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Falken FK451 looks discontinued: no new owner reviews or road tests in five years and no current EU tyre label.

Head-to-head Updated

Continental PureContact LS vs Falken FK451 — Compared

Relative Score (0–100): the weighted average of the categories below, each 60% road tests and 40% owner reviews. Based on 0 + 0 road tests and 25 + 10 owner reviews. How we score

PureContact LS leads, 71–68 Narrow edge

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Falken FK451
Tire BFalken

FK451

Summer

Provisional

Tests – · none yet Owners 67 · 10 reviews

Category by category

Relative Score per category, 0–100. Open “Why this score” for the tests and owner ratings behind it.

  1. 71

    Dry

    PureContact LS +5
    66
    Why this score
    SourcePureContact LSFK451
    Professional tests (TWG score)≈ 70 (est.)≈ 67 (est.)
    Reviews found online7365

    PureContact LS: 60% × 69.6 (est.) + 40% × 72.5 = 71

    FK451: 60% × 66.6 (est.) + 40% × 64.9 = 66

    No road tests of dry for PureContact LS. The test half is estimated from the owner ratings, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.40).

    No road tests of dry for FK451. The test half is estimated from the owner ratings, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.40).

  2. 73

    Wet

    PureContact LS +3
    70
    Why this score
    SourcePureContact LSFK451
    Professional tests (TWG score)≈ 72 (est.)≈ 70 (est.)
    Reviews found online7470

    PureContact LS: 60% × 72.3 (est.) + 40% × 74.2 = 73

    FK451: 60% × 70 (est.) + 40% × 70.2 = 70

    No road tests of wet for PureContact LS. The test half is estimated from the owner ratings, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.56).

    No road tests of wet for FK451. The test half is estimated from the owner ratings, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.56).

  3. 67

    Snow

    No comparison
    –
    Why this score
    SourcePureContact LSFK451
    Professional tests (TWG score)≈ 68 (est.)–
    Reviews found online64–

    PureContact LS: 60% × 68.1 (est.) + 40% × 64.4 = 67

    No road tests of snow for PureContact LS. The test half is estimated from the owner ratings, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.33).

  4. 65

    Comfort

    FK451 +3
    68
    Why this score
    SourcePureContact LSFK451
    Professional tests (TWG score)≈ 68 (est.)≈ 69 (est.)
    Reviews found online6167

    PureContact LS: 60% × 67.8 (est.) + 40% × 61.4 = 65

    FK451: 60% × 68.8 (est.) + 40% × 67.4 = 68

    No road tests of comfort for PureContact LS or FK451. The test half is the tested tires’ average (69): owners’ comfort ratings barely follow the road tests.

  5. 70

    Noise

    No comparison
    –
    Why this score
    SourcePureContact LSFK451
    Professional tests (TWG score)≈ 67 (est.)–
    Reviews found online73–

    PureContact LS: 60% × 67.3 (est.) + 40% × 73.3 = 70

    No road tests of noise for PureContact LS. The test half is the tested tires’ average (67): owners’ noise ratings barely follow the road tests.

  6. 68

    Treadwear

    PureContact LS +1
    67
    Why this score
    SourcePureContact LSFK451
    Professional tests (TWG score)≈ 67 (est.)≈ 66 (est.)
    Reviews found online6968

    PureContact LS: 60% × 66.7 (est.) + 40% × 69.1 = 68

    FK451: 60% × 66.2 (est.) + 40% × 67.5 = 67

    No road tests of treadwear for PureContact LS. The test half is estimated from the owner ratings, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.31).

    No road tests of treadwear for FK451. The test half is estimated from the owner ratings, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.31).

  7. 73

    Handling (owners)

    PureContact LS +8
    65
    Why this score
    SourcePureContact LSFK451
    Reviews found online7365
Scores at a glance
CategoryContinental PureContact LSFalken FK451
Relative Score 71 68
Dry 71 66
Wet 73 70
Snow 67 –
Comfort 65 68
Noise 70 –
Treadwear 68 67
Handling (owners) 73 65

Higher is better. The Relative Score follows your weights below; category scores do not change.

