Help with tyre choice.

[MJS1]

I have a '99 E430 with styling 2 AMG's 8x18 all round and at the moment fitted with Michelin Pilot Sport 1's. MOT is booked for Wednesday and I think both front tyres will fail as they are close to the wear bars. Had some prices come back from the local fitter and would appreciate some advice on what tyre I should go for. I do approx 12-15K miles per year split between motorway and town, in all weathers and would like a tyre that lasts well and holds the road well. The Michelin's have been fine but there are cheaper branded options. Any advice is welcome.
Bridgestone Potenza REO40 £98 +vat
Goodyear F1 £116 +vat
By comparison, Michelin PS2 £160 +vat. Although I can get these slightly cheaper in Costco.

 

[A-AvantGarde]

I have a '99 E430 with styling 2 AMG's 8x18 all round and at the moment fitted with Michelin Pilot Sport 1's. MOT is booked for Wednesday and I think both front tyres will fail as they are close to the wear bars. Had some prices come back from the local fitter and would appreciate some advice on what tyre I should go for. I do approx 12-15K miles per year split between motorway and town, in all weathers and would like a tyre that lasts well and holds the road well. The Michelin's have been fine but there are cheaper branded options. Any advice is welcome.
Bridgestone Potenza REO40 £98 +vat
Goodyear F1 £116 +vat
By comparison, Michelin PS2 £160 +vat. Although I can get these slightly cheaper in Costco.

We've had bad wear rates from Bridgestone Potenza RE040's on my mums BMW 325 (no she doesn't have a lead foot - unlike me!). Have you got a price for Pirelli P-Zero Rosso's?

 

[MJS1]

Elite Tyres of Rainham are doing Pirelli P-Zero Rosso's for £150 inc vat. Are they that much better than the Goodyear F1's?

 

[DieselE]

There's a good thread about Goodyear F1s that might help you.
http://mbclub.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=21104stmas).

 

[C43AMG]

I have Goodyear F1's they are the best i have tried.

 

[996jimbo]

I've just bought a set of Falkens for £287 (£310 incl. alignment) fitted for my C43 on 17" wheels. Before these I had Hankook Vento Sports. Before that I had Goodyear F1's.

F1's had to be replaced early for various reasons. Hankook's have done just under 15,000 miles - rears were just about on the limit, fronts were 3/4 on the limit with inner 1/4 beyond.

Grip from the Hankooks (never heard of them either - they were the cheapest the garage had) was perfectly acceptable and I think 14,000 miles not bad either.

I'd rather save my money on car tyres which I'm not pushing to the limit of performance and spend the saving on decent bike tyres where pushing the front or spinning the rear is considerably scarier.

 

[MJS1]

With previous cars I'd always go for the trye that was middle of the price range as I didn't realy want a cheap tyre but at the same didn't need one that was realy high performance. Previous cars being Audi Coupe's and old Alfas. I bought this car almost 2 years ago to the day and due to a change in job only started using it a lot last year. The Michelin's on the car now were, from memeory, brand new when the car was bought so have lasted around 17k miles. Is this a lot?
It seems from reading previous threads there can be both good and bad experiences with the same brand.I guess it depends on the car and the driver.

 

[aka$h]

Its probably a lot to do with the size im running but on the S-class I have 245/45/18's, at first the Pirellis Pzero Directionals only lasted around 9000 miles, the dunlops sp8000's have lasted 10000. I think in the size I run its hard to get a tyre which is not branded a performance tyre. Ive now decided to go for a set of 17's with Conti Premium contacts and see howlong they last.

try this place, another member pointed it otu and they are quite cheap.
http://www.johnsonstyres.com/

 

[tvcam]

I have just changed my rear 245x40x17 (£135) with the same Continental Contact 2 (german tyre). They gave me 24k. The fronts 225x45x17 are just over half worn on the same make and Asymmetric tread pattern, so they should be good for 35k. I run them at 35psi, and get a little feathering to the outer edge of the front nearside tyre.. http://www.conti-online.com/generator/www/uk/en/continental/cpc2/03-themes-reifenfamilie/main3.html

or

http://www.conti-online.com/generat...e/conti_sport_contact_2/sportcontact2_en.html

I love emm

 

[996jimbo]

I have just changed my rear 245x40x17 (£135) with the same Continental Contact 2 (german tyre). They gave me 24k. The fronts 225x45x17 are just over half worn on the same make and Asymetric tread pattern, so they should be good for 35k. I run them at 35psi, and get a little feathering to the outer edge of the front nearside tyre.. I love emm

Is that kilometres or miles?

