Audi has made the decision to utilise Falken’s ZIEX ZE310 ECORUN tyre as the factory-fitted option on its new A3 TFSI e hybrid.
The summer tyre has been highly praised by test bodies like Touring Club Switzerland, and the Austrian Automobile and Touring Club, as well as ARBÖ and ACE Lenkrad critics.
Awarding it a ‘Recommended’ rating, these groups – and presumably Audi too – praised the tire’s low rolling resistance, high load bearing potential, wet handling, short braking, performance driving, and excellent multi-surface traction abilities.
What’s more, in independent testing by Goodyear in 2020, the well-priced tyre beat a wide range of premium tyres, coming a very respectable third place.
New tyre technology
Falken’s ZIEX ZE310 ECORUN tyre has been so successful thanks to its new technology. The tyre comes with Adaptive Constant Pressure (ACP) technology that spreads out the car’s weight evenly across the contact zone. This also reduces the tyre’s speed of wear and boosts stability, improving safety in kind.
The four-groove design of the tyre also ensures that aqua-planing is optimised particularly effectively – one of the reasons behind the tyre’s excellent traction capabilities – and a new rubber compound helps improve mileage, engine efficiency, and ride.
For the A3, a down-to-earth executive model which has always been aimed squarely at drivers that want premium features and power within a reliable body, the Falken tyre is a fantastic fit. It’s easy to see why Audi chose it, particularly since in the e hybrid model, efficiency is even more intrinsic to the car’s unique selling points.
The rise of Falken
In an industry so dominated by big brands that have, in many cases, been producing car tyres for over a century, Falken’s rise has been incredibly rapid. Entering the market in 1983 as a brand of Sumitomo Rubber Industries, the brand produces tyres for all manner of vehicles, from sports cars to trucks.
Why has the brand been so successful? It’s mainly down to technology. The company is very keen on developing new tyre technologies to put them ahead of the competition, improving their production techniques and investing in new materials. This approach, and the results, have earned respect and plaudits from manufacturers, drivers, and importantly, the automotive press.
Falken tyres are a global name, too. Produced all around the world in North and South America, Europe, Asia and Africa, brand is active in countless high-growth markets including India, where the tyre industry is set to grow between 13-15% in 2022.
And thanks to plenty of sport partnerships, including with the Nürburgring, Liverpool FC and Red Bull Air Race, the company has no problems in getting their name out in front of customers.
Have you ever ridden Falken tyres? What was your experience of this younger tyre brand? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section.
