Viper98912

For those like me that use their C55 as a daily driver and want a good high performance tire (non-winter) that has a high treadwear rating, I thought I'd make this post.

I previously ran a full set of Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus tires. 500 treadwear and supposedly good traction in the dry and wet. Traction did hold up to its claim; under regular driving conditions (even in the wet, which is what I care most about), the tires would only slip during really hard driving (when I was forcing them to). Overall good tire, EXCEPT for the fact that they "chunk". By chunk, I mean the tire is falling apart in small chunks along the tread.

The rear tires are now bald and the fronts are at about 50%. This is the same as my last 3 sets of tires; I get a ratio of about 2 to 1 usage on this car - chalk it up to the AMG

The guys at Discount Tire told me that Michelin is warrantying these chunking tires, but that the light chunking I have will be rejected if sent back for claim. Scary to think what kind of chunking others are seeing? I'm imagining nickel or quarter sized chunks of rubber, which sounds nuts (and is not what I'm experiencing). Rumor is the design couldn't stand up to the heat in some of the southern states.

Michelin's replacement to the flawed A/S Plus is now the A/S 3, which was just released last month. I went ahead and got a set for the rear; I was tempted to get a full set, but given I still had 50% left (and spent a lot of money the last time calculating I would be going 2-1), and also given that these brand new tires may be flawed as well (as with anything new), the smart thing was to only get rears.

The A/S Plus had a 45,000 mile warranty, and even though on staggered, non-rotatable setups that warranty halves to 22,500, the nice folks at Discount Tire ended up honoring the full mileage. Getting half the cost back of what I paid originally for the rears, my previous purchase now paid off on my new ones.

Initial impressions: the tire reminds me of my old Pirellis - beefy in treadwidth. The 255/35/18 tire bulges out significantly from the rim, making it look like I'm running a 265 instead of a 255. Given I have W209 wheels (where the rear offset is lower and the front is higher than the C55 wheels), it makes my rear end look even more pronounced against the fenders whereas the fronts now look pushed in even farther. Not too happy about that, but I could always put 10mm spacers up front if it keeps bugging me. The tread pattern reminds me somewhat of the PS2, whereas the A/S Plus was more similar to the original PS.

Overall the tires ride smooth at 75 mph (as expected with most new tires) but they weren't as "quiet" as I expected. They're not necessarily loud, and they may be the same as before, and it may have been more from the fronts than the new rears. Also, this may just be "regular" noise as I had the radio off specifically looking for noise. So this may just be me.

For those wondering why I didn't go for the Pilot Super Sport (PSS) it's strictly because of the treadwear rating; I once ran some 220 treadwear tires on this car only to be throwing money down the drain on this high mile daily driver.

Will update in the future if anyone is interested; can answer questions if you guys have any.

Drive on

amgen

I run on PS2 and am very pleased with them. In comparison to the original
Pirellis, it´s day and night. But how they are compared with PS3 or PSS,
I can´t say.

Viper98912

Update for those interested:

9 months and 18,000 miles later, I changed out the A/S 3's to Goodyear Eagle F1 A/S. Yesterday I developed a severe bead leak on the rear pass side, which might be due to the chrome on my wheels starting to go. Regardless, the rears were also near the wear bars already. Definitely did not expect that. So either these A/S 3's are not 500 treadwear, or my rear alignment is off pretty bad in my car, or these German high performance AMG's just love eating tires (I know the C63 forum talks about tires a lot...)

I have good praise for the A/S 3's dry and wet traction. Excellent for a street all season tire. Definitely recommended based on this, but I was not happy with the low mileage I got out of them. Even the tire store was surprised at this, and I don't do burnouts or track days or anything. The magazine reviews of how good these tires are, are true.

This, plus the chunking of the A/S+, has pushed me away from Michelin for a while. So I've loaded up some Goodyear's, and we'll see how these last/perform. Initial impressions are that they are a quiet tire (as expected from all new tires), but they are definitely more twitchy than the Michelins. Small movements in the steering wheel makes the car move a lot more than before. This is either a good thing (good response), or a bad thing (unplanned exaggerated direction changes). I'll update in a few miles....