 

[tvcam]

london miles..

http://www.conti-online.com/generator/www/uk/en/continental/cpc2/03-themes-reifenfamilie/main3.html

or

http://www.conti-online.com/generat...e/conti_sport_contact_2/sportcontact2_en.html

 

[996jimbo]

london miles..

I guess the soot deposits slow down the wear rate. If it weren't for my aversion to having black bogeys it'd almost make financial sense to move there.

How is Mary Poppins these days?

 

[tvcam]

old and wrinkerley.. anyway they get everywhere now.. you need to get out more..

 

[MJS1]

I was told by one fitter that Mercedes always used to fit Continental tyres from the factory. Is this true?
I'm still none the wiser which to go for! I'll probably go for either the Goodyears or Continentals as they seem to be around the middle of the price band. As I'm far from an expert, this is how I usually pick tyres. Do either of the F1's and the Contact 2's have a rim protector? I'm planning on getting the wheels refurb'ed in the next few months and would like a tyre that would help to protect them.
Incidentally, I've seen many times, styling 2's with the rim polished and the 'face' of the wheel painted the same colour as the car, although on all occasions the car has always been black. I'm thinking of doing the same, but my colour is Violane Metallic. Has anyone seen this before and if so how does it look?

 

[DieselE]

I was told by one fitter that Mercedes always used to fit Continental tyres from the factory. Is this true?
I'm still none the wiser which to go for! I'll probably go for either the Goodyears or Continentals as they seem to be around the middle of the price band. As I'm far from an expert, this is how I usually pick tyres. Do either of the F1's and the Contact 2's have a rim protector? I'm planning on getting the wheels refurb'ed in the next few months and would like a tyre that would help to protect them.

Yes, Mercedes do fit Continental tyres as the original fit. I read Geoff Sutcliffe arguing in Autocar that you should stick with the tyre recommended by the car maker. But, a lot of people seem to have had good experiences with other brands, particularly Goodyear, which is why I gave you the link to an earlier discussion.

The Continentals on my car have a prominent bead but most of the rim protection will come from them being 55 section tyres rather than ultra low profile. You said your wheel size is 18in so my guess is you run on ultra-low profiles. I had those on my last car (non Mercedes) and managed to kerb them in the last month of four and a half years of ownership.

Anyhow, good luck with your final choice.

 

[MJS1]

The tyre are 235/40Z R18.

 

[DieselE]

The tyre are 235/40Z R18.

That's the same tread width and profile I managed to kerb but, in my case, with 17in rims. I had Goodyear F1s on at the time which proved to be fantastic tyres but with both those and the Michelin Pilot Sports that preceded them the sidewall was nearly vertical. It's the profile that does that.

I'm sure that if you're paying to have the rims refurbished you'll be careful parking (like I was until something distracted me at the wrong moment!).

 

[MJS1]

The wife drives the car occasionally, her daily drive is a Fiesta!
Not that I'm pointing the finger.

 

[Rory]

I was told by one fitter that Mercedes always used to fit Continental tyres from the factory. Is this true?

My 54 reg C270 came with Bridgestones. Merc use several vendors according to the deal they can get, availability etc.

Several manufacturers do Mercedes specific versions of some of their tyres - known as MO, Mercedes Option. Michelin and Dunlop certainly do, and maybe others do too.

As well as the brands already mentioned, I'm aware that MB use Goodyear and Pirelli too, and there may be others.

 

[WelshKompressor]

BF Goodrich profilers are very good!! Made my Michelin aswell!!