stallion150

That's a great point man. The best solution for me, if possible, though is to see if there are 18'' tires as comfortable as 17'' tires. Since I paid for the 18'' AMG wheels, it'll suck to lose them when the time comes to trade in/re-sell this car.

If it becomes clear though that no 18'' tire is going to give me the same type of ride I had on my previous C230, then swapping out the 18's for a 17 would be the way to go.


Are there any 18'' Comfortable, non sporty tires you guys can recommend?

justthinking

Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus would be your best bet...however, new tires will cost you at least a grand and you won't get much back for those used conti contact sport 3 summer tires...
I agree w/ dmatre, put your 18" amg up for trade, I am sure there are members here that would love to trade their stock c350 17" amg + CASH ($600? $700?) for your 18"...

BTW, c300 sport, c300 luxury & c350 comes w/ different stock 17" rims..and either conti pro contact all season or michelin pilot hx mxm4 all seaon tires..do you know which one is on the cars you tested?

stallion150

Great Advice. I know for sure on the 350 17'' that I tested it was the Conti pro contact all season, not sure about the C300 luxury.

If I were to run these tires down a bit, and then scrap them, do you think the difference between the Michelin Pilot Sports 18'' and 17'' comfort tires would be negligible....The toughest question that I'm not sure as to the answer, is if switching to another brand of 18'' tire will be a wasted effort (Not nearly as good as), when what I really need is to trade down to 17'' wheels and tires to get the ride quality i'm looking for.

You guys have been amazing.....its great as a jittery new buyer to have your advice.

rb23lb

ive had the 18 inch amg rims and the conti contact pro tires since october 2007.... while a little harsher than the 17 inch luxury model wheels and tires that come stock on the low end c300 that i tested as a rental, the ride on my 18's is by no mean rough and unbearable...

my car with 18s feels centered and with a good feel of the road instead of "rough"... it feels like a sport edition should, in other words... just take out 5 psi if they are inflated at maximum according to the sidewall, and see how u like it

spoolIT85

bigger wheels mean shorter/stiffer sidewall... if you are looking for comfort, smaller diameter wheels would be the way to go. you would give away some of your high speed cornering, but should definitely hold up better for daily driving / cruising & some spirited driving.

good luck with your search stallion... if you do decide to go smaller, hit me up... i have just about 11k miles on the stock tires. i can add some cash to sweeten the deal

Glyn M Ruck

Agree with dmatre

I've been down this road - If you are sensitive to the 18" or larger, and I am, tyres alone won't do it. You need the higher profile tyre the 17" allows. 17" is the breaking point = good compromise - beyond that ride deteriorates quickly IMHO

Glyn M Ruck

Stay away from Conti tyres if you are noise sensitive & harsh ride sensitive. They are crap in both regards.

And if you want pliant sidewalls - Michelin

stallion150

You guys are right---I have a bad feeling I could switch out to different 18'' tires and still not be satisfied.

I'm in Chapel Hill NC---anyone who has 17'' wheels for a C350 please contact me and we'll work something out. Thanks!

spoolIT85

Are you willing to ship them out?

stallion150

I hadn't thought about shipping---how far from the triangle area are you?

spoolIT85

I'm from Illinois, just outside of Chicago... so it's a bit of a drive

It might not hurt to look around local to you at first, but if you can't find any takers, then just let me know and we can work something out.

tivoboy

I tested three cars before buying the C300 we have.
the c350, with the 18" AMG
the c300 with the 17" AMG
and the C300 with the stock wheels.

There were harsh in order from top to bottom, and that is one of the reasons we chose the latter.

I think the C350 is harsher a bit, due to the large wheels and tires combo, as well as possibly a slightly stiffer suspension up front.

tivoboy

deleted, database error, what is going on?

stallion150

Hey all,


One additional question: To clarify what I meant originally by "harsh ride"--its not that potholes in the road are jarring, its more that if the road is uneven or has a curve in it, the car tracks this uneveness..

Meaning I don't feel that the car "drives straight" through these curves and instead mirrors the road with a lot of lateral motion.

I'm getting the car looked at one last time---I want to check the shocks, suspension etc.....Does this still look like its due to the larger sport tires or do you think there could be another issue contributing to this ride quality?

Thanks!!

Glyn M Ruck

If it's tramlining (following the imperfections in the road)) this is aggravated by low profile tyres & scrub radius. The greater the positive scrub radius the worse it is.

stallion150

Glyn, you sir have hit the nail on the head!

Tramlining...now i finally have a term to describe how this damn car feels on the road...lol.

I'm assuming the contribution of tramlining by the sport suspension can't be fixed, but at least the wheels can be changed.

RLE

The Sport suspension is not the reason. It has to do with toe-in, non-stock offset, lower than stock tire aspect ratio and tire tread design. All of which are exacerbated by the road surface. In my city, although we have only perhaps 3-5 snow days per year, we have thousands of knuckleheads that install their studded tires on the first day they are permitted and leave them on until the last day. And so our highways have two tracks in each lane, ground down by the studs.

But, my C300 tramlines very little (stock 18" tire dimensions) whereas my Porsche was terrible, pulling left and right depending on where the wheels are pointed and how much pavement wear exists at that point.. And I know from personal experience that tire brand and tread design can make a big difference and when I replaced the ten year old Firestones with new Bridgestone RE050A PPs, the car calmed down considerably.

On thing that can be done is to increase the toe-in a bit but not beyond factory limits.

Glyn M Ruck

RLE is correct - biggest reason on the Porche is scrub radius to achieve the so called Porsche steering input "feel". Higher profile tyres will help due to greater sidewall flex. Softer sidewall a la Michelin PS2 & similar will help. One degree more castor right than left will help & is recommended by Benz. (on LHD cars - reverse applies to RHD cars) SLIGHT increase in toe will help. Don't fit rims with greater positive offset than standard i.e. reducing ET numbers from standard. Stiffer sway bars exacerbate the problem.

Moto_Guzzi

My ride in C is soft with 17-conti-3's, much softer that B-170 with michellins, but harsh on S-mode.

aowhaus

that's why there is a choice between the Luxury model and the Sport model, though the C350 only comes in Sport.
The Luxury rides on a softer taller suspension and less aggressive wheels/tires, and it suited for the more traditional MB driver.

justthinking

So we still have MBUSA to blame for not bring agility pack or advanced agility control to US...

Glyn M Ruck

You are lucky - You have the Advanced Agility Package - It's great IMHO

It's interesting because Conti SC3s have harder side walls than the Michelin Exalto PE2 & PS2 - What Michelins on the B? Primacy is on the hard side. They are, of course, very different vehicles

stallion150

Hey guys---thanks very much for the help! I recently switched out the 18''s for the 17''s---the ride quality is noticeably better. Tramlining (following the grooves in the road) has effectively ceased. I still get a decent bit of road noise (the 17'' tires are the Continental Contisport) and transmission of road rockiness to the interior.

Do you think if I ditch these tires and switch out to Bridgestone Potenzas or Michelin Pilot Sport the ride would improve that much?

Glyn M Ruck

The Conti's are shockers for noise & ride comfort. Pilot Exalto PE2s or PS2s are vastly quieter & give smoother ride.

JimPap

Stallion150,

If you're still following this thread, one thing I noticed that no one has mentioned and it doesn't appear that you did.

In one of the post, you said that you had the dealer check the tire pressure and that they said that it was O.K.

May I suggest that you check it when you haven't driven the car for several hours and adjust it to the recommended settings in your door sill. I find that it only takes a pound or 2 to radically change my car's ride characteristics.