There has been a considerable amount of discussion, regarding the value of the C7 package. I will be the first to admit that the 17" wheels look much better than the 16's, however if you do a little analysis, the price of the C7 is far greater than $750.

Let's assume the sport tires on the C7 package last 15,000 instead of 25,000 for more conservative rubber and the cost of replacing tires runs $600 for Z rated 17's and $300 for 16" all season's. Now, if you drive 15,000 miles a year and keep the car for 5 years the actual cost of the C7 package is approximately $2,550. If you extrapolate that out over the the 200,000 mile useful life of the car, the cost is close to $6,000.

For that kind of money, you really have to hate those little black door knobs. Am I wrong?

 

congratulations you have managed to remove all the joy and excitement out of buying a new car.

I don't remember ever calculating tire wear into a new car purchase especially since I threw away the factory 16"s when I bought my aftermarket wheels and tires that might get 15k miles worth of wear. Frugal=BORING

 

Wouldn't you be able to get similar boring all-seasons on the 17's as well? There's no law that says that you can't get z rated tires on the 16's either, for that matter. While I agree that the 17's will cost more, even with the same model of tire, if you do apples to apples, it won't be thousands.

It's only $750. Live a little.

 

Ok, a lot of things a bit off here. #1 It's not JUST the wheels that are in the C7 package, it's wheels, slightly better suspension, a short throw shifter, a larger exhaust tip, a different steering wheel, rubber and aluminum pedals (AMAZING LOOK), patterned aluminum door sills, leather covered sport shift knob. All that for $750. The whole basis of your argument that the sport wheels MIGHT last 10,000 miles less is so irrelevant it's not even worth mentioning. The value of the wheels as well as everything else is far greater than the $750. Add to that the value of the various appearance changes which make it just one hell of a steal. You can just ask me, for example, as somebody who's obsessed with aftermarket modifications, how much I'd pay for little things like aluminum pedals, or a leather wrapped shift knob, or Z rated tires separately, because itd be a LOT LOT LOT more than $750. There is not much you can say that will change the fact that the C7 could be priced 1.5 times more and still be a deal. Take advantage of it. And come on, on a $25-30K car, what is $700? If you're doing this much analysis for a $700 option, you shouldn't be buying this car. BTW, the whole basis of your argument is flawed. $6000 (which is a number you basically cooked up based on your assesment of Z rated tires) over your ANTICIPATED 200,000 miles and how many ever odd number of decades is in no way the correct way to assess the cost of the option now. It's just a ridiculous, if not humorous, way of looking at things. I mean, do you add up the sum total of every oil change, regular maintenance, tire rotation, etc etc (each of which cost maybe $20 each time and are spread out throughout the life of the car), get some HUGE number of some thousands of dollars, and then add that to the price of the car when you buy it? Ofcourse not.

 

Why the assumption that Z-rated tires will last only 15,000 miles? I wrung the last miles out of the 50-series EOM Goodyear Eagle GT Gatorbacks on my '94 Ford Probe GT... 54,000 miles, no problem. Replaced them with Z-rated Dunlop private branded tires, $96 each. Also, no problem.

I would think a more realistic scenario is 50,000 mi. for the all-seasons, vs 40,000 mi. for the sportier rubber. For 200,000 mi of use, this means you would replace the all-season tires 3-times, at your suggested $300 = $900. For the Z-rated, it's then 4 replacements x $600 = $2400. Leaving a difference between the two of $1500.

Bottom line, $2,250 ($750 initial expense plus $1500 maintenance for 200K miles) is not much to pay for the option overall -- you can't piece the initial package together in the aftermarket for $2,250.

 

Damn after extrapolating the figures I am wondering now if I should have downgraded to 15"s and bought vinyl instead of leather

 

I know you guys convinced me to get C7. The car has a definitely more finished look to it. I do notice a difference when I see the 16's in versus the 17's. The wheel wells look nicely filled up. The $750 is chump change in the overall scheme of things and like all the others say, if you negotiate hard, they might throw it in. Remember this is a Mercedes so you have to have that Mercedes mindset. GO FOR IT

 

my C7 came with Pilot Sport which has very good dry and wet traction which make the 16" stock tires look like crap.

not everyone is car enthusiast but you can look at good tires as safety device give you good traction in severe weather condition. I dont think I can get a set of Pilot Sport from tirerack shipped, mounted for $750

 

I have a C230 on order and I did include the C7 package on my car. It was not a very simple, 'gotta have it' choice for me. There are practicality trade offs with the C7 package as you have articulated. I chose to go with it only after I had the opportunity to drive the C230 with the optional 17" wheels / tires and the standard 16" wheels / tires back to back over the same roads. I could tell there was a difference in handling confidence during aggressive cornering between the two set ups. At the same time, the decrease in ride comfort with the 17" set up was considerably less than the gain in improved handling. Since I had targeted for myself a car that has a strong sense of both handling and ride comfort wrapped up into one, it seemed that the C230 with the 17" wheels came closer to providing that type of unique handling / ride balance. That's why I decided to accept the trade off in practicality and all that goes along with it. Hopefuuly I won't be kicking myself in the butt for this decision somewhere down the road.

