- [Announcer] All over James Dean's car.
He is actually side by side,
front wheel to front wheel
he's pushing Dean around the track
and the transition is insane!
The transition doesn't even make sense.
How did he get away with that?
- [Host] Some of the OG movies are coming back,
but, you know instead of being an underwhelming mess,
like The Matrix, I'm not angry about it
I'm just a little disappointed.
You're getting an actual classic back
the History of series
which if you remember back then,
we probably spent more time
on cover photos than actual sleep.
And they were great and painful times.
But as we look back to some of the classics
we take reference to the people
and the companies and the,
"oh yeah, I forgot about that moment".
When it relates to wheels, tires, and suspension
there are things out there that we need
another history lesson on.
Tires specifically have a unique history
because there was a brand that used to dominate the market
before it seemed to go away for a little bit
and now it seems to be back.
That was my best. You get it.
I'm Alex, alex.fi on Instagram
and today we're gonna be walking through
the history, the fun facts
the Easter eggs of one our newest brands
it's definitely gonna explode in 2022
just like it did back in the day
we're talking about the History of Falken tires.
(rock music)
- Don't forget to Subscribe and let me know
what you think is the most underrated tire
you've ever ran, and why.
I remember running FK 4 52's on my 3000 GT.
And they were pretty decent
until the local tire shop mounted them the wrong way
which just saying, you can skip all that
and get wheels and tires, mount to balance
shipped for free at custom offsets.
Get your wheels and tires
mount to balance and shipped for free!
if you pick 'em up from fitmentindustries.com
holy (beep), I can't believe I did that.
I'm serious.
You get stuff in stock in less than 10 days.
Falken tire is the hip kid from the eighties,
1983 to be exact and was built with the sole goal
to be the flagship high performance tire brand
underneath Ohtsu Rubber and Tire, which was and is
a brand that was underneath Sumitomo Rubber Industries.
Now Sumitomo has been around for around 113 years.
It can be traced all the way back
to when they made an investment
in Dunlop Japan a very long time ago.
Now, if y'all remember Dunlop,
some people do, they really over just in
the racing scene now.
But over time Sumitomo gained controlling interest
in Dunlop Japan and renamed it to
Sumitomo Rubber Industries,
and why this is interesting,
and why you need to know is because a lot
of people have a tendency to forget
just how much history the tire industry actually has.
And it's those historical moments that are made some
of the tires that you know and love for now
and why they're so decent even though
they may not have a very long run length.
Plus they've been around for nearly a century.
Falken has only been around for four decades
and that's why these new brands
like Falken could pop up so fast
and have a really good tire, right outta the gate
even though it didn't have a very long history.
Falken tire was their answer to the ever increasing demand
of Motorsport based tire production that was needed
in Japan, America, and Europe.
And it could be seen pretty much everywhere.
I mean, if you actually look
at the evolution of racing, taking place, there were more
and more steps towards the extreme like group rally.
You had endurance racing, hill climbs.
You had desert racing because they just wanted a race
in the desert and popularization of competitive drifting
meant that there was a consumer base
that could be tapped into if there was somebody
willing to make a tire.
And if they were talked to the right way,
because quite honestly there was a lot of marketing
back then and it was all kind of trash.
While most companies were getting like the reins
underneath them in terms of international competition,
specifically in the automotive industry,
and growing demand with passenger vehicles
Falken went to the home grown market strategy
of building a tire, racing on it, winning with it
and then repeating it into new market segments over
and over and over a new locations.
So by winning races, first and foremost,
immediately began to lock in Falken as an enthusiast tire.
Falken had enough juice to start Falken Motorsports
and began the US distribution
into Glendale California in 1985.
Now people began to take notice of Falken because
while they were racing, they were never really
trying to make a ton of different tires and sizes.
If anything, they were just building
and developing tires as they needed to
and when the enthusiasts really asked for them
that was kind of their MO.
That's why their tires did really good
right out of the gate.
