Pffelan

running with the 17" p-zero rosso- that came on the car but my past experience with p-zeros was fantastic in the summer, avg in winter with mid engine... and downright dangerous with front engine rear drive?

anyone any ideas how i get to spring in one piece?

other than buy a £500 **** wagon...?

which might have to be the answer!

Buellwinkle

From my personal experience, moving to a warmer climate without distinguishable seasons like Southern California solves all those foul weather issues and the car stays in good shape longer. Although it is boring listening to weatherman complain about how it's only going to be 70f today.

Lynn

Paul,

Some of the North American members are going to be using P205/55 R16 snow tires. You could get them in the same size as your Pirelli's, but a narrow tire is preferable in the snow. If have problem, I will probably get Bridgestone Blizzaks, but I have also liked Vredestien in the past. Both companies make snow tires with a variety of tread patterns. Keep in mind that the more effective the tire is on snow and ice, the lower its speed rating.

young

i got blizzak lm22's which are H rated. i was told that they are excellent on ice. dunlop also makes H rated snow tires.

or, as buellwinkle reminds us once again, you could move to a warmer climate w/ only smog & earthquakes to worry about.

oops, forgot about brush fires and riots. of course, i also miss breathing-in the nice Santa Ana winds...

young

Buellwinkle

Hah!!!! What do you all know, yar just "Junior Members". And BTW smog is an antidote for anthrax, it can't survive in our toxic air. Beside, I wouldn't breath anything I couldn't see. As for the earthquakes, that just keeps everything new by leveling the old neighborhoods.

young

nice avatar! earthquake buellwinkle? animated GIF? i'm going to have to think of something more creative for mine.

young

btw, i've finally convinced my wife that getting a ducati 620 monster is a GOOD idea... :p (well, not really. shh! here she comes)

Rick

My uncle lives near Devises, on the Salisbury plain...his farm equipment includes a mini derivitive he lovingly calls a "moke"....

Yes, he hauls manure in the post and rail bed of it....so I guess this would comply with your requirements.

Should I phone him to see if he'll part with it?

Buellwinkle

A better bike than the baby Monster is the Buell M2 new or a user Buell S1. Double the cc's double the fun for about the same price. Buell dealers hate selling Buells, much easier to sell chrome, so you can usually get about 2,000 off specially if they have a 2001 leftovers. Check out the forum at http://www.americanthunderbike.com


For a comparison of the Buell, Duc and Triumph checkout the Motorcycle Online link below. I won't giveaway the ending but the monster did not fair well.

http://www.motorcycle.com/mo/mccompare/bikini.html

young

thanks for the links, buellwinkle. actually, i've read that article a while ago. the new monsters have improved greatly since then. the speed triple is also a great bike but it costs too much for me. the 'baby' monster costs like $7k so its in the range of the suzuki SV650.

i like the M2 except for those plastic-looking covers below the tank. what is that? i'd get the grey and it looks like a very good deal overall (1200cc). are you saying i can get 2k less? for a 2001 model? that would be in my budget.

i definitely lean towards naked bikes rather than crotch rockets or harleys or the big hondas. my second choice would be the older triumphs or similar models. one of these days, i'd like to own several

Pffelan

i think the most constructive idea i can draw from this is to move to so cal!

the wife will be pleased.

Buellwinkle

Young,

The big plastic thingy below the tank on the right side of the M2 is the airbox. While I think it's useful because if you drop the bike on the right side it protects the tank and it only costs about $25 but many don't like it and put aftermarket air filter covers over the carb that are oval and look like what's on a Sportster but usually they do carbon fiber. Other's do the Force pipe which is an elbow with a cone shaped K&N on the end.

Pffelan,
Good luck on your move, give me a shout when you get here, I'ld like to see a right hand drive C-Coupe....

David N.

Hey everyone. For those of you who own winter tires now, or have in the past, what, in your opinion, is the best winter tire on the market for a c240 sedan? I have NEVER purchased winter tires b4, so I don't really know what to look for. My dealer has a special going right now. Four pirelli winter tires for $900 CDN. How good are pirelli's? Right now I'm running conti all seasons on my 16' rims. I kept my factory steelies in case I decided to buy snows. Are the all seasons good enough for winter?

I want winter tires that have good traction on snow and ice(obviously), aren't noisy, offer a comfy ride, and have some longevity.

Thanks guys.

-EDIT by drexappeal-
If you would like to check what tires will work well, here are two tire size calculators to help you:
LINK: Tire Size Calculator 1
LINK: Tire Size Calculator 2

jnjrowland

I just put a set of Michelin Artic Alpins on my c320, on 16in rims. Today was the first trip to the office on them and I am very happy with the ride/noise factors. Being in the NE I have not had the snow yet so I can't comment on that aspect, but from what I have read they are great on ice and packed snow. These are the most prevalent conditions here so I expect that they will perform well.

JR

Mapman

I used a set of Pilot Alpins on my S2000 for a while last year (until I figured out that the wheels didn't quite fit). While they didn't make the car invincible, they were worlds better than summer or all-season tires. I was handily out-accelerating & out-braking 95% of the AWD vehicles (all riding on all-season tires I'd wager) on the road.

I'd guess that the Artic Alpins are more snow/ice biased than the Pilots.

Mike T.

I had four Arctic Alpin tires (185/65 QR 14) on my Peugeot 405 for a while. The wet and snow traction is excellent. But...

