Falken tires vs Michelin: Falken is a Japanese tire company that was founded in 1983 & it is fully owned by Sumitomo Rubber Industry. It was ranked the 5th largest tire manufacturer in 2021 with a total revenue of close to €6 billion Euros. It holds brands such as Falken, Dunlop (Japan only) which spread ahead its product portfolio. Sumitomo is a unique manufacturer as its other subsidiary brands outshine its own brand.
Some popular tire lines from Falken include the Ziex, Wildpeak, and Azenis. The Ziex line is designed for high performance and offers a variety of tire options for passenger cars and SUVs. The Wildpeak line is designed for off-road driving and features tire options with aggressive tread patterns and durable construction. The Azenis line is a high-performance tire option for sports cars and other performance vehicles. In addition to these lines, Falken also offers a range of tire options for winter driving, as well as specialty tires for commercial and industrial applications
Michelin on the other hand is the highest revenue tire manufacturer with over €23.7 billion in tire sales. Michelin is currently the de-facto technology leader as they have showcased over the years with multiple award winning products while Falken has been consistently been a mid tier tire product focusing on value at a lower price point. Instead of having a general outlook of comparison, we will stack Falken tires vs Michelin same segment products and compare them head to head.
Table of Contents
Evaluation Methodology
The right way to compare tires is of course to test them 1 v 1. However it is not always possible to do so due to a high volume of different tires out there in the market and the restriction of the number of tire sets you can do in one go. Instead of having a traditional head to head test results comparison, we will utilize Tire Rack’s tire rating charts to rank Falken tires vs Michelin. As some of the tires are relatively new, not all segmentation will have the tire rating comparison.
Segmentation: Falken tires vs Michelin
Max Performance Summer
- Azenis RT660 vs Pilot Sport Cup 2 Connect (240)
The Azenis RT660 and the Pilot Sport Cup 2 Connect (240) are both high-performance tires designed for use on sports cars and other high-performance vehicles. They are both ultra-high performance summer tires, meaning they are designed for use in warm weather conditions and are not suitable for use in cold or wet weather.
The Azenis RT660 is a max performance summer tire designed for use on track with semi slick segmentation. It is known for its impressive dry and wet traction, as well as its handling and stability at high speeds. The RT660 also has a directional tread pattern which helps to improve grip and stability in both dry and wet conditions.
The Pilot Sport Cup 2 Connect (240) is a track-focused tire designed for use on high-performance vehicles. It is known for its extreme grip and handling capabilities, as well as its ability to withstand the high temperatures and stresses of track driving. The Pilot Sport Cup 2 Connect (240) features a directional tread pattern and an asymmetrical tread design, which helps to improve grip and stability on the track.
When comparing them head to head, nothing beats the excellent grip provided by Pilot Sport Cup 2 Connect (240) but it does come with a very high price tag. An alternative compromise version would be Falken’s Azenis RT660 which has a lower price point but reasonable on track grip levels.
Ultra High Performance All-Season
- Azenis FK460 A/S vs Pilot Sport All Season 4
The Azenis FK460 A/S and the Pilot Sport All Season 4 are both high-performance all-season tires designed for use on sports cars and other high-performance vehicles.
The FK460 A/S features a Advanced Nano 4D compound molded into an asymmetric tread design featuring large, high-grip chamfered tread blocks, engineered to deliver competent dry grip and heightened cornering capability at higher speeds. Full-depth emerging grooves enhance wet traction when new and expand as the tire wears for improved wet weather performance throughout the life of the tire. Transverse notches provide biting edges for enhanced all-season traction and combine functionally with interlocking sipes on the inboard section for reliable traction in slush and light snow.
The Pilot Sport All Season 4 is also a high-performance all-season tire designed for use on sports cars and high-performance vehicles. It is known for its impressive dry and wet traction, as well as its handling and stability at high speeds. The Sport All Season 4 features an asymmetrical tread design, which helps to improve grip and stability in both dry and wet conditions. It also has a tread compound that is formulated to provide good grip and tread life in a wide range of temperatures.
