Falken ZE912 looks discontinued: no new owner reviews or road tests in five years and no current EU tyre label.
Relative Score (0–100): the weighted average of the categories below, each 60% road tests and 40% owner reviews. Based on 0 + 6 road tests and 200 + 1,663 owner reviews. How we score
Ecsta HS51 is ahead, 73–66
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Tests – · none yet Owners 64 · 200 reviews
“Quote: Originally Posted by BobDogNdaHouse I just ordered some 912's (215/45) so I will give a review in a few weeks. I got them for $76 ea, but have seen them for $68, cant beat the price Thats a great price!!! What store did you see 215/45/17 for $68?”
Tests 75 · 6 tests Owners 69 · 1,663 reviews
Best test result: #1 of 20 in 2021 Auto Bild 16 Inch Summer Tyre Test (wet handling)
Relative Score per category, 0–100. Open “Why this score” for the tests and owner ratings behind it.
| Source | ZE912 | Ecsta HS51 |
|---|---|---|
| Professional tests (TWG score) · – / 4 tests | ≈ 67 (est.) | 76 |
| Reviews found online | 65 | 71 |
ZE912: 60% × 66.6 (est.) + 40% × 65 = 66
Ecsta HS51: 60% × 76.4 + 40% × 70.5 = 74
No road tests of dry for ZE912. The test half is estimated from the owner ratings, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.40).
| Source | ZE912 | Ecsta HS51 |
|---|---|---|
| Professional tests (TWG score) · – / 4 tests | ≈ 68 (est.) | 79 |
| Reviews found online | 67 | 73 |
ZE912: 60% × 68.4 (est.) + 40% × 67.3 = 68
Ecsta HS51: 60% × 79 + 40% × 72.7 = 76
No road tests of wet for ZE912. The test half is estimated from the owner ratings, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.56).
| Source | ZE912 | Ecsta HS51 |
|---|---|---|
| Professional tests (TWG score) | ≈ 69 (est.) | ≈ 69 (est.) |
| Reviews found online | 66 | 69 |
ZE912: 60% × 68.6 (est.) + 40% × 66.3 = 68
Ecsta HS51: 60% × 69.1 (est.) + 40% × 69.1 = 69
No road tests of comfort for ZE912 or Ecsta HS51. The test half is the tested tires’ average (69): owners’ comfort ratings barely follow the road tests.
| Source | ZE912 | Ecsta HS51 |
|---|---|---|
| Professional tests (TWG score) · – / 2 tests | – | 65 |
| Reviews found online | – | ≈ 67 (est.) |
Ecsta HS51: 60% × 65.2 + 40% × 67.3 (est.) = 66
No owner ratings of noise for Ecsta HS51. The owner half is the owners’ average (67): owners’ noise ratings barely follow the road tests, so the tests say nothing about how owners would rate it.
| Source | ZE912 | Ecsta HS51 |
|---|---|---|
| Professional tests (TWG score) · – / 4 tests | ≈ 64 (est.) | 73 |
| Reviews found online | 60 | 65 |
ZE912: 60% × 64 (est.) + 40% × 60.4 = 63
Ecsta HS51: 60% × 72.7 + 40% × 64.9 = 70
No road tests of treadwear for ZE912. The test half is estimated from the owner ratings, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.31).
| Source | ZE912 | Ecsta HS51 |
|---|---|---|
| Reviews found online | 63 | 68 |
| Category | Falken ZE912 | Kumho Ecsta HS51 |
|---|---|---|
| Relative Score | 66 | 73 |
| Dry | 66 | 74 |
| Wet | 68 | 76 |
| Comfort | 68 | 69 |
| Noise | – | 66 |
| Treadwear | 63 | 70 |
| Handling (owners) | 63 | 68 |
Higher is better. The Relative Score follows your weights below; category scores do not change.
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.
Only one of the two tires has a score here, so this weight changes nothing in the head-to-head.
ZE912
Ecsta HS51
Only categories both tires have data for count toward the headline score.
Per discipline: the average % of the best tire over every test both tires were in, and how many of those tests each one won. “Different tests” rows compare results from separate tests.
| Discipline | Category | ZE912 | Ecsta HS51 | Δ | Head-to-head |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Also published by the testers (not in the score) | |||||
| Overall Ranking | Overall | #13/14 2011 European Summer Tyre Test - 195/65 R15 | #3/11 2021 Autonavigator Summer Tire Test R16 | – | Different tests |
Themes extracted from owner reviews found online — not the opinion of TireWheelGuide.
From Reddit, forums and review threads. Not part of our score
Community consensus on the Falken Ziex ZE912 highlights it as an affordable, comfortable, and relatively quiet all-season tire with decent dry and predictable wet traction. However, users frequently criticize its rapid treadwear, poor winter/snow grip, tendency to develop road noise over time, and softer sidewalls compared to dedicated performance summer tires.
“decent A/S tire, gets through the snow well, but not so good at corners in the snow with the large shoulder blocks.... but since the snow is only on the road for a couple days around here, they work great and I would rather have better dry traction for the 90% of the time when there is no snow. My only issue so far is they tramline when on grooved pavement because the tires have circumferential grooves”
“I just put a set of Falken ZE912's on my wife's CLK and found them to be a lot quieter and smoother than the previous tires that were on the car. They aren't as precise handling as the Michelin or Pirelli's that were on there before, but definately more comfortable.”
“Quote: Originally Posted by BobDogNdaHouse I just ordered some 912's (215/45) so I will give a review in a few weeks. I got them for $76 ea, but have seen them for $68, cant beat the price Thats a great price!!! What store did you see 215/45/17 for $68?”
Based on 50 community posts
We haven't collected enough community discussion about this tire yet.
| Attribute | A · Falken ZE912 | B · Kumho Ecsta HS51 |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Summer | Summer |
| Vehicle type | Passenger Car / Crossover | Passenger Car / Crossover |
| Sizes available | — | 27 |
| Rim diameters | — | 14″ – 18″ |
Falken ZE912
Kumho Ecsta HS51
Winner: Kumho Ecsta HS51 — better dry, wet and treadwear. It leads or ties in every category we score.
Kumho Ecsta HS51 scores 74 vs 66 on dry.
Kumho Ecsta HS51 scores 76 vs 68 on wet.
Kumho Ecsta HS51 scores 70 vs 63 on treadwear.
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Kumho Ecsta HS51, 76 vs 68 on our wet score.
Kumho Ecsta HS51, 74 vs 66 on our dry score.
Neither, by our numbers: 68 vs 69 on the comfort score, within 3 points.
Kumho Ecsta HS51, 70 vs 63 on our treadwear score.
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
