Luxury_W204

Hi there,

I've poked around the forums for a solid answer on this, but I purchased a '13 C300 Sport that is otherwise a fantastic vehicle, but I was interested in "softening" the feel of the ride. Specifically, the weight of the steering (feels a little on the heavier side) and the abruptness of the suspension. (Yes, I should of bought the Luxury version but here we are)

Tires? Springs? Struts? I'm currently running Hankook Ventus V2 Concept2 17's. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks!

chassis

Smallest wheels and largest o.d. tires that fit without rubbing

New shocks

New lower control arm bushings

New stabilizer bar bushings

Luxury_W204

Any specific tires you can think of? Or at least whether or not those Hankook's run soft or hard?

Either way, thanks I appreciate the response!

Odd Piggy

No experience with that particular Hankook tire on the C250, but Hankooks rode much stiffer on the 2005 ML350.

Without changing anything, the softest riding tire would probably be Continental Pro Contact, which is OE on the luxury model.

Michelin Pilot Sport All Season 4 are much softer than most sport tires and they lighten the steering.

Suggest you buy at a retailer that lets you return tires for another set if you don’t like the ones you bought.

Gazwould

It shouldn't be that bad especially on 17's as W204 have dual rate dampers developed by Bilstein for Mercedes .


https://workshop.bilstein.com/en/wit...-intelligence/

shotgun_banjo

Go with 17" on Michelins MXM4 then watch those tire pressures. The sport suspension of the W204 is great even with 18" you just need to watch the tire pressure and the type of tire. No point of going super sport on the tires as it is not a AMG. If you don't hear any clunking noises or leaks on the struts you don't need any suspension upgrades just enjoy the ride.

karlt10

Exactly.
To OP, what this is often referred-to is 'Minus 1' sizing. You go down 1" on wheel diameter, but keep overall circumference by using a taller/higher aspect ratio tire. Some place like Tire Rack can help. Also, say you have factory 18s, it likely won't be too much trouble finding someone with factor 17s that would want to make a deal.

Odd Piggy

All great suggestions and advice, but the OP is already running 17 inch wheels.

Luxury_W204

So my plan currently is either the Michelins MXM4 as suggested or possibly the Continental ExtremeContact DWS 06. Any thoughts on the Conti's vs the MXM4's for cushy ride quality?

After that, possibly install some Koni FSDs shocks if its not a reasonable improvement.

Thanks again!

AAIIIC

The Hankooks you have now are a "high performance all-season" tire, according to Tire Rack's categorizations. IMO, if you really want to improve the ride quality, you should bump down a level of performance to a "grand touring all-season" tire. A tire that is H-rated (rather than V or Z) is generally going to be a softer tire than a tire with a higher speed rating.

Luxury_W204

Thanks for that info, was trying to figure out what exactly I'm currently running. I'll look for a Grand Touring.

shotgun_banjo

Both tires are good. On my C300 I have MXM4 and on my other car is a DWS 06. I do find the DWS better on snow so if you have winter season I will go with the DWS. I still have 1 more season left on my MXM4 then I'll switch DWS on the c-class. One thing for sure the DWS is a little stiffer so if ride comfort is really what you are after and no winter driving or you have dedicated winter tires then the MXM4 takes the cake.

Do not bother changing shocks. Do not waste money. If for some reason you will change em go with Blistein B4s. The W204 sport is meant to ride a little stiff. Only way to go cushy is to replace the springs and struts for the luxury setup but that brings the car higher and you will see those big fender gaps.

Luxury_W204

Hey there, thanks for the reply. And yeah, make sense. When you say "big fender gaps" do you mean sort of how the newer C300's look? That large gap between wheel and frame?

And tire rack says the MXM4's don't fit my 2013 C300 Sport--is that just because of the staggered configuration/me putting something in wrong?

Thanks again!

Odd Piggy

There is no reason you can't use the MXM4 on your C300 if it's available in the right size and the load range is 91 or higher. Maybe it's listed as an XL tire when the car calls for a standard tire. That was the case when I bought my Michelin Pilot Sport All Season 4 tires for my C250. It said they were not for my car. They are LR 94 and the car calls for LR 91. I put on the right size (225/45 R 17) and never looked back. BTW, they ride better than the Yokohama V405 (a rally tire so not surprising) and the MXM4 (which was a surprise), AND they are M+S rated for winter use.

Everyone has their favorites, but there are a lot of tires that do best in a specific job, whether it's comfort, wet traction, mileage, economy, cornering. Happy hunting!