Do I need staggered tyres

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Blackbird1

Active Member
Joined
Jan 23, 2010
Messages
216
Location
Ayr
Car
W203 C180k automatic estate
On an 06 c220 that doesn't have the pressure warning in the dash, I was told a while ago I needed bigger on the back or it would give a tc or some kind of warning. Then was told no I don't ie the same size all round if fine. .. who's right?
 
Depends how the car came from factory. Obviously if you have wider wheels at the rear you will need a different tyre size.

I haven't come across any car which has the same size alloys all around with different tyre sizes.

If you look on the inside of the alloy you may find a part no starting with A which will be able to give you insight into the size of tyre required.


Easiest way to check would be perhaps popping your registration no into a tyre search website and see what they have on record for front/rear tyre sizes. (ITS NOT ALWAYS CORRECT, but most of the time it is)
 
Take a look below at the wheels recommended for the S203.
If you spot the wheels that are fitted to your car, click on the wheel and you will see what size is recommended front and rear.
Scroll down further and you'll see what tyres should be fitted to that set up.

Mercedes Alloys - Alloy Wheels Direct
 
But wheels may have been changed during its life - so take off front wheel and check the size - will be marked 8Jx17 or some such then repeat for the rear, if both ‘J’ numbers match, same size tyres all round. If they differ ie 8J fronts and 9J rear, then you need differing sizes front/back :)
 
On an 06 c220 that doesn't have the pressure warning in the dash, I was told a while ago I needed bigger on the back or it would give a tc or some kind of warning. Then was told no I don't ie the same size all round if fine. .. who's right?

Ths Classic SE came with same-width wheels (16") and tyres all-around i.e. back and front.

The Sport and Avangarde came with slightly wider wheels at the rear - all still 16".

(This is assuming that optional 17" wheels were not specified when ordering the car)

But the staggered wheels on the Sport trim variant of the C180K, C200 CDI, and C220 CDI, is purely for cosmetic reasons and has no effect on performance or handling in real life.

What was probably meant is that if you fit wider wheels on the driven axle, then you are less likely to see Traction Control jump into action when accelerating hard.

This is true in principle, i.e. wider wheels provide more traction, but it's pretty irrelevant on a C220 CDI (no offence meant...) or any of the 4-Cyl C-Class.

You can change the rear wheels to wider wheels if you have the Sport variant and you want to revert the car back to the original look. But - as said - either way it will not affect Traction Control, or anything else really.
 
What you need to know is the wheel plus tyre rolling circumference is the same as the manufacturer determined. What folks have difficulty in understanding is that aspect ratio is not a dimension [ tyre wall height] its the ratio of tyre width to wall height. This means that in order for a wider tyre to have the same tyre wall height on the same diameter of wheel its aspect ratio has to reduce.
calculator available here.
Tyre size calculators - Carbibles
 
Must admit to always thinking that wider tyres give greater cornering grip, with a wider contact patch in the direction of slip.
IIRC MB fitted wider rears tyres to reduce the potential for oversteer, usually in combination with a stiffer front ARB
 
What you need to know is the wheel plus tyre rolling circumference is the same as the manufacturer determined. What folks have difficulty in understanding is that aspect ratio is not a dimension [ tyre wall height] its the ratio of tyre width to wall height. This means that in order for a wider tyre to have the same tyre wall height on the same diameter of wheel its aspect ratio has to reduce.
calculator available here.
Tyre size calculators - Carbibles

All correct, however in relation to the OP's question, TC on 2WD cars is only affected by the relative friction of the two driven wheels (not their rolling radius).
 
Must admit to always thinking that wider tyres give greater cornering grip, with a wider contact patch in the direction of slip.
IIRC MB fitted wider rears tyres to reduce the potential for oversteer, usually in combination with a stiffer front ARB

Again all correct, however in relation to TC, the wider tyres on the driven wheels will allow for more traction so wheel spin (and TC activation) will occur later compared to narrower tyres.
 
But wheels may have been changed during its life - so take off front wheel and check the size - will be marked 8Jx17 or some such then repeat for the rear, if both ‘J’ numbers match, same size tyres all round. If they differ ie 8J fronts and 9J rear, then you need differing sizes front/back :)

Quite correct. It would be helpful if the OP posted what diameter/width rims are currently fitted front and rear.
 
My '04 facelift S203 220CDi has staggered 16" wheels that all wear 205/55 r16 tyres, the stagger being a built in spacer on rims of equal width.
My dilemma is whether to put the wider ones on the left hand side or the right.
 

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