D Boi

i don't have the mileage you do but my A/S 3's are wearing very well so far (3-4k miles, c55). we got a lot of snow this past winter and they handled it well, especially considering the level of dry/wet grip they bring to the table. I also liked the fact that i didn't have to plus size or anything as would have been necessary with conti's or goodyears

91RS

I had the Pilot Super Sport on my C55 and they were great tires. I had 9k miles on the rears when I sold the car and they had 3/32 tread left, not quite to the wearbars. I'm sure I drove my car a bit more aggressive than you do, though, as all those miles were with the supercharger. You might get about 18k-20k out of the PSS if you take it easy. I will say that I do NOT like Pirelli or Goodyear tires at all. My C55 had P-Zeros on the C63 wheels and they lasted 3k miles on the rear (without the supercharger) and rode terrible and traction wasn't that good. I have Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar G:2s on my Corvette (came on it unfortunately) and they are TERRIBLE. Unless they are HOT the traction is not predictable in any sort of way, its so bad it's scary. I'm looking to dump them for PSS's if I can find a buyer for the new fronts that were put on by the dealer I bought the car from. The Eagle F1 is a better about traction but do be careful with spirited driving to make sure they're warm first.

insame1

I have the F1s on my CLK and compared to the ps04 brigstones I don't like them. They are both fairly new so I don't know about tread life but the f1s loose traction a lot easier on a car with over a hundred less hp.

c32jet

I have Michellin Pilot Sport 3's as well and the issue I have with them is that fronts wear totally different than the rears. The last couple sets of fronts get down to the steel belts on just the edges (both inner and outer - both fronts) and look brand new in the middle. I have started to run them at 40LBs to get a little more out of them, but cannot really say if that is enough to make a difference or not. I can tell the difference in ride inside the car, (definitely riding on a harder tire) but not so much yet on the tire itself. I did this probably a month or two ago. Maybe need more time to see the results.

My rears wear more in the middle with much less wear on the edges (pretty much opposite the fronts). I have been running the rears always at stock pressures.

Sooo.. I get a big bolt in my passenger rear and take it for repair. They tell me the side wall is 'confetti' or 'heat ringed' and that its non repairable. Ok, fine, I'll buy a new one.
Not in stock, have to order it. Ok, that is bad, I have no spare. No problem we'll provide you a loaner. Very good, that works.

They put a 225 on the back. Hmmm, can you do that I ask. Sure, just not the other way around - you can put 225's on the back but not 245's on the front. Makes sense. New information for me... good to know.

Which got me to thinking... why not just put new 225's on the back and I am all set in that I will be able to rotate them and get full use of the tires and not half or less. So I arrive back at tire shop with new plan when the ordered 245 comes in. I let them know what I want to do and they tell me 'no can do'. The rear rims are a bit wider than the fronts and thus will rub.

Couple questions for the forum:
1) Do others experience the same wear patters as I do on fronts and or rears as described above? Any issues or other helpful information/considerations?

2) Has anyone used 225's on the rears - using the wider stock rear rims? Any issues or other helpful information/considerations?

3) Has anyone used 225's on the stock rear rims in the front? Any issues or other helpful information/considerations?


Appreciate your expertise and experience. Looking for advice and input. Thanks.

Viper98912

1) At the factory psi of 33/37, I had front edge wear and rear middle wear. So a few sets ago I went to an even 35/35, and now I get pretty even wear on the fronts and rears. I also run 225 on the front and 255 on the rear (not the factory 245, even though the CLK comes with 255). Also, I believe the factory recommended psi settings is due to front end turn-in, but I don't ever track to know the difference.

2 & 3) Both are terrible ideas, don't do it.

F1BHP

I have found the A/S3 to be very noisy also. I will be looking for a different tire next time around.

C230 Mulac

I second Viper on #2 and #3, why would you want to do that? Stick with OEM tire sizes or go bigger on the rear, not smaller.

I'm running 265/235 rear and front, Conti Extreme Contact DW. I had the original A/S sport on my C230 for some time but I sold those wheels with the tires before they fully wore down. I don't recall having any issues, traction was great for an all season tire but it definitely didn't fit my aggressive driving style for going to hit back roads.