 

If you live anywhere where this is appreciable snow or ice you will regret the C7. Yeah it may look nice but you will look pretty silly when you can't make it up your driveway or you can't control your car on the road. Those performance tires are meant for summer driving only in the appropriate terrain. For me as a daily driver vehicle C7 is a waste of money. The all-season tires are much more practical and lets be honest - you won't be outrunning any Z06 Vettes with the coupe so put your money toward a more useful option like the CD changer.

 

i got it mainly b/c i liked the way the wheels looked and i figured since it was an option, a lot of people would NOT get it but i figured wrong on that...

and then, i thought about where i live (hills - icy road death traps ) i prudently got some winter/snow tires but that was another $700 (you can add that to the total cost if you'd like). i'm glad i got them though.

 

It looks like you guys convinced me. I ordered the C7 package this morning. Now if I can just wait the next 6 weeks.

 

Steven, Your MB Obsession Support Group is here to get you through the next six weeks. Just don't fall off the wagon and visit a BMW dealer, or take any of sk-mia's or dasMafia's posts seriously. (LOL)

 

Thanks, I need the help. Not being a real car guy, (I have always saved this type of obsession for boats) I am really psyched about this one. At 40 years old, this will be my first time to actually buy a new car off a lot. I may not be MB's prime demographic but the car seems really cool to me. Now that I've seen the aluminum trim panels, the other MB's with wood seem a little boring. As for the tires, fortunately in South Florida, I won't need a winter set.

By the way, how long will the C7 tires last if they are not driven too agressively?


Steve
Silver C230, C5, C7, CD, On order

 

I think some of the negative discussion about Z-rated tire longevity is overdone. I don't have C7 tires on my sedan, but my experience with 225/50R16 Goodyear Eagles on a previous Coupe tells me that aggressive tires don't necessarily wear out faster. I got nearly 54,000 miles on those tires (Yes, I ran them until they wouldn't pass tread depth inspection. I was amazed they lasted so long.)

Some of the other guys with coupes can offer their guesses, but I would think with 10,000 mile rotations and good alignments those tires should last 35,000-40,000 miles, minimum. Afterall, the C7 tires are also 225 treadwidths... wider than stock, but not THAT aggressive, compared with 345's, etc.

Just some random thoughts...

 

BOB:

Goodyear Eagles aren't necessarily aggressive tires. Eagles come in a wide variety these days, most of which no longer fall into the "Max Performance" category, which are generally the stickiest & fastest wearing tires.

FWIW, the Bridgestone Potenza S02s that came with my present car (which *are* Max Performance tires) wear pretty quickly. My rears needed to be replaced at 11,000 miles (though the fronts are still okay at 16,500 - and no, I don't drive in a particularly aggressive fashion). I've heard of people getting 20k out of them, but it's rare.

Michelin Pilot Sports are perhaps a bit tougher than the S02s, but I'd be very surprised if they lasted more than 20k miles.

Don't forget that you'll be "adding" life to them if you use winter wheels & tires.

Edit: It took me four tries to post this reply!

 

I'll go with mapman there Bob and add that every individual tire is different with its own individual treadwear rating. Most Z rated tires have around a 200 treadwear meaning that you'll get about 15k unless you drive like grandma. Most brands tend toward a particular philosophy from what I've seen. Dunlops, Yokohama, Pirelli, tend toward performance at the expense of faster wear. Goodyear and Michelin for example tend toward long tread life and typically sacrifice performance. Obviously there are exceptions with certain various models but there is truth to that generally speaking. As there is truth to the fact that most not all Z rated tires have a fairly low treadwear rating (in the low 200's) my Z rated Bridgestone Potenza 730s have a 300(I got about 25k out of them.)

I do think that it would be tough to find a Z rated tire that will go much more than that- unless you do very little highway driving and don't like acceleration. Those are 2 additional variables and there is also curb weight and that is a biggie. The 2200 MR2 spyder's tires will way outlast the exact same tire on a 3500lb sedan. There are more but I think I've rambled long enough - tires are cool.

 

Zimmer - You said it the way that I should have. Your experience with the 730 jibes with everything that I've heard about them.

Another FWIW - the treadwear rating of the S02 tires that came with the S2000 is 140. I think that that is about as low as you can get without going to a dedicated race tire. They really are soft!

 

That was funny as hell !!!

Randy

 

First off...There isnt much of a difference in snow traction between an all season tire and a performance tire. Performance tires nowadays have good to even excellent wet traction (Toyo comes to mind)...I personally use Pilot Sports and I feel more comfortable with those than with all seasons in the rain. If you anticipate driving around in the snow, then no matter what , you should be considering a set of snow tires for the winter, be it on dif wheels or not.

 

"First off...There isnt much of a difference in snow traction between an all season tire and a performance tire."

Themis: I was about to thrash you for that ridiculous statement but after reading on assumed you meant wet traction and not snow traction right??- Aside from that I agree. If that was not a typo you're REALLY mistaken. Not to say that people shouldn't buy snows but a good all season is the easier and cheaper way to go (not for me but for some) if you don't drive in heavy snow regions. Performance tires are absolutely useless in cold adverse conditions, believe me I've had near death experiences with them, but I've learned. My mr2 is wearing what are actually considered(by Nokian) as an all season and I'll meet you and your pilot sports in a snow storm any time you want.

C230/6speed/orion/C7/changer on order- still
91 mr2 turbo