When comparing both products head to head, the Pilot Sport All Season 4 is clearly the far superior tire with many close fought battles against its top rivals such as Extreme Contact DWS06 plus, Bridgestone Potenza RE980AS+ & Goodyear Eagle Exhilarate. However the FK460 A/S has a lower price point with a quality/budget focus in mind.
Grand Touring All-Season
- Falken Sincera SN250A A/S vs Michelin CrossClimate2
Michelin once again shows its innovation by revolutionizing the all season segment with its highly successful 3 peak mountain certified Cross Climate in 2015. At that time, all season markets were predominantly sold in America with poor winter performances. Cross Climate showed that it is possible to be marginally worse in summer performances while being extremely dominant in winter performances. After the initial success of Cross Climate, every tire manufacturer scramble to launch their own similar segment products but none are still as well balanced as the latest Cross Climate 2 !
In comparison with Falken’s Sincera SN250A A/S, Cross Climate 2 top the charts with an average score of 9/10 while beating Majesty Solus in all performance categories. Clearly, Sincera SN250A A/S is playing second fiddle to the mighty all season innovator.
| Average | Wet | Dry | Winter /Snow | Comfort | Treadwear | |
| Falken Sincera SN250A A/S | 2.8 | 6.7 | 7.5 | 5.2 | 6.8 | 5.3 |
| Michelin CrossClimate2 | 9 | 9.4 | 9.4 | 8.9 | 8.9 | 9.1 |
Crossover/SUV Touring All-Season
- Falken ZIEX ZE001 A/S vs Michelin CrossClimate SUV
Any tire manufacturer would know that the largest portion of vehicle types in America belongs to the SUV segment. Hence with a hot battleground of SUV tires, Michelin’s Cross Climate SUV stands strong among the competition with outstanding wet & dry performances. ZIEX ZE001 A/S on the other hand finished in the bottom half with a total average score of 3.3/10 while being worse in all other testing categories. Based on the results, Michelin CrossClimate SUV is definitely the winner of this duo !
| Average | Wet | Dry | Winter /Snow | Comfort | Treadwear | |
| Falken ZIEX ZE001 A/S | 3.3 | 6.6 | 7.6 | 4.7 | 7.5 | 6.3 |
| Michelin CrossClimate SUV | 8.6 | 9.4 | 9.5 | 8.7 | 8.8 | 8.6 |
On-/Off-Road All-Terrain
- Falken WildPeak A/T Trail vs Michelin LTX A/T 2
If there is one segment which demonstrates Michelin’s weakness it would be the off-road segment. As Michelin uses the BFGoodrich brand to lead its product portfolio in the off-road segment, it usually leaves its products untouched for many years. Michelin’s LTX A/T 2 was released in 2007 and it is still being sold in the market! While Falken’s WildPeak A/T Trail was launched in 2019 which is relatively new.
While Michelin might be the best ranked tire in all season & summer, when it comes to all terrain tires Falken is one of the leading products out there. With a massive 9/10 score in off-road while consistently scoring 9 points above all other categories (except for comfort), WildPeak A/T Trail scored the highest average score of 9.3/10 to top the all terrain category rating charts.
| Average | Off-Road | Wet | Dry | Winter /Snow | Comfort | Treadwear | |
| Falken WildPeak A/T Trail | 9.3 | 9.0 | 9.1 | 9.1 | 9.0 | 8.8 | 9.0 |
| Michelin LTX A/T 2 | 7.5 | 7.6 | 8.6 | 8.8 | 7.7 | 8.6 | 8.4 |
Summary
Overall, Michelin is clearly the far superior tire manufacturer compared to Falken tires with outstanding products such as Pilot Sport 4S and Cross Climate 2 leading the way. However when it comes to the all terrain segment, Falken showed its strength by having a top notch WildPeak A/T Trail product. Nonetheless, Michelin has proved its worth against Falken on most occasions.