W211 - New Tyres - Recommendations Please

[Londonscottish]

Hi All,

It's nearly new tyre time for my 2005 W211. Wembley tyres can do me the following prices on 245/40/17's

- Goodyear NCT's at £115
- Pirelli P Zero Rosso's at £120
- Conti SC's at £125

I'm minded to stick with the P Zeros as there was a set on when I bought it and the seem to suit the car.

What would you go for and why?

 

[Druk]

245/45 17s Contis on my 211 are fierce. Compared to Michelins they feel every stone on the road.

 

[Londonscottish]

245/45 17s Contis on my 211 are fierce. Compared to Michelins they feel every stone on the road.

Thanks - yeah I used to find them a bit noisy on the C43 - swapped to Goodyears for that reason.

 

[wemorgan]

The Bridgestone Potenza RE050A is said to quiet if that's what you're after.

 

[rf065]

I use Falken ZE912's, great tyre and 245/40x17's are only £75 from Camskills. They are better than the Bridgestone Potenzas I had previously which cost £120 each, so why throw good money away on over priced tyres?

Russ

 

[prprandall51]

Are you not considering Michelin HP Primacy? Quiet, grippy, supple - just like the ideal woman.

 

[satman]

p zeros, "if it aint broke dont change it is the motto"
For me the best gripping tyre by far but will scrub out quick if driven hard.
Also if you go to a pirelli dealer you may find an even better deal for changing all 4, I did?

 

[bpsorrel]

I recently changed all mine from Contis to Avon ZZ3s. Quiet, smooth and very grippy. I got a great deal from Wheels in Motion in Chesham...

 

[rascalmaster]

Contisport 3 (MO) on my w211... very nice!

 

[hash]

not a merc i know but have just changed all 4 of my 245/45/18 on my a8 for kuhmo ku19 and wow, smooth, quiet, lots of grip dry and wet. Very pleased. did not choose them on cost more on user reviews.

£530 all in for 4, had Pirelli asymmetric with 4 mil still on them but started to behave a bit weird, severe tram lining as they wore down. Now all good

Forget to add, ended up with the MO option as well

Hash

 

[ucr]

I have just put new Hankook on the rear of my C36 in the same size about £85 each

Good tyre and looks good as well

 

[st4]

Are you not considering Michelin HP Primacy? Quiet, grippy, supple - just like the ideal woman.

Can you get them in 18inches. Loved them on my last 211.

 

[Dryce]

Are you not considering Michelin HP Primacy? Quiet, grippy, supple - just like the ideal woman.

I have Michelin HP Primacy. No complaints.

But I used to have Conti PremiumContact and in terms of choosing between them I think the Contis were slightly better in terms of feel.

 

[Londonscottish]

p zeros, "if it aint broke dont change it is the motto"
For me the best gripping tyre by far but will scrub out quick if driven hard.
Also if you go to a pirelli dealer you may find an even better deal for changing all 4, I did?

Thanks Satman. I think I agree with you. I like them. And yes they have worn fairly quickly. Like all my favourite tyres have in the past. I used to love Toyo Proxes on my company 200SX until the fleet manager banned me from buying them. I got through six in the first year....heh heh

 

[A210AMG]

I'm going for Falken 452's although 912's the same / similar price.

The 452's seem to get great reviews?

 

[Londonscottish]

Can you get them in 18inches. Loved them on my last 211.

I've got 17's so could be a contender. If I can overcome my lifelong dislike of Michelin. I'd had some (albeit in the past) with ridiculously hard compounds and poor wet grip. Also when the fleet manager stopped me using Toyo's on my first 200sx he put me on skin flint high miler Michelins and they were pants.

Apologies for being emotional not rational on this one....

 

[gIzzE]

I'm going for Falken 452's although 912's the same / similar price.

The 452's seem to get great reviews?

The FK452s do get great reviews but many are reviewing them coming from run flats, or when people move to bigger sized wheels. I have had 5 sets, the first 3 were replacing run flats and the fourth set was when I swapped the 17" wheels on our 3 touring for 19" BBS CHs, and all of those seemed to be fine, the 19s were much firmer than the 17 runflats but put that down to size more than anythings else, and they are certainly good value.

However, I then went from 18" Michel Pilot Sport 2s to the FK452s, same wheels. This was teh first time I had swapped like for like.
I took them off after 3000 miles, they got really noisy all of a sudden at around 2000 miles and started to get really crashy, they don't like the cold at all. Even my wife commented on how bad the car felt on them, she was pregnant at the time and actually stopped using the car as going over speed bumps started to get painful. I decided to sell the car and put Michelin Pilot Sport run flats on, and even the run flats were so much quieter and a hell of a lot more comfy.
That was the first time I realised that all though a good price they are still a budget tyre and feel like it.

I wouldn't buy them again other than for using as a cheapish track tyre, certainly not on a Merc where noise and comfort are important.

 

[gIzzE]

I went from Michelin PS2s to continental Sport Contacts on the E320cdi, and the Contis are noticeably more crashy over poor surfaces than the PS2.
I have a pair of PS2's with 6mm sat in the garage so I may just order another pair and put them back on when the winters come off.

I love the PS2, super comfy, really progressive when the back goes and ultra quiet, just they don't wear all that long as the compound is quite soft, but you can't have everything I guess.

Maybe I should try the Primacy, that is similar but a harder compound, so you loose some of the quietness and comfort but should last a fair bit longer.

 

[C43AMG]

PS2's are very difficult to find as they are being replaced by PS3's. I wanted PS2's for the CL and could only source PS2's for the rear and had to have PS3's for the front.

The 3's have great reviews, better in the wet than the 2's. The 2's look so much better on the car though.

 

[asad7860]

I used Vredstein Ultrac Sessanta on my E55, they were the same price as the Pirelli but performed better in the German Tyre tests and so I gave them a try. They wear quicker than the pirelli, but give very good wet and dry performance.

Tyremen in Hull are quite reasonable for Vredstein.