The Falken tyre brand, a subsidiary of Sumitomo Rubber Industries, launched in its native country of Japan in 1983. From its inception, Falken was created to be a leader in the high performance tyre market. Falken continues to focus on UHP (Ultra High Performance) products and utilises professional motorsport racing to further develop and improve its tyre range around the world. 

• Falken produce tyres that are not only high-performance, but also energy-saving
• Falken manufacture and market products that meet the requirements of todays demanding drivers
• Falken constantly apply flexibility to develop and improve their range of tyres
• Falken protect the environment to the greatest possible extent
   

Falken's constant development means that the Falken tyre you choose has been designed and engineered to offer the highest standards in performance, safety, grip, handling and ride comfort, allowing you to concentrate on the fun part - the driving !

Tyre Pressures
Probably the most important thing to check regularly, making sure they are the same as the manufacturers recommendations.

An under inflated tyre can overheat, wear out the shoulders of the tread quickly, puncture easily and give a poor handling car, with slow and heavy steering. An over inflated tyre wears the tread centre faster, can overheat and makes the steering feel light and vague, again giving a poor handling car.

Tyre pressures should be checked when cold and kept to the recommended pressures. We have a large range of tyre pressure gauges, compressors and a tyre pressure monitoring system, so there's no excuse for not checking them regularly ! The most cost effective way to start improving your cars handling.

Speed Rating
All tyres carry a speed symbol in the form of a letter indicating the maximum speed for which the tyre is intended. Below is a speed rating table that shows the maximum speed a tyre is tested to and its corresponding Speed Symbol. These are tested speeds, not recommended speeds. It should be noted that speed ratings only apply to tyres that have not been damaged, altered, under-inflated or overloaded. Most tyre manufacturers state that if the tyre has been cut, punctured or has sustained other damage then it no longer retains the tyre manufacturer's original speed rating, even after being repaired.

When purchasing tyres you should only consider a tyre that has at least the same speed rating, or higher, and never replace with a tyre of a lower speed rating, even if you drive at low speeds. There are other factors other than just speed that determine these ratings, so changing to an inferior rated tyre could prove to be dangerous and a risk to safety. However, it is ok to fit tyres with a higher speed rating than recommended. Do not mix tyres with different speed ratings - if replacing in pairs then the new tyres should be the same rating as the tyres fitted on the car.

On a 195/50 R15 89H tyre, the Speed Rating is H and using the table below shows that it has a Speed Rating of up to 130mph.

Load Index
The tyre Load Index is the number after the tyre size, written before the speed rating, and is a numerical value used to compare relative load carrying capabilities.

On a 195/50 R15 89H tyre, it is the 89 number in the description, and using the table below shows that the tyre has an ability to carry 580kg's at the tested speed rating figure.

The higher the tyre's load index number, the greater load capacity it has. Tyres should only be replaced with a Load Index of the same or above that recommended and fitted originally.

The load indexes of the tyres used on road cars and other vehicles typically range from 70 to 110.
 

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