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[jimbobmccoy]

So, havin recently re-entered the omega fold, after some numpty ran a red light and wrote off my mg, I find myself in need of bringing the old girl back up to a good standard.

Among other things, one issue has been tyres.

On full inspection (in the cold light of day) I find that I have two winter tyres on my car, unfortunately, both are on the drivers side 
The front passengers has a bulge in the sidewall, and so I have decided four new boots all round may help the quite frankly scary handling.

I've plumped for four falken ze914 in 225/55/16 99w, which I'm sure someone will tell me is all wrong
However, they go on tomorrow,( tho I was tempted by costco's Michelin primacy 3 @ £126 +vat a wheel), at the bargain price of £94 a go, and I shall soon be letting you all know what I think of them.

Given some part (wishbone, drop link or both) are also shagged, it will be interesting to see how it affects things.

(And yes, I know I should get the suspension sorted first, but I can't countenance 70 mph on a motorway to work with a bulging tyre)

[feeutfo]

This is a rare occasion for justifying part worns IMO.

But needs must.

And, I wouldn't fit a Falken to a wheel barrow personally. Very bad experience with them re complete lack of straight line stability, made worse by elite suspension and a pressing on driving style to be fair. But they are inherently less stable than anything else I've encountered on any omega I've come across. Which is quite a few.

[ffcgary1]

your opening a can of worm here mate, do not put falkens on your car, they are ditchfinders, there is a tyre thread somewhere on here , have a look and make your choice, i know you have a bulge in the side wall and need to change it but you could always use the spare as a temp untill you sort proper tyres.
Also you need to sort your suspension issues first as you will ruin any tyres you put on if the geo is way out even if you only do a few hundred miles as the y will bed in to the car as it is now.
After the suspension is sorted get it to WIM in Chesham and get tony to full geo it then put new rubber on all four corners.
This is a very well discused topic and you will do well to head the advice here and with others comments as well.
Gary.

[Vamps]

So, havin recently re-entered the omega fold, after some numpty ran a red light and wrote off my mg, I find myself in need of bringing the old girl back up to a good standard.

Among other things, one issue has been tyres.

On full inspection (in the cold light of day) I find that I have two winter tyres on my car, unfortunately, both are on the drivers side 
The front passengers has a bulge in the sidewall, and so I have decided four new boots all round may help the quite frankly scary handling.

I've plumped for four falken ze914 in 225/55/16 99w, which I'm sure someone will tell me is all wrong
However, they go on tomorrow,( tho I was tempted by costco's Michelin primacy 3 @ £126 +vat a wheel), at the bargain price of £94 a go, and I shall soon be letting you all know what I think of them.

Given some part (wishbone, drop link or both) are also shagged, it will be interesting to see how it affects things.

(And yes, I know I should get the suspension sorted first, but I can't countenance 70 mph on a motorway to work with a bulging tyre)

And London, surly the 3 do not go together...........

[78bex]

i had a nasty blow out running part worns on a astra gls a few years ago.
Never again thank you very much.
i`m sure the tyre choice u make will be fine
I got a deal on firestones x4 for mine & the car feels safe in all weathers.
They`re wearing evenly, but the local roads where I live are piss poor & more suited to third world transport, Come to think of it i may well invest in an indian Llambretta come the summer.

[ffcgary1]

I think the mention of part worns was to tied him over untill the suspension work has been done, if you check part worns before you fit them then you should not have any issues, if the bod selling them to you wont let you inspect first then walk away and go to the next seller, there are plenty of them now.

[feeutfo]

i had a nasty blow out running part worns on a astra gls a few years ago.
Never again thank you very much.
i`m sure the tyre choice u make will be fine
I got a deal on firestones x4 for mine & the car feels safe in all weathers.
They`re wearing evenly, but the local roads where I live are piss poor & more suited to third world transport, Come to think of it i may well invest in an indian Llambretta come the summer.

I've had blow outs on new tyres. Or one of them anyway.

