Winter Tyres

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I don't know anything about them, but this place Mercedes C Class Saloon W204 alloys | Alloy Wheels Direct Ltd seems reasonable (at least for the smaller diameters) for apparently genuine MB alloys .

I used them last year for a set of 17" wheels with DUNLOP SP WINTER SPORT 3D MERCEDES MO. I can't fault them for either the service they provided or the product they supplied. As for insurance premiums going up Privilege Insurance didn't put my premium up, they sent me a new Certificate with the wheels & winter tyres mentioned and asked me to notify them when I changed the back to the summers.

1 thing I would say about fitting winter tyres to your OEM 18" is that you have very low side walls on your tyres, if fitting skinnier tyres to these wheels due to ice & snow you are more likely to slide into kerbs and damaging your 18" wheels.:eek: Just a thought:thumb:
 
there should be NOTHING the insurance company can do, if the tyres fitted are the correct size, and legal for road use.

There is no LAW in this country like germany's TUV system that goes into specifics, otherwise we would have to notify them every time we changed tyre makes or something like that.

It is just another attempt by the insurance companies to duck out of their responsibilities and a blatant attempt to steal more money, and yes i would call it stealing, because they know there is no law restricting tyre choice in this country. that is why last year they were forced to pay back those premium increases they imposed.

I will not be telling them i have winter tyres fitted, i will have 4 regular size fully road legal tyres of the correct size for the car fitted. and they may even be MERCEDES MO .... hard for a flybynight insurance brokers to argue they are not fit for purpose and are a modification (as that is what most of them are now, brokers and fronts, hardly any provide the underwriting they are just mouth pieces demanding 20%)
 
Not expecting to take delivery of the car until September.

Anyone know the tyres sizes for the 18" AMG 5 Spoke wheels I went for on the car?
My MB dealer will and has stored my tyres on the change over. As regards 18" i have amg wheels 265 35 on the rear 245 40 on the front. What ever you get being 18" you will be paying a lump of cash. What ever the cost you will find that the car will perform far better in the snow (actually transforms it from being unusable). Payed daft money for mine but if you order when they are first available (they run out quickly if the weather is bad) they might be cheaper. I bought Vrederstien Extreme tyres and they are very good for your info.
 
ah thank you, i was about to ask what you thought of those... i have a size issue for mine though :( the rears on my coupe are 245/40/17 and Vredestein Wintrac Xtreme xl's only seem to come in 255/40/17 or 245/45/17 now i should be able to get away with 255's, although that is a more normal approach on 18's, it does run to about the limit on 8.5" rims, which are what they are, also do i really want to go bigger in worse weather conditions ! and the 45 profile ones increase the rim circumference by i think it was something like 74mm and give about a 2.5 mph error on the speedo (faster than reading)

18's are hellish expensive (17's arent cheap either) but i'm going to use this winter as my change over point, i'll run the 17" kerbed and scruffy alloys in the winter with winter tyres, and switch to the 18" Brabus Monoblock VI's for the rest of the year, but i wont be going the route of full winter/summer tyres, the warmer weather tyres i get will probably be the CONTINENTAL Conti Sport Contact 3 MO's
 
ah thank you, i was about to ask what you thought of those... i have a size issue for mine though :( the rears on my coupe are 245/40/17 and Vredestein Wintrac Xtreme xl's only seem to come in 255/40/17 or 245/45/17

The Vredestein's come in 225/45X17, that's what I used for my rears which run 245/40x17 summer tyres.

Russ
 
hmmm, interesting, thoughts on that ? - how was the rear clearance ?

(my fronts are that size and they are £49 each cheaper than the 245 rears, oddly the 255 rears are cheaper than the 245's ! go figure !!)
 
hmmm, interesting, thoughts on that ? - how was the rear clearance ?

(my fronts are that size and they are £49 each cheaper than the 245 rears, oddly the 255 rears are cheaper than the 245's ! go figure !!)


They work perfect & and are the nearest match to 245's, well they would be as the fronts are 225's anyway. 225's are within the recommended sizes for a 8.5J wheel.

(if you really must have a 245/40X17 rear, Dunlop Winter Sports 4d?, I think are about the only decent tyres that size.)

Russ
 
yeah i see what your meaning, your 225/45's are only going to be about 3 mm bigger, mine would come out a little different to that

245/40 = 98mm Section height (40% of 245mm)

225/45 = 101.25 Section height

and 245/45 = 110.25 Section height

so i'm looking at a 12.25mm increase in section height, which is 25mm Diameter increase. compared to 3.25 and 6.5mm for yours

i should not see any clearance issues, but you never know....

if i went 255/40 it would be a section height of 102, so that is only 4mm difference, minimal
Increasing to 255 would also put the edge of the tyre 5mm closer to the inside of the wheel well and suspension components, and 5mm further out from the edge of the bodywork as well

either way i'm looking at about £735 for a full set of Vredestein's
 
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The Vredestein's come in 225/45X17, that's what I used for my rears which run 245/40x17 summer tyres.

They work perfect & and are the nearest match to 245's, well they would be as the fronts are 225's anyway. 225's are within the recommended sizes for a 8.5J wheel.

As Russ suggests, 225/45 are the ones to go for - your handbook will almost certainly suggest these for the rears, and are absolutely fine on 8.5j wheel.
 
yeah, was going to go look in the book, but it's throwing it down here, so it can wait till tomorrow lol
 
Bump this thread to ask...

Which is better. Nokian WRG 2 or Hankook 300i ? I can get both for itro £120 each fitted. 225/55 - 16H.

(and BTW, when I was in the stealers they were offering me steel 16" rims for a 211 for approx £35 each if I bought the Hankooks from them. Unfortunately I've just gotten a set of 16" alloys to fit winter tyres to.)
 
Don't know what everyone else thinks about used tyres but I just fitted (on the rear end) a pair of goodyear EV-2 eagle vector 205 55 16 for £67 delivered with 6mm on each tyre left. They have no puncture repairs or scuffs or scrapes.
I then got them fitted for £10 a corner (valve balance etc) at a local tyre place (not budget/kwik fit, a decent joint).
Last winter I was using snow socks on the rear end (only in proper snow so as not to destroy them) and the car drove perfectly.
Taking into consideration as to whether to buy another two for the front (current tyres still have 4mm on them) i'm not sure if I need them as they were fine last winter with the socks on the back end.
Anyway, if anyone wants details of a good seller for used tyres I can post his contact number.
Delivery was next day courier by DHL (Yodel).
 
I change my 18" to 16" for the winter.

Three years ago I bought Hankook w300 icebears for £65 each.
This year the cheapest I've found (but not in stock yet) is £95.

Looks like the bandwagon is rolling.
 
just a quick reply to winter tyres,I live in Germany where it is law to use winter tyres!
Be carefull what you buy ( no remoulds )
make sure they are not over 5 years old ( check the manufactering date on the sidewall)
be certain that there is a minimum of at least 4mm of tread! and be wary when someone sells tyres no longer fitted on wheels ( steel or alu)as these might have wall damage!
Apart from that you should be ok!
Maybe you could try E bay ?????
 
one more thing to watch out for i had great prolems trying to get hold of 17" steel wheels for my 320 so I brought alloys instead,some dealers try and sell special alloys for winter , they are meant to be coated with a salt resistant paint ( don´t believe it) they´ll also try and tell you that stocks of ( summer alloys ) are no longer available! its just a scam otherwise anyone living near the coast would need different alloys?
 
just picked up 4 x dunlop wintersport sp 3d 185/65/15

£280 fitted and balanced from event tyres
 

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