And because of the longer history with Sumi
and all those guys behind them,
they were able to quickly launch products as they grew
in popularity, both stateside and around the world.
International business speeds up everything.
Because the price was just right
and the quality was strong,
it allowed Falken to see continued success in racing.
The boys and girls in the marketing division
then put on the big fancy cones,
and in 1988 I gotta say it Falken introduced
the best livery kit color combination
to ever hit this beautiful green earth.
It's like better than anything you could possibly imagine.
The martini livery, cool, not great.
The Falken with the minty green and blue though
is a whole (beep) mood, bud.
And if you don't like it, get out, all right.
The staggered stripes that had everything
the photographs, it's beautiful
it was a God damn perfection!
If you don't like the Falken livery we can't be friends.
The livery kit would debut in 1988
when team Falken would win
the Mirage cup International Series
and would cement their colorway into what we know
and love today.
In fact, almost all of their cars that they run on
race with that colorway, they always have.
They always will.
It should never go away.
And if they change it, I'm gonna be very sad.
Falken with bolt on the legends, like the Nissan R32
on their endurance rally winning it.
They jump into rallying racing
with like rally day portrait gold.
They jump full force into endurance rally racing
like the Kenya endurance.
But most importantly, they would dominate
they'd win the N1 series with their BNR 32
and their home grown Focus there in Japan.
So while Falken was just about everywhere
in the motor sports world,
they saw the greatest success in tuner motor sports,
and inevitably that transplant of heritage
and fun into drifting onto the us stage in 2003.
Where Falken would take to Irwindale
with their sponsored cars, teams and drivers.
Now didn't have the green and blue livery kit.
This is for most of us though
as the late twenties would call it No Falken4.
You remember it as the drift team.
I remember as like the dream livery I wanted when I was 16
and Falken was a cool kid on the block at the time,
and we're not even kidding.
They were the California kid that moved to Wisconsin
and everyone was wondering why they wore
board shorts to school.
That kind of cool.
And it took off!
Falken would win their first officially
sanctioned formula drift event in 2005
with Kelvin Wan in his G 35, which locked in the brand
which is what it wanted to be known for.
An enthusiast brand that performed
without the massive price tag.
And shortly after Falken would begin to get
the consumer ratings that also needed
to actually make money.
With like the 9 12 tire becoming the number one top pick.
Listen I love drifting too but these companies
really don't make any sort of money
on the marketing elements of the drifting.
It's actually a huge money waster.
But when it comes to shredding tires,
there really is no model marketing budget
that will see a direct ROI.
And they do however, make tons of money
from like 18 year olds that at the time thought
that Falken's on a 3000 GTSL would make it a drift car.
Don't at me, we've all been there.
That was me.
Falken would continue to dominate, right.
Bringing in the names like Vaughn Gittin Jr
with their next Formula Drift Championship in 2010.
And after nearly two decades
they also introduced an AT truck tire
around the same time due to their off road success.
Not that we really care on the fitment side
but now Trey has something to talk about.
In 2011 Daijiro Yoshihara actually ended up
winning the 2011 Drift Championship.
And then there was two more GT class wins
in the best livery kit known to man!
It is the number one.
If there was something on my grave
I hope it's green and blue because it's the best thing ever.
I mean, look at the Porsche.
Look at you got a green screen, use it, look at the Porsche.
That's what I wanted, okay.
That's pretty much all I wanted in my life.
Her sister was a witch Kyle
and this is the livery kit that I want.
As Falken's Motorsport, heritage stabilized,
they began seeing more and more opportunity
in off roading taking on things like
King of the Hammers and more,
which is another big ass event.
They're always involved in off road rally
but the consumer growth in that market didn't exist as much
until the past two decades or so here in the states.
Now Falken makes really good off road stuff too
but we want the on road stuff.
We want the other stuff.
But right around from 2012 to 2020
Falken's name in the Motorsport's industry
started to not get talked about as much.
