Falken Azenis RS820, new premium sports tyre suitable for road and track

If I tell you about the Japanese company Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd, you probably don’t know it and it likely doesn’t ring any bell at all, but you will surely know Falken, its European subsidiary. This giant of the tyre industry ranks today as the world’s fifth-largest tyre manufacturer, with an output of more than 116 million tyres per year.

Falken has built a good reputation thanks to its range of tyres for everything from passenger cars and SUVs to light commercial vehicles, with a “footwear” for each one that fits perfectly. Now Falken is presenting for Europe its first tyre that it calls UUHP, or in other words Ultra-Ultra-High-Performance: the new Azenis RS820, designed for sports vehicles both for road use and track use.

The Falken Azenis RS820 is presented as a tyre for a responsive drive, meaning it will be able to convey feedback to the driver about how it is being used. It also offers a balanced grip in both dry and wet conditions and, equally important, its construction allows it to be used on the road and on the track, delivering driving pleasure, safety and durability in equal measure.

The new Falken Azenis RS820 is aimed at sports vehicles and, as such, it must also offer stability and precision of control. To achieve this it features a asymmetric tread pattern with four grooves, which not only provide better lateral grip in corners but also guarantee stable straight-line stability. In addition, the grooves are wide and deep, essential for good water drainage and for minimising the risk of aquaplaning, while not forgetting an improved shoulder design to allow greater contact and thus offer greater lateral stability.

Falken has also built a broad reputation in competition, and the manufacturer has drawn on that experience in developing the Azenis RS820, including the use of aramid, a synthetic fibre used in the reinforcements, whose configuration is hybrid. This gives a belt that achieves a uniform distribution of pressure, enabling more agile and safer driving, especially at high speed. Moreover, Falken’s engineers have made the new Azenis RS820 lighter than the tyre in its catalogue that most resembles it.

The Azenis RS820 will be available in 38 sizes ranging from 19 to 21 inches, with sections from 30 to 45 and speed rating Y. Falken expects 30 of the 38 sizes to enter production before the end of this year, with the rest following in 2024.