ContiExtremeContact = $78 x 4 = $312 + $30 shipping. Tirerack.com
Total: $342
Falken Ziex ZE-512 = $74 x 4 = $296 + Free shipping from discounttiresdirect.com

Which one should I get?

I have the Conti's. They are better than the RE-92's in grip dry/wet/snow/ice, but have softer sidewalls, so steering response isn't as good. I can't compare to the Ziex as I haven't tried them.

In the Survey section of Tirerack, the Conti's are rated just below the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S and Pirelli P Zero Nero M&S, which are substantially more expensive. I'm happy with mine for year-round use. Of course, dedicated summer and winter tires are always better...

klug

get the falken ZE-512.

Falken

What size were those ZE-512's for $74 each?

205 55 16 i believe.

Great, I went to the site but noticed higher prices(I was peep'n the 225/45R17). Makes sense. Thanks for the update. I've been back and forth on the same topic and I'm leaning towards the Falken's. Although friends are trying to lean me towards the Winter Performance tires. We just don't get that much snow usually, tough to weigh out. Have fun.

Get them from edgeracing.com. They will be cheaper.

Thanks. :banana:

I was debating on edgeracing or tires.com. Tires.com didn't charge me shipping when I did a shipping qoute.

I'd get the Falkens, that's what I'm ordering for my 05 LGT.

Not only are the Falkens highly rated, but they weigh about 2-3 pounds less
than the Continentals in 215/45/17 and 215/40/18 size.

The only other tire I'd of considered were the excellent and top rated
Pirelli P Zero Nero M&S
They are still about a pound heavier than the Ziex-512's but cost a decent amount more too.

So again, I was swayed to the Falkens, since they have gotten great reviews too.
Are the lightest I could find (improves performance...more power to the ground) and are priced right!

The falken's really got great reviews? They drive like crap on my friend's SI. He had kumho 712s before which felt MUCH better. The falkens are somewhat decent in the rain but thats it, their dry grip was horrible. Unless you drive your wrx like a granny into the turns I would highly recommend that you NOT get falken ziex 512s. I have heard a lot of good things about the contiextreme contacts, but it depends what you want from a tire. The ziex 512s are a good value and durable thats about all. This is subjective of course.

The 712's are UHP tires, the Falkens are more of an AS tire.

i replaced my yoko avs intermediates last year with the conti's. 225/45/zr17.
I love the tire as an all around, year round performer. They handle at about 85-90% of the AVS's but are also great in the snow whereas the yokos were sketchy even with 4 driven wheels. There is more sidewall flex and is a harder compound than the 100 treadwear rating Yokos. They were super sticky.
Two of my friends are running the same tires now. one on a wrx and the other in a turbo celica gt-s. I think its a great tradeoff to save on the cost of two sets of wheels and tires.

The Conti's are supposed to do quite well in the snow - we don't get much here, so I went with the Pirelli P-Zero Nero M+S - $397 installed at Pep Boys :-)

(they sort of screwed up - they price matched another vendor at $500 installed (incl. tax, mounting + balancing) and had a $100 gift card offer which was supposed to be for certain tires, but they thought it was all national brands - even though national hdq. told them it was only for certain tires, and never when they price matched, they still gave it to me (directly from the register) since they said they would - not too shabby! Funny part is they order their tires from the tire rack (they had the shipping labels on them and everything when I got them installed yesterday) - so I got them installed for $50 less than I could have had them shipped to my house (and then would have had to pay someone for mounting/balancing) :banana:

anyway - I would check local vendors (discount tire, etc.) and see what they can do for you price-wise before you go out and mail order - you might be pleasantly surprised with the results!

The 712's are UHP tires, the Falkens are more of an AS tire.

Yea I'm just saying the kumhos are decent tires that are not that great, but they seemed to far outgrip the falkens. I don't expect as much from all seasons but the falkens did not seem any better in the dry than 2 horrible allseasons I have driven on the RE92s and the michelin pilot energy mxv4. Again the good thing about falkens is they are cheap and durable.

I would say it depends on what you're using them for. If this is your only tire, year round, I'd get the Falkens. If this a winter tire that will see a lot of snow, get the Conti's.

I was in the exact same dilema deciding between the Falkens and the Conti's.

I just put some ContiContactExtremes on my stock rims. The only reason I went with the Conti's is because I have a set of 17" Rotas with Falken Azenis 225/45/ZR17 for the summer and I wanted a tire that would perform a bit better in the snow. I just had a hard time believing that the 512's would be as good in the snow as the Conti's (I make a lot of ski trips to Taos and Colorado).

If you only want/have one set of shoes for your baby, I'd go with the Falken 512s for a bit better performance in the dry. People say the Conti's are a pretty good all around tire but I haven't had them long enough to really give them good reviews other than that they're much quieter/softer than the 17 inch Falken Azenis (of course).

JMO

I have 225/40-18 SO-3's for my "summer" tires, and when switching from them to the 225/45-17 Conti's, there is a NOTICABLE loss of dry grip. No biggee since I know this so I take it a little easier on the Conti's. But comparing the SO-3's to the Conti's in the snow....there's just no contest. The Conti's are great in the snow.