Still they made great tires
they still have a strong brand,
but with the introduction of so many competitors,
Falken really started to hit some
like headwinds in keeping that space
and their shift towards a new market strategy
which didn't really seem to involve social media
which is when social media was getting super, super popular.
In all honesty, I still remember Falken
from the olden days, but Falken becoming
the official tire for like the MLB
was like the weirdest thing
I had ever heard of.
It was a thing. This is a fact!
Falken went to the MLB.
They even did some marketing where they
released a whole line of tires using
like a Tops Trading card market strategy thing.
You can look it up, it's online, do what you want with that.
I have Tops Trading cards from 1962,
in case you're interested.
But the awkwardness didn't last long
because they started making tires
in Buffalo New York in 2016.
They'd come back for another FD win
in 2017 by James Dean.
King and the Hammers win in 2018
and another podium sweep for FD that same year.
So they were still kicking ass
It just didn't seem like people
were talking about 'em as much.
So who are the Falken tires actually made for?
Now Falken was a brainchild of the Sumi company
which we've told you in the past,
and it's what allowed Falken to do things quickly
with some risk attached
and still be relatively successful.
Their market strategy with Motorsports
and the quick injection into the United States
is 110% why they started on a strong foot in the eighties
but what kept them moving and honestly
is the best thing about 'em is their product development.
While they were a little like brand
with only four years of history
they still had the same 110 year old giant
behind them that applied all their tech,
mold processes and lean flow to keep
the tire production costs low.
And as a result, the price of the actual tire
affordable and really good as well.
And as Falken grew so did its normal UHP tires
that could go on daily drivers.
They were successful in drifting and racing.
So we got UHP tires.
They were successful in off road and over landing
so they developed the Wild Peak
and other tire lines to compliment them.
Falken tire was and is a marketing powerhouse.
It's like what they're known for,
if you're in this industry
they're known as a marketing powerhouse
and they have a massive production facility behind it.
Their ability to pair up the right talent
with a properly made tire is what's made Falken,
Falken for so long.
Because Falken has never had to lie
about being a proper tire,
their marketing never had to feel fake
and their tires did really well.
And people loved it.
The Azenis FK 510 is still one of my favorite tires.
It's got a perfect five star review
on our website and walks through why they do so well.
Things like developing their own like 4D nano
design to help the tires stick
in conditions when they're dry and grip when they need it
and grip even better when things are moist, okay.
It's important.
The tension control technology is a flex compound
and assembly process that they use that allows proper flex
without sacrificing any potential roll
when you don't want it.
There's wide shoulder blocks for keeping you planted
at high speeds and a well developed
side and channel design that does
an excellent job at recycling
not recycling evacuating water without losing grip.
There's the nerd stuff for you.
And you get all of this at a kick as price to boot
which is why Falken sits in such a strong place in our eyes.
Especially as prices like across the world
just seem to continue to go up.
Now, don't get me wrong.
There's a lot of tire options out there.
And when you're looking at the price
of a Falken versus others in that mid 800 range
for something like that, FK 510 in the 18 inch size.
You gotta remember all the extra technology
you're getting in these tires
and the name brand that supports it.
Now, even the all always make fun of like
their MLB collaboration, top trading cards
don't trade worth a shit anymore.
I'm still convinced that Falken can and will be
a strong name for Motorsports activity,
as long as they stay vocal in the next generation
of social media and activities.
Like TikTok but we need new green and blue livery's, okay?
That's all I gotta say about the situation.
And hey, if you're looking for Falken tires
be sure to check 'em out over at fitmentindustries.com
and you can package your wheels with them
if you're interested in doing so
we've got 'em in stock and it'll save you a trip
to the tire shop before the show season starts
which is coming up much sooner
than you could possibly ever imagine.
Let us know what you want us
to bring back in the next episode of the History of.
I'm Alex from Fitment Industries
and we will see you later.
Peace.
(rock music)