 

yeah i read it was 51...it is just that i have never run a tire above 36 before nor do i know anyone who ever runs above 40 let alone 50. i will be doing a 300 mile drive on friday and just wanted to make sure i can leave them at 50psi and ride safely. i know tires get warm epecially while driving for long periods and wanted to make sure the psi wasn't too high.

 

You'll be fine at 50 psi. Be forwarned, it will be tough to keep them at those pressures. You'll have to check them weekly.

 

yes i have noticed they do not hold that well. any thoughts on this?

 

No, other than getting a different brand of tires that doesn't need 50 psi to resemble a UHPAS tire. How many miles on them? I'd say take them back and get something else.

 

umn like 10,000 roughly, i think i have had them less than a year and at the time the only options for 225/50/17 were those, the stock tires, and the $$ pilot sports.

 

10K is a bit late, but you may not get much past 25K anyways.

We've all gone thru the odd side Nissan stuck us with. I went off spec 235/45R17s (Fuzion ZRis) for summers and Dunlop M3 snows after my 512 fiasco.

 

would you mind sharing what happened with your falkens?

 

I'm just posting because you two seem very lonely in this thread... nobody wants to go head-to-head with CCS2k1Max about the 512's anymore...I think he has a bloodhound that sniffs out threads that mention the words "Ziex" or "512".

CCS, you know I'm just kidding with ya, right?

 

lol, so I take it his experience was one of debate in this forum? maybe i need to stop strictly posting/reading in the audio forum...

 

I kept mine at 36psi and found the sidewalls way too soft for my liking as well.

 

i just put them at 38 front, 35 rear. 50 psi just seems like alot for a maxima.

 

I don't take it personal Irish. I dish it too and hope you don't take it personal either.

If the 512 review sticky were open, I'd spare you guys of my soap box. I went through all the then available reviews here and Consumer Reports and still got burned bad. If I can spare one person from going through the crap feedback the 512s give, then I call it a success. I just cannot stand slow steering and squirmy feeling on my car. It's a Maxima, not a Camry.

 

haha. i guess i am used to it. if i would just buy aftermarket rims to open up more tire selection...

 

Slick, when I had 512's on my Max I had them between 38 and 42. However, no matter how much I inflated them I still couldn't over-compensate for the soft sidewalls.

 

I have my 512s at 36 psi all round and they seem fine for me. 235/45/17s.

 

I have pirelli Pzero nero M&S...which are comparable to Falken ZIEX 512s since they are both all seasons....let me tell you, I absolutely hate the M&S's if they are below 45psi...it's just way too sloppy through the turns...the weird thing is, my old yokohama avs es100 never had this problem...then again, it wasn't an all season tire to begin with...those tires were set at 38-40psi and the handling was very sharp...never tried my yokohamas at max psi (51psi) before...although at that psi, I'd imagine the car would handle like it's on rails...I'm thinking all season tires have this loose handling feeling....cuz right when I put those M&Ss and drove off the lot...I immediately felt a loose feeling when I first took a corner...

 

Although A/S tires are a compromise one way or another, I don't think you can make such a blanket statement. The rule of thumb used to be the lower the profile, the stiffer the sidewalls. That said, I think that tire manufacturers are pushing more and more toward the "comfort" compromise as automakers go for more OEM bling bling, i.e., 20 inch wheels with low profile tires (SRT-8s come to mind).

 

Well regardless, I'm never gonna buy A/S tires anymore...the reason why I bought these M&S is becuz they got great reviews on tirerack...and the price wasn't so bad either...oh yeah treadware is rated at 400 so that caught my attention too...to me its just not worth getting A/S...I shoulda done some more research becuz Falken has a good line of summer tires that cost a tad more than my M&S....I definitely would have gone with that route

My M&S don't just suck on the turns....they suck in a straight line! I mean sometimes I accidently chirp my tires in the parking lot cuz these things are so slippery! And at the race track...I have to lower these bishes to 25psi or less or else I won't gain any traction...what so ever...

 

: I've learned not to argue this point with you anyhow I'm just waiting to see a post by you not involving the Falkens, and am gonna give you a hard time until that day (or hell freezes over) hehe....no, I don't take anything personal unless it's said to my face, um...personally.

for the guys rolling on stock suspension...um....a camry probably DOES handle better...at least a camry has IRS, IIRC.....

 

How's this for a post in THIS forum not involving the crappy Falkens???

I'll give feedback on the WRs after we've put a few thousand miles on them. All I can say so far is, the Nokians in 60 series on a minivan are nowhere near as sloppy as the 50 series Ziex 512 on the max... (and you thought I was on the road to recovery!).

 

yeah...I need to do a feedback post on my Blizzak LM-22's as well.

as you can see, they do pretty well in the snow

btw...the LM-22s are a V-rated winter tire, and they actually do handle a little better than the 512s....and alot of other tires

 

I saw your write up. Nice showing off the Bimmer dude about the hook... After spending a couple of hours waiting for the tires to be mounted and the alignment, I am dying to try some snow tires other than the Wintersport M3s. The shop had Nokian Hakkapeelitta (sp?) and Vredesteins Wintracs (huh?) which are supposed to be as good in the snow as the Hakkas.

p.s. With so much time to spare, I did the "thumb" squeeze test of the sidewalls of the Proxes 4 compared to the Pilot Sport PS2s or BFGs KDs and the Proxes sidewalls were jelly in comparison. I know it's not "scientific" or "apples to apples", but the WRs did compare to the Proxes 4, biased toward comfort.

 

man i drive like a grandma...or else I realize the max is not sports car. I guess a TV and a system make me drive slower.

 

The PS2 and KDs pretty much have the stiffest sidewalls on the market, in their class...what did you expect? The Pilot A/S also has stiffer sidewalls than the proxes 4. Funny thing is, my Proxes 4 (235/40/18) are far superior (in ALL aspects) compared to the Pilot A/S on previous car (I know, not apples to apples either)....

KDs have super-stiff sidewalls, I rode in a local org'ers maxima (on stock GLE suspension, no less) and the ride was nothing short of bone-jarring.