willc55

Well it snowed today, and to say that I was all over the place traction wise would be an understatement. Right now I have Pirelli PZero's on the rear and some no-name fronts that the independent dealership I bought the car from put on right before I got the car. So I was looking at getting some new tires. While it doesn't snow excessively in NYC, it does on occasion and it gets cold regularly, so I was thinking about just getting some all-seasons because I'm not too worried about the loss of performance in the summer, and don't think the weather here is severe enough to justify getting another set of wheels with winter tires.

So I went to tirerack.com and discounttire.com and neither of them had all seasons that will fit the rear tire, neither did bfgoodrich.com. Is it possible that manufacturers literally don't make an all season tire that fits the rear rim on the C55 or am I being retarded in my search? Also, if it comes to putting on winter tires on the current rims do I absolutely need to change all 4 tires, or could I get away with just changing the rears?

Any help/suggestions would be much appreciated.

MRAMG1

One phrase comes to mind "Think SMALLER"

Don't look at the oem tire size, down size to the smallest tire that can strecth over an 8.5" rim. For winter driving, you want/need the smallest tire that can fit. If you use anything over a 225, your simply wasting your time here. And yes, It WILL hurt your summer driving fun, sorry.

See yeah

e1000

although it might sound like a good idea, you will be doing yourself a big dis-service by going with a set of all-seasons on a C55. The compromise will only leave you with bad options, either bad traction in the snow or bad traction in the summer. Also keep in mind that summer tires lose grip at low temperatures, even without snow or ice.

My suggestion is to get a good set of snow tires in a 225 section width all around and keep the staggered summer tires. Yes there might be some costs up front, but you have to remember each set will not wear as quickly because you'll be swapping them out.

Slater126

I'm running ContiSports in the summer and just bought a set of Dunlop SP Winter Sports for the winter. Dunlop is the only winter tire on the market now that I'm aware of available in our staggered size, and even it's being phased out per the Tire Rack. I went with that only because I couldn't bear the "pizza cutter" look 5 months out of the year Probably lost a little traction by going with the wider rears but I had no problem with my old staggered Blizzaks so I'm not too worried.

All-Season tires are a compromise -- not great in summer, not great in winter. You give up something on both ends for the convenience of not having to swap out tires twice a year. Personally, I wouldn't run a set of all-seasons on these cars unless I lived in an area with very mild winters.

Koru_Kinshi

Would California count? I was thinking of getting ContiSport Contact Xtreme's for my car, all-season. They were very good on my C230. Figure I stick with the same brand.

TemjinX2

well if your in socal, you dont really need them. Most good summer tires can handle rain...unless you plan on going up to the mountains in snow.

You will definately notice a performance difference between summer and all season tires.

If you in norcal, with a lot of heavy rain for 4-6months out of the year, then yeah some high performance all seasons might payoff.

DarkXerox

Yeah I had the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S's on there for awhile when I was up in the bay for the past few winters, but since I've been down in Socal for the last couple, I went to summer tires.

A lot of people are using the goodyear all seasons now right?

Quick Silver

That's what I have here in Northern VA. Stock size on front, 255's on the rears. Haven't used them in snow but so far no complaints in rain, heat, and cold. I also think they look good on the car. I would buy them again if I needed new tires.

TemjinX2

yeah i had pirelli all seasons when i was in the bay and they performed really well in rain...but in the dry they didn't even perform as well as my old cheap kuhmo summer tires.

Now i live in socal and when it rains, it barely rains a inch. I'm running general summer tires which are rebadged continentals and i'm more then happy with there peformance.

I think most people are running the goodyear f1 summer tires.

Koru_Kinshi

So as long as I'm not going in the snow, I'll be fine, right? I was a bit thrown off by the heavy storm we had a couple days ago. Rained 3-4 inches in about 3 hours, and it caused the car to hydroplane about half a dozen times. All mild, of course, but enough to cause concern.

Glasgow Gold

No problems whatsoever in the NorCal rain but, admittedly, they are still quite new. Best tires I have ever had.

DarkXerox

Those the GS/D3's or whatever? I know a lot of E55 guys were using those.

But yeah the Pilot Sport A/S's were like the best all season tire for years, then in the past couple, a bunch of new competitors stepped up their games. I'm using Pirelli P-Zero Neros cause that's what my wheels came with and yes they grip a whole lot better in the dry than the Michelins ever did. I've driven them a couple times in rainstorms and when I switch to "W", I didn't really have any slipping issues. I'm sure you could get away with the Goodyears since we never get any ice/snow in the bay, unless you live in the hills. They have by far the highest wet grip rating on tire-rack too.

FongFlex

I agree with all the above. I live in new york too and running two sets of tires for the year is the way to go.

I used to have the Michelin Pilot all season tires that came with the car and I was not happy with the traction I got, especially in the winter. Even on just cold days (<35 degreees), the car would slide during hard braking for a traffic light.

Right now, I have the Bridgestone Blizzaks (staggered) on the OEM rims and they work very well. I still slide in heavy snow and, of course, ice, but it's all very controlled. Besides having the right tire, the other key thing is being cautious and driving within limits.

EURO KNG

the goodyear allseasons right now and im very happy with them , you should check them out , tho it doesnt snow here i dont know how they do , but in the rain there good. im running a 255 in the back by the way.

Quick Silver

I'm running the Goodyear All Seasons on my C55. I had the GSD3's on my Corvette but those are summer tires. The GSD3s were notoriously good rainy day tires, but not that good in cold and terrible in snow.

OPM

The only all-season tires I would consider in NYC are Nokian WRG2 or WR. However, that is only if I drove something like C230. Why bother with AMG if you going to run it on sh***ty tires? My first post on this forum was about winter setup. Find it and buy similar. Also get proper summer tires. Good luck.

c32used

I use a summer and a winter setup...my summer are on my stock OEM rims while the winters are on OEM replicas I use 235 all around and used the Hancook Ice Bear is a fabulous tire for the snow and cold. If money is an issue just buy the Ice Bear winter tires alone...but at the rate of remounting every summer and winter its best to buy some other rims instead...our cars are performance minded and I can't see any All season tire doing better then a seasonal setup will.

Koru_Kinshi

All season tires do last much longer tread-wise, right?

jacek9478

I've been running on those for 2 years in Chicago, Absolutely no problems on dry , wet or snow/ice. Only disadvantage rears last about 12-15k miles.

Regards
Jack

TemjinX2

there's a tread number on tires. the larger the number, longer the tread life will last.

Newzchspy

Chiming in a bit late here, BUT I got the TireRack winter fitments with the wheels, the tires, all mounted and balanced for the ML 55. Michelin Arctic Alpins. Man, what a difference in snow performance since the Chicago snow season has already started. I feel like I am driving a snowmobile in that thing. My biggest fear is NOT my ability to stop, BUT the guy in back of me!!

Next year, think about giving the Tire Rack a call and getting a full package for the car. Lets face, the only thing different about my car and yours (other than AWD) is the ability to put rubber to the road. I've seen C320 with Blizzaks do as well as sport utes with AWD with std tires.

TemjinX2

yeah i like tire rack too. i got my last 5 sets of tires from them...great customer service too. I usually recommend them to everyone.

Koru_Kinshi

I don't go anywhere else *but* Tire Rack.

I will give that the Continental Extreme Contacts give excellent snow traction for all-season. Don't ask how I know. :P But I am interested in those Yokohama AVIDs...I think that's what they are.