Merked E320

Alright guys,

I just wanted to let everyone know my experience with 2 different brands of tires on my E320 during track testing. Conditions:

Laguna Seca Raceway - 2:01:944 fastest lap @ 66.1mph
track conditions - dry, 70 degrees, not humid
Front wheels & tires - Falken 452 - 245/30/20 on 20x8.5 iForged Daytona wheels
Rear wheels & tires - Goodyear F1 Assymetric - 285/25/20 on 20x10 iForged

We did get a warm up lap to get the tires and brakes up to temperature before pushing them to their limits. And before you ask... YES the low profile tires on the 20's handled MUCH better than the stock size (and they had upgrade tires ~$600 for two).

Basically the Goodyears demolished the Falken's. By the end of the 20 minute run the Falken's had significant beading with the rubber getting so hot that the edge of the tread had melted and had portions of "dead rubber" hanging off. The Goodyear's on the other hand, were warm (but not hot) and had absolutly no beading or damage.

Now I know that the fronts had an 8.5 inch width only, so each inch was asked to do more (15% more), but on the flipside, the rears are the drive wheels, and were run with the traction control off. I was accelerating as hard as I could at every portion of the track. I think that more than balances out, anyone with a staggered setup can attest to how much faster you go through rears vs fronts.

Overall I know there are a lot of people out there purchasing the Falken 452 and similar series and they are definately a great value for the price. But when it comes down to it, the more expensive Goodyear F1 Assymetric are a much more advanced tire when it comes to dry traction and handling. Also on a side note, the Goodyears are amazing; sticky, very predictable break-away, and honestly I could have pushed them much harder, I was barely squeeling them.

I hope this helps anyone considering these tires. Let me know if you want any more details about either tire.

Merked E320