I have some driving time on the FK453's now, and in the warmer weather.
Very happy.
(Note: All of this was with Stabi and traction control full off)
The max dry grip isn't quite as good as the Nitto NT05's, of course, but it's impressively closer than I thought it'd be, and they don't seem to need warming up as much as the NT05's to expose their full potential. Going beyond the traction limit is progressive, not snappy. As with most street tires, they start to sing a little when the limits are near so you know when to expect it if you wouldn't otherwise. The NT05's were virtually silent in that regard because of the huge tread blocks.
Steering response is great, worlds better than the tall-sidewall 18's, but it's noticeable that the stock steering and suspension are holding back these tires in terms of steering feel so I can't get a 'really' good handle on how good they are in that regard.
Also, I got some understeer back from going to narrower front tires again. :( The NT05's were 295 all around but these are 275 front 295 rear. More came back than I had hoped for, but still not as bad as stock. This isn't the tires' fault, but it leaves me feeling that I could get more of a 'feeling' for them if the car was more balanced again (it will be soon).
Straight-line traction is very decent for a street tire, again, not as much as the (warmed up) NT05 18's but impressively closer than I would have thought. I've a little bit more to gain because I started a bit high on the tire pressures (40psi cold) and a burnout reveals a darker patch in the middle than on the sides. I think the stock Camaro pressure of 36psi cold will be a sweet spot.
As I mentioned earlier, no RWD car on street tires holds a candle to my Talon's AWD launches, so I'm totally ruined in that respect. I can compare to the other tires, but IMHO, this car can't hook up to save its life (in all fairness, it hooks up WAY WAY better than my twin-turbo IROC-Z did.
)
Full-on braking is amazing, the ABS doesn't kick in easily. It's quite a rush to stand on the Brembo pedal at 60mph. I think this test was the closest in dry performance to the NT05's from my perception (which admittedly may be off... I don't have actual data).
I drove several miles in the rain too, great wet traction, better than the NT05's which were still impressive. Tires in general are amazing these days, much better than 15-20 years ago, and this is most noticeable to me in the rain. In that regard, I feel that these tires on this car let me stop faster in the rain than I ever have before. It's almost like I'm on dry pavement unless I full-on panic stop. It pulls more G's than I used to think possible on water.
That being said, surface condition matters, as does the amount and timing of the rain. This was in the middle of a moderate shower on a smooth road. It wouldn't be as good if it had quite raining a few minutes before that (oils in the road coming out).
Overall, for the price, I would highly recommend these tires. From the sounds of it, Michelin Pilot Supersports are THE best performance street tires available right now, but they have a limited amount of sizes and they're very, very pricey. If you can't come close to affording those but want good performance, then get these.
(For the record, I'm not affiliated with Falken in any way nor do I get anything out of posting this review... I just think they're pretty good).