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c230 sport tires awful in poor weather

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Old 08-01-2006, 10:04 AM
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c230 Sport
c230 sport tires awful in poor weather

I found out the hard way that the stock tires were a nightmare in the snow, which i swapped out with snow tires for the winter.

But I am also feeling, with the major rainstorms we've been having in the Northeast, that the stock tires are awful in heavy rain. the car hydroplanes when its pouring and its pretty terrifying.

anyone else in agreement?
Old 08-01-2006, 10:10 AM
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98 Black C43 , 08' ML320 CDI ,11 E63
Originally Posted by mcfly_c230
I found out the hard way that the stock tires were a nightmare in the snow, which i swapped out with snow tires for the winter.
It's the 1st week of August....in the middle of a heatwave......WTF made you think of this......wishful thinking ?
Old 08-01-2006, 10:17 AM
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not sure where you are

but in NY when it gets this hot, the storms are as extreme. both friday and saturday this weekend we had severe storms that dropped several inches of rain, despite the scorching heat.
Old 08-01-2006, 10:36 AM
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98 Black C43 , 08' ML320 CDI ,11 E63
Are you riding on Conti's?
Old 08-01-2006, 10:38 AM
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no, they are the stock michelins i believe.
Old 08-01-2006, 10:55 AM
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wow, if they are Michelins....I am suprised.
Old 08-01-2006, 12:04 PM
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I have Pilot Sports on my car, and I've driven through heavy raining conditions, and managed to drive 70MPH fine on the highway. I said thats pretty good for "summer tire". I mean if you want to drive 90MPH in heavy rain and expect the car not to hydroplane thats another story....

The stock tires that came with C230 are not ment to be driven in the snow period. May I suggest going all-season tires on your next set of tires?

Let me tell you what a bad tire is, my previous car was a 2k2 Nissan Maxima and it came with Bridgestone Potenza RE92 all-season "performance" tires. Let's just say the car hydroplanes like hell at 65MPH on the highway, has no grib when braking in the wet (ABS always kicks in), It's a killer in wet! WOREST TIRE EVER! (and they are not cheap tires too!).....Snow condition is even worest...
Old 08-01-2006, 12:57 PM
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Originally Posted by BabyBenz6spd
I have Pilot Sports on my car, and I've driven through heavy raining conditions, and managed to drive 70MPH fine on the highway. I said thats pretty good for "summer tire". I mean if you want to drive 90MPH in heavy rain and expect the car not to hydroplane thats another story...
I use Dunlop Sportmaxx tires on my summer rims. They purportedly don't grip as well in dry as the Michelins, but I've found them to be great in dry and spectacular in wet. I find I can drive as hard as I want in the rain. I drove on the freeway in a downpour a few weeks ago, and the car behaved very well at 70+ mph.

However, these tires do not function with even a dusting of snow on the ground.

Maybe I just like having different tires than everyone, but I haven't a bad thing to say about my Dunlops.
Old 08-01-2006, 01:56 PM
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thanks for the replies. When these wear, i will replace them. Truthfully even at like 50mph on the highway, when the rain is heavy i get slippage. to the point that the yellow triangle on the dash appears from wheel spin.
Old 08-01-2006, 02:01 PM
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Originally Posted by mcfly_c230
thanks for the replies. When these wear, i will replace them. Truthfully even at like 50mph on the highway, when the rain is heavy i get slippage. to the point that the yellow triangle on the dash appears from wheel spin.
How many miles on them ,and what type Michelin's ?
Old 08-01-2006, 03:08 PM
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c230 Sport
i'll have to look at the car to see what they are. they came with the car, which is an 06 model. they probably have no more than 7500 miles on them.

the tread design on them is like the outter part of the tire looks like regular tread, but the inner half look like racing tires, with sort of swoosh lines instead of the normal grid looking pattern (if that makes any sense).
Old 08-01-2006, 03:14 PM
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98 Black C43 , 08' ML320 CDI ,11 E63
Originally Posted by mcfly_c230
i'll have to look at the car to see what they are. they came with the car, which is an 06 model. they probably have no more than 7500 miles on them.

the tread design on them is like the outter part of the tire looks like regular tread, but the inner half look like racing tires, with sort of swoosh lines instead of the normal grid looking pattern (if that makes any sense).
Michelin Pilot Primacy ? If that's them I would be surprised.They were on my 00' c230K - they were great - no problems, got 25k out of them.....hmmm.

