apb

any experiences with both? I have not lowered car and ideally would like 235 front and 275 back.

megacrazy

Check out the many threads addressing this issue around here. For looks and handling I would definitely go 19. 18s are the 16s of 10 years ago

Rudeney

I have 19s on the SL and HATE them. They are noisy, and I've had to replace two tires and now have a cracked rim due to potholes that the the 17 on the CLk used to just roll right over.

mis3

I am sure there is no dispute that bigger wheels are better in term of handling and appearance.

However, they may not be practical for a daily commute. It is not fun to have to watch for road condition constantly. I remember once I saw a souped-up Acura Integra with over-proportioned wheels going into a shopping mall, he had to make an almost complete stop, turned the wheels and entered the parking lot sideway.

Another consideration is the additional load imposed to the suspensions with bigger wheels. You may have to upgrade the suspension and maybe even brakes to overcome the additional stress.

Yidney

Not sure there is any added stress on the suspension or brakes since the outside diameter of the whole assembly is about the same - bigger wheel = smaller sidewall. But the idea of having even narrower sidewalls than my 18s" have is not something I want - looking out for every pothole is bad enough already. If 19s" generally give better handling, CLKs are not so much a "handling" car that it would make any difference. It's really a cosmetic issue, which is not worth it to me.

MacVidMB-V8

Just this past week I went from stock 17" CLK500 wheels to a set of 18" wheels from a CLK63.

The fronts arte still 225 but the backs are now 255. The car looks MUCH better. It might handle better, hard to say. The old tires had worn edges (round) so hardly surprising that flat, square edged tires get more grip.

I can definitely say that the initial "bang" when you hit s bump is firmer now. There is less sidewall, so hardly surprising. I have not found any way to make tires conflict with fenders, etc, so that is good These were "factory" 18" wheels so I was pretty sure that they would be trouble free.

I am able to drive the car the same way as when it had 17", so I am happy. Speedometer still pretty accurate too.

There may very well be 19" wheels that maintain all original aspects, will be interesting to hear reports. Constantly being in fear of tire sidewall/fender contact stinks. I am happy with 18" and doubt I will go the extra mile to try 19". Important to pay attention to "ET" numbers, especially as you go up in sizes. Note the sticky on this.

insame1

I think there is. A bigger rim will not improve handling. Having a sidewall is important for lateral grip. Look at any racecar. Not to mention that generally speaking a larger rim weighs more and increases un-sprung weight and rotational mass. Top gear got a car once with 20s and ran it around their track then they ran the same car with 18s around the track and it was much faster. on our cars 19s are for looks and 17s are for performance and 18s are a good mix of the two.

0zranvest

I run 235/40-18 front & in rear I run 275/35-18 on stock suspension & no spacers. Wheels are AMG replicas & tires are continental DSW. I agree comments re: running 19s with thinner tires is not my preference. I ran 17's with 235/45-17s in front for 6 years & no issues with blowouts. Then I had a pot hole caused blowout about 2 weeks after installing 235/40-18 fronts. For my next set of fronts I plan to raise the front suspension using spring pads & instead run 235/45-18 front. Hope this helps

apb

Sounds like there is a bit of agreement that 18 is better for daily commute and Houston has bad roads. I want to put 275 in back. Looking at 18s now....

apb

Anyone ever considered 19 rear and 18 front. Sort of like the Chrysler crossfire had done?

beejAMG

while youre at it, why not put a bull bar in your car? what works for others doesnt necessarily mean itll work for you. besides, do you drive a chrys... what?

apb

It was made by Mercedes based on SLK architecture. But whatever.

beejAMG

i reckon it was made by chrysler based on R170 (thats the first gen SLK btw) But whatever.

apb

anything constructive from others?

beejAMG

ill just leave this here. looks like something you'd do.

apb

Done

Reanimation

For my 100th Post, Go for 18" for a daily, more stock looking.

Reanimation

I'm wondering what the car is behind the Toyota.

Merc Mania

I am probably the only human being left on the planet who will never install enormous old western wagon wheels on my car. When I do acquire my long-sought CLK500, I will keep its 17 inch bone stock wheels, and would even consider going to 16 inch rims, IF that extra sidewall surface area will not result in any degradation in handling and suspension integrity.

Gigantic wagon wheels on cars are, in my opinion, absolutely hideous to look at, besides being inherently detrimental to the road handling capability of just about any vehicle so disfigured.

With the current fashion trend towards ever increasing rim sizes, it is only a matter of time before some fashion victim lemming motorists dispense with rubber tires entirely, and choose to run their cars on gigantic 25 inch ferris-wheel rims designed to shake the car to bits in a matter of days.

thinush

I recently installed 18" 8.5" wide front and 9.5" wide rear (Could be an inch off on those..).
Just want to put my opinion on here that the drive is kinda really really hard :-P We have bad roads in south africa and I try to avoid every bump in the road now.
So in my personal opinion... I wouldnt go 19". I would never myself go 18" again either. 17" Is really nice :-)

Anyways... just wanted to put this here :-D

mis3

+1. Especially not for a daily commute. I would not want to constantly check the road while driving; took all the fun out of driving......

kb24forlife24

18"

megacrazy

. at "old western wagon wheels".

First of all, drive the same car with crappy 16's and then 19's. let me know what handles better in turns. There's a reason car manufacturers are going with larger wheels and it's not just looks. Second, if you drive a 2 door GT/sports car and want a non-sporty ride maybe you should look at other cars that are designed for comfortable rides and poor handling.

The suspension on the CLK, especially the AMG models, is pretty stiff from the factory. Changing wheel sizes will have little negative impact on ride "quality" and huge positive impact on handling.

Also, the difference between 18's and 19's in pot hole damage is non existent. If you hit a pot hole so large that it damages a wheel, you'll damage anything over 17 inch wheels...maybe even those. If you live in a country that doesn't have roads that can support 19's, which are stock on many cars nowadays, you're driving the wrong car. Get a truck, SUV, or something else that can handle the driving conditions.

Merc Mania

Truth be told, MegaCrazy, my presumption until reading your post above, was that the trend to larger wheels was driven by purely cosmetic considerations, with few if any performance and handling benefits obtainable by installing 18inch and above car wheel rims. I have some homework to do, to understand this "less is more" tire rubber philosophy.

As you rightly guessed regarding life out here in the African sticks, I do spend more time on the dirt roads in my 1983 Landrover Defender, than I do in any of my 80s and 90s vintage V8 Mercs, but even with that care taken, the tarred roads in these parts are a far cry from the glorious SoCal freeways I got to ply a couple of weeks back.

I suppose a good rule of thumb, when buying footwear for most any car, is that factory spec wheels and tires are always available as a last resort, if all other mods fail the drive test.

megacrazy

Yup, and I drive a Audi Allroad for the 'tarded roads of NY and NJ...though also with 19's. However, the air suspension on that provides a vastly more comfortable ride 19's or not.

Indeed, you really need to test it out see what you perceive as "better". In my book, I go by the car...if it's a sporty car I'll try to improve it, not dumb it down because it's acting like a sporty car. However, to say that the difference between 18's and 19's is night and day in terms of comfort is funny to say the least. The difference will be zero. I could feel every crack in the road with my 17's and the stock AMG suspension. The upgrade to 19's did nothing but positively affect handling. If one wants a softer, smoother ride, get different springs/shocks that are not as aggressive.

Btw check out these wagon wheels..."love" the hellaflush trend.