LorinserCClass

Hey what are wrong w/Perilli P7000? I guess I'm not too knowledgeable w/tires, I'm missing something? They seemed like a good deal and they have been um, pretty good for me.

bensitto

I have NITTO 555's on my 19's. They are great in dry conditions. But I do notice that the stock Michelin's grip better in the rain. ESP takes care of balancing out on high speed turns in the rain with the 555's. They are louder too, but I think that's cause they are 235/35 19's, aggressive tread pattern too.

If I had another chance to pick out some tires I would get Continental Sport Contact 2's. I hear the performance and quiet ride are top of the line.

3_P

I bought the Nitto 555's (225/18/40) for $189 each and it's pretty good. The tires are kinda loud due to it's agressive tread, but handles well....

gab

Kumho 712 is positioned to take on the likes of RE 730's

Kumho MX is positionsed to take on the likes of S03, Pilot Sport, Sp9000 etc

Kumho MX hands down

Keista

I had Nitto 555 225/40/18 and here is my experience:

1. Last a long time - I had over 30,000 miles (mostly highway, very little aggressive) and still at least 1/4 of tread left. Monitored and adjusted tire pressures every 2 weeks.
2. Loud and got louder as they get older - complained to stealership something was wrong with my drivetrain/brakes several times but it turned out to be the tires.
3. Awful in rain (highway speed) - had to drive like a little old lady in the slow lane.
4. Danced around on expansion joints and rain grooves.
5. Toward the end, vibrated a lot even though rebalanced several times and wheels were changed.

My recommendation - stay away! I only kept them because I wanted to wear them out (get good value for $), but the last 10,000 miles were so miserable I gave up and replaced them. Got Bridgestone SO3....too new to comment yet.

CHATMANR

I also have NITTO 555's on my front 19's. After 30,000 miles, with 25% tread remaining, the noise is so annoying that I'm replacing them. Even though i have the Dunlop SP9000 on the rears; I will be replacing the Nittos with the new Pirelli PZero Nero. The 9000's are too "lazy" for me to consider them on the fronts...I'd surely dent or crack a wheel with them on the front wheels.

alevy

Bottom line... Best performance and traction tire ever made is the Bridgestone Potenza S03 Pole Position. Every tire rating company including tirerack rates it #1 w/ no close 2nd.

Lynn

Everything I've heard about Nitto's is that they are for show, not go.

Rowdy Audi

The best tires that I've used is the Toyo Proxes T1-S. I would also avoid the Nitto 555 at all costs. They are very greasy feeling if you push them hard and in anyother weather condition other than hot and dry they are just a hazard.

CHATMANR

Move over S-03; Welcome the Nero!!!

alevy

No doubt pirelli's are awesome tires.. With the test results that close it would be hard to pick a winner.. However.. In the industry Pirellis have a nickname. ERASERS.. Because with a tough driver.. you stand to only get at best 8000 miles out of them.. I ran my PZero Rosso's for 8100 miles... and a new set of S03s for 15600 miles and i certainly didnt change my driving style

-Alex

.elijah.

how about Yokohama AVS or something like that? i drive a lot and the SO3's were actually not recommended. my driving conditions consist of ~40K in 15 months. A lot of freeway miles. The tires are on 18" Brabus Monoblock V one-piece. Putting them on on Friday. I'm excited!

alevy

If you are looking for Decent wear summer tires that perform well for a good price i cant say enough about Continental Contisport Contacts.. Great tires and wear well.. If its all highway you can probably get 25-30k miles out of them

-Alex

230 Cedan

I'm new to the board here and have a question for you guys. We got a 230 sedan back in January and I just noticed that the tires on the car don't seem to have a Z rating on them. I was wondering if I'm alone here as the MB literature claims they are Z rated. I guess I'll give them a call.

jpb5151

225/45/ZR17's over here, car purchased mid-March. hth

c230 sport

What did you get instead?

Rick

The C7 package and any AMG wheel packages come with Z rated wider, lower profile tires. The stock set up is 16" H rated across the C class line. (exceptions: the C32, sport pkg)

Matt230K

What brand of tires do you have? They should be Z-rated, but if they aren't then they will probably last longer. The C can't go over 130 mph, so you don't really need anything more than H rated. However, nearly all high performance tires are Z rated or higher.

Look at the tire size, and see if there are two numbers after it and then a letter. If that letter is a W or Y, then those have an even higher speed rating than Z.

jpb5151

It looks like the 2003 c230 has 17" Z's as stock. I pulled this from the mbusa web page, c230 specs:

==
Wheels Aluminum-alloy, 7-spoke design 7.5Jx17.
Tires Steel-belted radial, 225/45ZR17 high performance.
==

Our 230 came with the 17" Z's, and we got just c2, heated seats, CD, and (sorry!) auto transmission.

Matt230K

Whew, what a day!!

I was excited to get my first bike (2000 Suzuki SV650) and drove about an hour to pick it up and ride it back. My friend drove the coupe back and stopped to pick up a friend. I continued on my way and obviously didn't take any phone calls while riding. When I got back, I called and he was over a half hour behind sitting on the highway with a flat.

Well, he took the time to read the manual and try to figure everything out about changing the flat, but was kinda scared to do something wrong. I could have told him to call roadside, but instead I just rode back out to help him. I'm kinda glad he waited, because there is way too much to go wrong, with the inflatable tire and different lug bolts.

Well, I got there and it turns out the outer sidewall was completely cut all the way around. Luckily there was enough sidewall left to keep the rim off the road and it looks okay, as long as it didn't bend. I would hate to lose a C7 wheel and a tire at the same time. I'm just glad that he didn't hurt the car. He said the back end just started to wobble and he wasn't aware that he hit anything.

But here's the strange part. Apparently there was a malfunction on the dash and something about tire pressure. He may have misread, but I'm wondering what it said. I told him it definitely didn't have tire pressure monitoring. But I'm wondering if the car knew that there was something wrong with the tire based on the movement of the back end. And I also wonder if ESP is what kept him off the guardrail, considering it looks like a pretty massive blowout. Any ideas??

x15jq

What kind fo tires do you have the michelins?


Is there a sign of him hitting something or is it possibly a defect?

Matt230K

Yes, they are Michelins. I doesn't look like he hit anything, but I am going to take a closer look tomorrow. The tires already had about 8500 miles on them, so I don't know about a defect.

The good thing is, since I work at the dealer, we take off a lot of tires from trade-ins that are still good, but don't meet starmark certification. And I think there are some Michelins I can put on from a CLK430. The two fronts from that car are the same size and even have a bit more tread. So I guess I will just replace both rears.

Rick

you have the 7 spoke wheels...those are 17" optional wheels included in the C7 package

Lynn

Rick, the C230k SportsSedan doesn't have an optional C7 package. Those items are standard on the sports sedan. But the tires should be Z rated.

Rick

Didn't I mention that?