[jimbobmccoy]

So, its been nearly a week with the falken's on, and i have to say, im impressed.
Prior to fitting the cars handling was scary. general wandering, instability, and severe squirming in addition to movement under braking.
I would have to fight to keep the car in a straight line while braking even gently, and couldnt brake whilst turning.

I thought there were major suspension issues due to the cars handling.

Since fitting the car has felt like a different one entirely.
i have complete confidence in it, there is minimal, if no wandering, tramilining is more or less gone, and i can brake as i wish.

grip levels seem very good, as does road noise, or lack of.

while i read the recommended tyre thread, and have seen others thoughts on falkens, these are ones i would recommend.

Id be interested in someone else giving them a try to confirm or debunk my opinion.

There is still some clonking from the front, so i suspect wishbones, but on the whole im shocked at the difference tyres can make (having being skeptical of all the debate in other threads)

[doz]

Are the ZE914's a new design of Falkern tyre?

[jimbobmccoy]

I believe so.

I don't pretend to know enough about tyres to understand much, but they have a new compound, for grip and low rolling resistance, and a tread meant for wet grip. (So the marketing says)

Being an XL I assume it has stiffer sidewalks than a standard one......may explain the resistance to tram lining that others have reported on falkens??

[aaronjb]

Bring them along to this? http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/index.php?topic=112633 

[edit] And the car, and yourself, obviously..

[feeutfo]

New model...?
No experience of those. 912 452 and 451 yes, 914 no.

Thing with new tyres is;
1 make sure the car is sound re suspension and steering.
2 make sure the car is then set up correctly so the tyres wear evenly.
3 fit new tyres
4 don't fall into the trap of thinking the new tyres are much better than the old ones. The old ones being worn out with uneven tread caused by suspension faults. Ie, worn wishbone bushes, etc.

While the new tyres may well be much better than the old ones and the previous models, it's not a fair assessment until the full life of the tyre has been used.

Some tyres loose grip quickly, some, handling goes off quick, other the opposite and behave well through out, other drop off a cliff as far as grip goes etc etc.

I'll happily agree that Falkens are exceptionally quiet. All three models I had where brilliant in the regard. But I also spent years trying to get the damn car to go straight while they where all fitted, as I couldn't believe a tyre could be responsible for such bad handling.
 Guys here helped me fix the car. They lent me wheels shod with almost completely worn out Dunlops. Sport maxx gt, and sp9000. Instantly the car dealt planted, drove straight, and inspired confidence.
 The difference here was that the Dunlops where way more worn than the Falkens which still had half to 1/3 of the tread left.

Can only go by experience. But let's hope they fixed the problem with new model. But most of the more stable tyres on this car are quite noisy, so given the coral action between noise and stability on tyres I've encountered, I'm not hopeful, being honest.

Best of luck with them, but get the car faults fixed and set up or it will degrade the tyres and handling no matter what's fitted.

And yes, come along to the airfield do, if it happens, and see how they compare.

[dbug]

So, its been nearly a week with the falken's on, and i have to say, im impressed.
Prior to fitting the cars handling was scary. general wandering, instability, and severe squirming in addition to movement under braking.
I would have to fight to keep the car in a straight line while braking even gently, and couldnt brake whilst turning.

I thought there were major suspension issues due to the cars handling.

Since fitting the car has felt like a different one entirely.
i have complete confidence in it, there is minimal, if no wandering, tramilining is more or less gone, and i can brake as i wish.

grip levels seem very good, as does road noise, or lack of.

while i read the recommended tyre thread, and have seen others thoughts on falkens, these are ones i would recommend.

Id be interested in someone else giving them a try to confirm or debunk my opinion.

There is still some clonking from the front, so i suspect wishbones, but on the whole im shocked at the difference tyres can make (having being skeptical of all the debate in other threads)

Got a set of those on my Jag (replacing P6000s) - had them on for a while now & have to say well pleased, handling better than the Pirellis wet or dry, and performed ok in the snow.  No wandering or tramlining, exceptionally quiet and a lot cheaper than p6000s.  Hope you find the same on your Omega mate