AZENIS FK520

<p>Nothing to complain except the groove cracks after just 10.000 Km and almost 2 years, with the correct pressure and storage temperatures during the winter. Really dissapointed.</p>

I recently switched to Falken Azenis FK520, 225/45R17 94 W XL FSL tires, and they've been one of the best tire choices I've made. I previously had Dunlop BluResponse tires, but the Falkens are noticeably quieter and much more comfortable. They feel great on the road and provide excellent grip in both wet and dry conditions. I honestly think Falken is an underrated brand—you get outstanding performance and quality for a very reasonable price. I would definitely recommend them.

I used the Falken Azenis FK520L on my EV before switching tyres, and while there were some positives, overall I wasn’t fully satisfied with the experience.
The biggest issue for me was road noise. The tyres were noticeably noisy, even after I had soundproofing done on the car. Ride comfort also felt quite harsh, which made daily driving less refined than I expected, especially for an EV where cabin quietness is important.
Another downside was efficiency. Compared to my current tyres, I noticed a drop in EV range and higher energy consumption with the FK520L. Wet handling also wasn’t the best, and as the tyres started to wear, I could occasionally feel them losing traction in wet conditions, which affected my confidence.
To be fair, dry handling was good. The tyre felt stable and sporty in dry conditions, with decent grip when cornering or changing lanes. However, braking performance did not feel as strong as I would have liked, especially when considering the weight and instant torque of an EV.
Overall, the Falken Azenis FK520L may suit drivers who prioritise dry grip and a sportier feel, but for my EV and daily driving needs, the road noise, comfort, range impact, wet handling, and braking distance made it less ideal for me.

At first, they really lack the sharp immediate turn-in (note I run 55 profile) and clear feedback, perhaps if you ever
raced on slicks or even did karting, some slicks also lack immediate turn-in but it doesnt make these/them slow at all.
Once you adapt to this, can be very fast...
You can feel slight vibration on the limit and they loose grip progresively, it is never sudden when dry, its predictable.
No noise effects at all. I pushed them to limit on a hill climb road sections few times and they never made even slight
squeeling sound.
Sidewall is on a soft side for their performance level, comfort, noise and wear are excellent.
Photo of the tread was taken after about 9000km of dynamic city driving, highways
and cca 100km being pushed on curvy mountain roads. After 10 000km, front ones
now have 6mm of tread depth evenly on both sides and 6,5mm in the center.
At speeds over 160km/h heat builds up in them quite a lot and tyre pressure
ramp up quickly if pushed for longer than just a few minutes.
Not a downside, its a property - they warm up easily, its clever compound design in my opinion.
Wet grip is very good, on cold days, you need to heat them a little by 3 minutes of driving
and just use brake pedal more than needed to generate some extra friction so you can
start pushing them on wet tarmac just fine.
Driven on snow, icy roads and snow slurry for about 5 days and I was quite amazed
by the handling. Not ideal of course but managable to drive safely if careful.
Even at temperatures under zero degrees C on a dry road, they can still warm up well
and provide good amount of grip.
Highly recommend them, unless:
1) You dont want to adapt to its slight delay on turn-in,
2) If you prefer to trade off some of FK520 comfort for more feedback from steering.

Context: I have been driving these Falken tyres on a 2018 Reg Honda Civic Sport (Hatch), for their entire lifetime. I bought the car at only 1 year old (10,000 Miles) and it was shod all-round, with Michelin PilotSport's which I understand are factory standard on this car; so likely originals. Those were fine, but during covid "stay@home" period one of the rear tyres developed a slow puncture and needed changing (which broke my heart as was still plenty tread left! :(
Life: I opted for the Falken's as the fitter rated them and said comparable to "premier brands" without the inflated price associated. I swapped the Michelins to the back and fitted new rubber to the front (being a FWD car). They are now at the end of their life, running out at the same time more-or-less as the rears, having just completed 32K miles. My driving style is very steady & careful, I avoid over accelerating or braking wherever possible, preferring to make full use the engine braking/natural deceleration instead. I am very happy with the wear on these, and consider 30,000 to be pretty standard with the condition of UK roads currently!
Performance-wise: I would say that these tyres are absolutely as good, if not better, than the Michelins they replaced. The wet & dry braking is fine, nothing exceptional, but that said my driving style and not having an accident would support that. Where I have had to stop quickly I was never concerned. They do however wheelspin excessively under hard acceleration, especially from standing start (even more so in the wet), which I put down to the car rather than the tyre, being high torque/FWD arrangement. Feedback is better than Michelin but still quite poor compared to high-end, cornering the same, wear; slightly worse than PS's as I have evidenced above. The one area I would say these Falken's really let the side down, would be the road noise. On poor quality road surface they are really not pleasant, and even on standard roads they are noisy, my little one moans every time how noisy it is inside the car!
All-in I would say: Better than I originally expected TBH, but in no way a "Premium tyre", so if you're expecting that, look elsewhere & spend more money. This is a very decent, reasonably priced mid-tier tyre for a family car. If you place grip, reliability & wear utmost in the list when buying, these will suit you perfectly. If you plan on taking every corner (wet or dry) as fast as possible and don't mind changing after 7-10K miles...don't bother!