The Falken Ziex CT60 A/S is an all-season touring tire with notable features like high fuel efficiency, a 65,000-mile treadwear warranty, long tread life, precise handling and high comfort levels. It’s available in a broad range of sizes that can fit passenger vehicles as well as SUVs.
The CT60 A/S features Falken’s unique 4D Nano Design technology that optimizes the tread compound with a special biomass material. It helps with heat management that builds up on the contact patch due to friction, and also improves the tread’s all-weather flexibility. The Nano Design tech reduces the tire’s rolling resistance, which not only eases the driving pressure off the tire but also improves fuel efficiency.
In this review, we’ll take an in-depth look at the tire’s performance in different conditions. Let’s get into it.
On-Road Performance
The Falken Ziex CT60 A/S maintains desirable levels of stability and traction on dry roads. The asymmetric tread pattern helps with the tire’s controllability while the three center ribs keep it grounded at all times. As a result, you get responsive and precise steering and uncompromised stability at high speeds.
Its shoulder tread blocks also play a significant role in improving the tire’s maneuverability and cornering grip. These blocks increase the number of biting edges on the tire that also help in light snow since it’s an all-season tire.
Wet Performance
The Falken Ziex CT60 A/S has a silica-based all-season compound that improves its road grip in wet conditions. The tread design has sufficient solutions to deal with hydroplaning risks in the rain, such as the wide circumferential grooves that disperse slush and water out to keep the tire’s footprint as clean as possible.
The most noticeable factor about the Ziex CT60’s wet performance is its braking distance! According to a YouTube video on Falken’s official YouTube channel, their wet braking tests showed that this tire stops 21 feet shorter than the Hankook Dynapro HP2, 5 feet shorter than the Continental CrossContact LX20, and only 1 foot longer than the Michelin Premier LTX! Those are mind-blowing wet braking metrics for a tire of this price.
Snow Performance
The Falken Ziex CT60 A/S performs well in the snow as well, staying true to its “all-season” tag. The four most notable features of the tire that enhance its snow performance are:
- A sufficiently pliable silica-based tread compound
- 3D canyon sipes
- Wide circumferential grooves
- Biting edges
These three aspects of the tire team up to provide decent levels of traction in the winter. However, it’s not a surprise that the Falken Ziex CT60 A/S doesn’t come close to a dedicated winter tire in extremely cold weather. The tire is good enough to handle light snow with ease, but it wouldn’t be a safe choice for icy roads and thick snow-layered roads.
Off-Road Capabilities
Being a touring tire, the off-road world isn’t home to the Falken Ziex CT60 A/S. Even though some sizes of this tire can fit SUVs and crossover vehicles, you shouldn’t take it off-roading. Any tire that’s designed for optimized on-road performance generally disappoints when it comes to off-road terrain, and that’s also the case with the CT60. Not only will you lack traction on hardpacked surfaces, but the pliable tread compound of the tire will quickly take a nasty beating from rough off-road patches. If you’re into serious off-roading, you shouldn’t be looking at any touring tire for your SUV, let alone the Falken Ziex CT60 A/S.
Ride Comfort
This is where the Falken Ziex CT60 A/S shines. It does a good job at ironing out bumps and maintaining a plush ride whether you drive on smooth pavement or slightly imperfect roads. The tire doesn’t feel bouncy or jerky at any point, which is exactly what you’d want from a touring tire. Even at highway speeds, you won’t feel any obtrusive vibrations in the cabin.
With that said, going fast on broken roads won’t be as fun of an experience, but that can also be said about any touring tire out there. The tire also mutes tread growl pretty well, and you shouldn’t be able to hear much road noise if your vehicle has decent sound insulation.
Conclusion
If you’re in the market for an all-season passenger touring tire for your car or SUV, the Falken Ziex CT60 A/S is a great choice. We’re honestly surprised by its braking performance in the wet and how comfortable and quiet its ride is. For a budget-friendly tire, Falken seems to have done a great job at making the CT60 a well-rounded package.
Unless you’re looking for any serious off-roading performance in your new tires, or get brutal winters where you live, you can’t go wrong with the Falken Ziex CT60 A/S.