They wore out (clean bald) in under 25,000 miles. The rubber is so soft that they self-destruct in no time on bare roads. The whiny noise they make disappears when the sipes are worn down to the "Y", and by then they're on the way out. Not recommended by me.

By the way, this same car went 50,000 much harder (mountain driving) miles on a set of Michelin XM+S 100 tires, which were every bit as good in the snow (maybe better) as/than the Arctic Alpins. So don't blame the car!

Auto Bild magazine (www.autobild.de) recently did a comparison test of winter tires and a Pirelli hi-performance snow tire was head and shoulders above the rest. The Arctic Alpin, Blizzak and Hakkapeliitta were all good in the tests (which of course did not include how fast they wear out). Of the four mentioned, the Hakkas were about 35% cheaper, thus seemed to be the best compromise. But if you want the best, maybe try the Pirelli.

vadim

in a Volvo world, Gislaved and Nokian are rated very high. I personally don't have any experience with either, since where I live (DC area), there's no need to swap tires for a short snow period (I put wheels with all season tires on instead), but that's what I heard from my friends from MA and upstate NY.

DtS

Hi everybody.

This is, as you can see, my very first post in this forum....

Winter tires is a hot topic in Sweden right now, cause we have a new law forcing us to drive on
winter tires from beginning of December 'til end of March...

In the Swedish edition of Auto Motor& Sport nr 19 they test 8 different brands. Some of them are
Swedish brands and I doubt they are available anywhere else but here. Anyway I include them for
completeness.


These were the tires tested and their results:

-AGI Sarek2: got three stars (of five possible). Good handling on snow, but not very good on ice.

-Continental WinterViking1: four stars. Good handling on snow and ice, but long braking-distance on ice.

-Gislaved NordFrost : four stars. Good on both snow and ice, and pretty good on dry roads as well.

-Goodyear UltraGrip500: five stars and test-winner. Superior grip on snow and ice. Silent running. Not perfect on dry tarmac.

-Hankook W404: (Sounds like a site-not-found-error...) one star. Short breaking-distance on wet tarmac but noisy and bad on snow.

-Marangoni MeteoGrip: one star. Short breaking-distance on wet tarmac but lousy on ice and snow.

-Michelin Ivalo: three stars. Good grip on ice and snow, good handling in snow, but bad on wet roads.

-Nokian Hakkapelitta2: four stars. Very good on ice, snow and sleet. Not so good on dry tarmac.

Sorry for making this post long, but the article was pretty long and exhaustive... Unfortunately
they didn't test any Pirellis but I know that Pirellis is offered as a "dealer"-option for BMWs
here, so I guess they can't be that bad...
My car is now equipped with goodyears and I'm very pleased with them sofar...

tommy

I'm getting an imitation s-class rim in 16" with snow tires. They won't be pretty, but at least my c7 rims will be tucked away safely in the garage for the winter. And yes, MB-BOB, I will post the weight of the rim/tire combo, so that we can all discuss how the c7 rims ruin the c230's sportiness.

I'll get some pics over the weekend. Anything would look better than Young's steel wheel junkyard repo option.

young

i'm leaving the covers off and going w/ the steel wheel look but knowing my luck, its not going to snow all winter.

dave

Hey guys do what i did leave the C230K in the Garage and get an ML320 for the winter

tHIS WILL SOLVE THE PROBLEM OF GETTING UGLY RIMS



OBSIDIAN BLACK RULES THE WORLD

c230k AUTO, c5, c7, cd changer obsidian black what else

Yellow_Fly_Red

I'm waiting for my set of Wheels and winter tires from TIRERACK.
I got the Sport Edition Fox 5 Wheels with the Dunlop Winter Sport M2 tires. Waiting impatiently... luckily it hasn't snowed in the last 2 weeks and the roads are dry enough to drive in.

White C230K, Leather, 6spd, Bose, CD, Heated seats, evolution, factory alarm.

Buellwinkle

I wish we can use snow tires in Southern California but we are forced to use chains in the hills when they are covered in snow. There's nothing more fun than to leave your house when it's 70 in a polo shirt and jeans, drive to the mountains and have Highway Patrol make you put chains on in freezing weather on a narrow steep mountain road. Everyone volunteers to help you by pushing you in a ditch so that they can pass you. I'll take the ugly wheels over chains cold day!

Peter

Just picked up an Obsidian/oyster cloth sport - delivered with Mich. Pilot Z-rated tires. The fuel flap indicates tire pressure recommendations of 28 psi (front) and 32 psi (rear). I find this too muddy in town. Steering feels a bit labored. I up-ed the psi on all tires by 4 psi. Car feels more agile. Is it possible that the recommendation on the fuel flap pertains to the non-sport R-rated tires? Wondering what most owners with the sport pkg. (C-7, I believe) are running their tires at. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Separately, I specifically chose a coupe without the panorama roof. Thought it would be quieter and tighter. I love the extra headroom. The car is tight as a drum.

Happy New Year, safe driving to all. Pete

geistmeister

I've got the C7 package w/Michelin Pilot Sports. My tires came filled 38-39 psi. I've been pleased with the handling and I've left them at that pressure.

Lynn

Manufacturers determine their tire pressure recommendations based on the pressure which gives the best (softest) ride. I set my tires 4 psi over the recommended pressure.