BLT

One of the tire shops I called when doing my research actually recommended those to me. I've never personally tried them, but the dude swore they were great bang for buck - Any other opinions on practical usage would probably be better.

JoeVal

BLT:

Hankook are good tires, congrats. Hope you will enjoy them.

c230kracer

wow i haven't been on here in a while! BUT i have some input on this...i did a lot of searching around too for tires and i actually ended up getting the 225/45-17 FALKEN FK-452 94Y

Quite frankly i actually really like them! Especially the way i press on that pedal! haha It has been about a year already and the wear on them is amazing...it still covers like 70% of a penny, i think that's what it was the last time i checked...

but thats my opinion.

Also...they aren't that pricey at all. i picked them up from Onlinetires.com which has their warehouse somewhere in cerritos.

Hope you like the tires you got! let us know how it holds up down the line.

Glyn M Ruck

I am amused at the number of good references that tyres are given by people that have clearly never had a premium tyre on their vehicle. Readers are requested to please take this into account.

Cheap & cheerful & long life is really not what good tyres are about.

johnand

+1. I refrained from commenting on that, but Glyn is more outspoken than I am

Glyn M Ruck

You should see some of the crap tyre advice on the W204 forum. People have a nice new W204 & they move from a reasonably good OE tyre to cheap crap at the encouragement of others. It has to be said that the W204 forum does not have too many technically strong/savvy members, with a few exceptions. This forum has many & is lucky in that regard.

I guess it's testament to the reliability of the 204 that not much DIY repair is required yet. They have difficulty believing that someone would DIY a 722.9 transmission service.

tommy

Wouldn't they still all be under warranty?

Glyn M Ruck

No - many are now out of warranty.

skittles

pikaboo! i cant help but to reply, just to say i agree!

tommy

Well, maybe in some places in the world, but the first year being 2008, with models being sold in the LH of 2007, they would still be covered in the US, the main source of discussions here. I'm not disagreeing with you on the reliability of the 204s (they have to be better than the early 203s), but I don't think that's the only explanation for fewer DIY discussions over there. They'll come up eventually.

Glyn M Ruck

There are plenty of US cars out of warranty on mileage alone. Read the forum. There are a number of members on their second 204.

MW_ATL

I think I have chosen the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S for the next set on my car, some time this fall. Now I just have to gather the green for the swap.

Glyn M Ruck

Great tyre! - splinter runs them on his C32

timmynabenz

hankook ventus k10 v12 evo's, done. best decision i ever made, i went from PS2's to them and for the price i am so frickin happy with them

JoeVal

Who's "they"? I am convinced 722.9 transmissions do not bite, plus there are great "stickers" to do almost anything to them. Fortunately, they are so far great transmissions. Unfortunately, the goof in lube performance expectancy did not provide for fluid "add on/replacement/measuring". But this only excites the little gray cells and keeps us on our toes to research and perform unorthodox methods to fill the gaps. Another oxymoron of German engineering, like the VW WWII Desert Vehicles: great, but that was not enough for the Desert Fox to come up with a miracle victory over Patton's sardine cans.

paypaboi

Hey Glynn! what about Pirelli Pzero Nero Ive always used them so I don't know what other tires feel like what are the comparison to the PS2's I need new tires and might try the PS2's since you are "pumping" them up

Ive used the yokohama S-Drives before though now that I think about it...I liked those actually, good looking tire too!

Glyn M Ruck

No goof in lube performance - the only goof was by MBUSA in considering the 722.9 filled for life. In the entire ROW it is serviced every 60,000 Km and has been from inception.

Example:

https://mbworld.org/forums/attachmen...e-products.pdf

Glyn M Ruck

The Pirelli's are good tyres if you can keep them quiet on a 203. Yes, I do think that the PS2/Exalto PE2 are the benchmark tyres on the W203 chassis. They do pretty damn well in the Tirerack surveys too when you consider the number of respondents. Recently the Conti Extreme Contact has kicked them out of top place in that survey but not the European surveys. Unfortunately with the exception of the DWS, Conti tyres are an unhappy combination on the W203/204 chassis - especially SC2 & SC3. They are fine on some other vehicles.

phister

my pirelli pzero nero are pretty quiet on my car, the S-drives are actually quieter than the pirelli from what I recall, I hardly had any road noise with them. I was considering the Conti DWS but the reviews on the pirelli were a little better at the time so I decided to try them out, might try the PS2 next time around.

Glyn M Ruck

Yokohama tyres are generally quiet on the 203 - Especially the AVS db2. If you allow the Pirelli's to cup & feather on the front they can become noisy - but not like a Conti which starts noisy & gets noisier with wear. Conti's can convince you that you have a damaged wheelbearing & actually cause drumming & vibration when you lean on their shoulder. You can feel this through the steering. My service manager curses Benz for fitting so many Conti's as OE. He has to put up with all the customer complaints. But they fit them because they get them cheap. I also find that people who are accustomed to other brands of vehicle with higher NVH than a typical Benz are less inclined to notice this. But if you value Benz low NVH values then you will not be happy. To me a Benz must be smooth & quiet. It's part of the pleasure of owning one.

FrankW

PS2 = the best tires i've ever used. however cheaper tires that i've tried also served their purpose very well and I certainly do not miss the PS2 that much.

worst tire i've had on the 203 = yokohama es100
worst tire i've experienced = bridgestone re750

current tire = hankook evo v12. dry G limit is very high, but has a slow turn-in response (not as bad as the toyo t1r however). sidewall is very stiff compare to PS2, T1R, and the old GS-D3. haven't driven it in rain yet, so don't know how that goes yet.

for a C240 on 17" with no other mods...for the price/wear/performance, pick your price range first and then pick and choose the best tire in that price range. PS2 is overkill when you are not looking for the ultimate performance.


and just for the record, I do not like anything other than max/high performance tires. however I did have touring tires on my Beetle before because high performance tire isn't needed on 16" 225/50/16.

Glyn M Ruck

I see things a little differently to Frank. Anything that improves handling & braking & thus safety is the right move for me. All a C32 can do that a C240 can't is travel approx 20 Kms an hour faster until it hits the speed limiter & accelerate a lot faster.

If you like cornering quickly & a car is capable of travelling at 230 Km/h all day then PS2's are an advantage & give you a greater margin of safety at the limit.