Last edited by C43AMG; 08-01-2006 at 03:16 PM.
Old 08-01-2006, 09:28 PM
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just get some Toyo Proxes for the summer i guarantee you will be happy
Old 08-01-2006, 09:47 PM
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If you have the C230 Sport sedan with staggered wheels and tires, then it wouldn't be uncommon for them to hydroplane in certain wet conditions since the tire is so wide that it cannot expel the water.

The Michelin Pilot Primacy tire already has a well considered asymetrical tread that helps to eliminate water build up.

If aquaplaning and wet stability continues to be a problem, then you might wish to switch the the Michelin Pilot A/S.

I currently have the Michelin Pilot Primacy and I think that they're fairly decent in the wet for the type of tire that they are. For high performance summer grand touring tires, they are already very good in the wet. I have only had problems with them in extremely wet circumstances (the one where the windshield wipers are working full speed to expel the water) where the rear tires seemed to aquaplane just a little bit on the highway. This is so far my only poor experience with this tire.
Old 08-01-2006, 10:28 PM
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i'm in NYC local, i run on conti's in the summer, theres no problem.

dont expect to have it feel like an SUV, even SUVs seem hydroplaned on heavy rainy days,

i remember driving on the belt, to the airport, at night one day, heavy fog heavy heavy rain, everyone was following me (b/c im drivin a suv) and im following a S-4matic and that thing was floating left and right
Old 08-02-2006, 12:15 PM
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I use Michelin Pilot Sport A/S for my winter wheels. In summer, Goodyear F1. Both are great in wet.
Old 08-02-2006, 12:33 PM
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a quarter mile at a time
Pilot Primacy's have been fine for me in the rain but they're starting to get LOUD. Looks like they'll make it to about 25K for me too.
Old 08-02-2006, 12:42 PM
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Originally Posted by e1000
Pilot Primacy's have been fine for me in the rain but they're starting to get LOUD. Looks like they'll make it to about 25K for me too.


I'm starting to hate Michelins.....for some reason, on every car I've had, I've had bad experiences with them. They just don't last very long, and they lose traction quickly!

Anyone here have a good Bridgestone experience? I figure if Ferrari uses them in F1 cars.........they can't be that bad.
Old 08-02-2006, 12:49 PM
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a quarter mile at a time
Originally Posted by TA-9FF


I'm starting to hate Michelins.....for some reason, on every car I've had, I've had bad experiences with them. They just don't last very long, and they lose traction quickly!

Anyone here have a good Bridgestone experience? I figure if Ferrari uses them in F1 cars.........they can't be that bad.
I've had mixed experiences. I think the Pilot Sports or PS2's are much better tires but they wear pretty quickly.

I've had some really good experiences with my Yoko's on my Accord when I had it but of course those tires had much more sidewall.
Old 08-02-2006, 10:19 PM
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That's very funny, because I didn't want Brigestones on my Ferrari. Let's put it this way, they say that the Ferrari is slower because it runs on Bridgestones than Pirellis. Oh, I don't have a Ferrari, at least not yet.

Bridgestone tires are not particularly good at all. Go with the BF Goodrich. That's my next tire. The BF Goodrich g-Force Sport is cheap ($130 at www.costco.com for the rears) and lasts long and is a good tire. They say this tire will last much longer than 25k miles. I have mine sitting in the garage, haven't put them on the car, but I think they'll be quiet and civilized and they will handle very well.

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