Weight the categories that matter to you

Wet grip starts at “Important”. Treadwear starts at “Neutral” here: road tests measured it for at most one of the two tires, so it rests on owner reviews. Move the sliders and the scores update instantly.

Important
NotLessNeutralImportantMost
Important
NotLessNeutralImportantMost
Neutral
NotLessNeutralImportantMost

Only one of the two tires has a score here, so this weight changes nothing in the head-to-head.

Less important
NotLessNeutralImportantMost
Less important
NotLessNeutralImportantMost

Only one of the two tires has a score here, so this weight changes nothing in the head-to-head.

Neutral
NotLessNeutralImportantMost
Less important
NotLessNeutralImportantMost
Recomputed
Headline score

PureContact LS

FK451

Only categories both tires have data for count toward the headline score.

Pros, cons & observations

Themes extracted from owner reviews found online — not the opinion of TireWheelGuide.

Tire A PureContact LS

Pros

  • Exceptionally quiet and comfortable ride quality
  • Strong wet and dry traction with reliable handling
  • Good balance of everyday comfort and long treadlife

Cons

  • Soft sidewalls can lead to less responsive or wandering handling during aggressive cornering
  • Develops temporary flat spotting when parked, causing morning vibrations
  • Poor winter performance, particularly lacking traction on snow and ice despite being an all-season tire
All owner themes in the PureContact LS review

Tire B FK451

Pros

  • Exceptional price-to-performance ratio
  • Strong wet and dry traction
  • Excellent tread life and durability

Cons

  • Potential for rubber cracking between treads over long-term storage or extended age
  • Some users report a slightly less 'alive' or communicative steering feel compared to premium performance tires
  • Availability concerns as it is an older model often superseded by newer iterations
All owner themes in the FK451 review

Specs side by side

Attribute A · Continental PureContact LS B · Falken FK451
CategoryAll SeasonSummer
Vehicle typePassenger Car / CrossoverPassenger Car / Crossover
Tread depth10/32″—
UTQG700 A A—
Treadwear warranty70,000 mi—
SidewallBlack Side Wall—
Max pressure51 psi—

Which one should you actually buy?

Continental PureContact LS

Falken FK451

Narrow edge: Continental PureContact LS — better handling, dry and wet. Pick the Falken FK451 if comfort matters most to you. Falken FK451 rests on little evidence so far (0 tests, 10 reviews), so read this result as provisional.

Pick tire A You enjoy sharp, responsive handling

Continental PureContact LS scores 73 vs 65 on handling.

Pick tire A You want the most grip on dry roads

Continental PureContact LS scores 71 vs 66 on dry.

Pick tire A Your priority is wet-weather safety

Continental PureContact LS scores 73 vs 70 on wet.

Pick tire B You want the most comfortable ride

Falken FK451 scores 68 vs 65 on comfort.

Tire A · Continental PureContact LS
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Tire B · Falken FK451
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PureContact LS or FK451?

Which is better in the wet, PureContact LS or FK451?

Continental PureContact LS, 73 vs 70 on our wet score.

Which grips better on dry roads, PureContact LS or FK451?

Continental PureContact LS, 71 vs 66 on our dry score.

Which is more comfortable, PureContact LS or FK451?

Falken FK451, 68 vs 65 on our comfort score.

Which lasts longer, PureContact LS or FK451?

Neither, by our numbers: 68 vs 67 on the treadwear score, within 3 points.

How do we compare tires?

Every category score blends two independent signals. 60% comes from professional tire tests (braking distances, lap times, noise measurements), each result compared with every other tire in the same test and newer tests counting more. 40% comes from owner reviews found online, adjusted for how generously each site rates. Both use one scale: the average tested tire gets 70, the best 100. When a tire has only one of the two, the missing half is estimated from the other and the score stays closer to average; with no road test and fewer than five owner reviews it gets no score yet.

Handling is the exception: road tests measure it inside the dry and wet scores, so its own row comes from owner ratings only and starts as less important.

Community buzz from Reddit and forums is shown for context only — it never changes the score. Full methodology