CatButt

H&R Springs on stock shocks (for now). 19s slightly rub bumper in front, but I think that can be an easy fix. Not too stiff actually...feels really good. I actually did a bunch of stuff to the car recently...plugs, all filters, ball joints, new control arms, tie rod ends, trans service, rear end service, tint...this thing is getting dialed.

Now I might have to sell it...figures. I have to get a truck and I have to sell the 43 and my Miata.

503C43 ////AMG

looks good, I am lowering mine soon and I have 19's as well. I was concerned about the rubbing, what size tires do you have and how much did you lower it?

DRBC43AMG

Looks very nice, but the 19" at too much IMO. That size was NEVER an option for the C43 at the time and to keep it looking "old time" should keep to 18" maximum. Just my two cents worth

NitrogenBalance

Are those refinished AMG monoblocks from the S class or black replica 19's? If OEM those are hard to find wheels!

I think the car looks bad in a good way. I say keep the 19's and the car

-WES-

CatButt

They are reps...and they are too heavy for the car. Also the roads in SO Cal are ****E and have taken their toll on the wheels. They need to be 18s just for the added rubber. Not really sure about "keeping it old time", actually I bet most cars here have items on them that were not OEM. I actually like many different styles of wheels (new. old, etc) and only one particular wheel came stock on the car. I do however like the Monos and if I can find a clean set of 18 Monos in So Cal I would likely ****** 'em up. Otherwise a set of TSW Snettertons or something along those lines I think would look good too.

KJI3jflarryfe93

your boot spoiler did you have to drill the holes on side to bolt it on or is it only sticky 3M used?

drilling holes gets rust in the future.

nice car, I bet it's lika sauna in it when it's hot outside?

503C43 ////AMG

I guess we will just pass up this question???

CatButt

No...we won't...you're a little inpatient, huh? H&R Sport springs...I'll get the tire specs when I go out to the garage. But the tire size wont really matter without the wheel specs, right?

503C43 ////AMG

wheel specs have to be similar to mine right??? there is only a certain range of offset you can use and you already informed us of the size of the rim. I am more interested in the tire specs but if you want to go the extra mile and dish out the wheel info please do.

CatButt

Yeah...don't know the wheel specs. Also you did not ask what spacers I am running on the springs, that a big difference too.

503C43 ////AMG

Really I don't need to know what spring pads you used, I want to know the overall drop height (stock height - lowered height = total lowering) I can use bigger or smaller springs and bigger or smaller pads to get the same height. Then I want to know the size of your tires width and aspect ratio.

CatButt

OH...I did not measure it.

225/35
245/35

PJmak

Where are you located?


Car looks good, post wheel specs when you get a chance

speedybenz

CattButt,

Did the replacement ofthe lower ball joints and tie rods in front tighten up the steering nicely.

I too am of the opion that the 19" wheels look just a little too big, but it could just be the pic.

Jeff

503C43 ////AMG

Thanks....

CatButt

I am in Long Beach. I will likely not get the wheel specs till I swap them out. The front end rebuild made a HUGE difference. You can just "feel" that the 19s are too big. I sorta like like the looks of them, but they are for sure not the right wheel for the car. Some cars are more sensitive to wheel size/weight than others...I think this car might be one of those.

503C43 ////AMG

Hmmmm...... I have 19" rims and I have to disagree. Are your rims hub centric??? I have the Mandrus milleniums and they are MADE specifically for mercedes and are hub + lug centric which makes them ride just like the stock rim. I have a staggered set with 8" in the front and 9.5" in the rear which gives me WAY more meat on the rears and gives me more traction on a launch.

CatButt

The car has hub centric spacers (of course it is hub centric). The fact that they are hub centric means nothing as to how they ride compared to the stock wheels. Actually anything other than stock wheels will ride (and feel) differently. I am glad you have good results, but I still feel that the wheels are too big and certainly too heavy for the car. Your mileage may vary.

503C43 ////AMG

Without spacers you rely on the concentricity of the studs to the axle. Sometimes this is good, sometimes not. It will vary from car model to car model and from car to car for any model.

I think, in general, the centering of the hub is better than the centering of the studs. All OEM wheels that I know of are hub-centric, and the diameter of the hub and the pilot hole of the wheel, and the play between them, are specified and controlled.

If spacers are available, I would recommend them for centering prior to torquing the lug nuts. It may not make any difference, but just a precaution. Once the wheel is mounted the load is carried by the studs and the hub is just along for the ride. So if you are using a rim that is hub centric like the OEM rim that came with the car and have the same off set then you are virtually running a stock rim vs an aftermarket rim that has different specs than the OEM. Hub centric rims are easier to balance on a car and have less chance of vibration thus riding more like the stock rim. This is what I meant by riding like a stock rim.

CatButt

Not sure why you highlighted that sentence of mine, but I was referring to your claim that because your wheels are hub and lug centric they ride just like the stockers. My assertion is that the fact that they are hub/lug centric has NOTHING to do with how they ride. It will certainly affect reliability might affect the ability to balance them, etc. The more important factor in how a wheel feels is its weight and ability of the tire to absorb the road.

Again, I feel the weight of the 19s is too great for the car and likely the 35 aspect is too low...I feel that this particular is very sensitive to wheel weight. I have had several cars that could basically take any wheel (within reason) and it made no difference on feel. Others, like my track car that are even more particular about it.

Just sayin'.

anotherAMG

[QUOTE=CatButt;4136473]

H&R Springs on stock shocks (for now). 19s slightly rub bumper in front, but I think that can be an easy fix. Not too stiff actually...feels really good. I actually did a bunch of stuff to the car recently...plugs, all filters, ball joints, new control arms, tie rod ends, trans service, rear end service, tint...this thing is getting dialed.

Looks hard. Roll all the fenders. I had Brabus (CEC) in Newport / now in Irvine do my C32 on 19x??? after the rears rubbed with H&R's on it. Also had them do a Turbo Porsche with Techart 19 inch wheels with 335 rears.

Keep the 19's. Get the headers to compensate!!!

503C43 ////AMG

gotcha... I will admit the 35 series is a little rough, how much do your monos weigh??? I believe my milleniums are 27 lbs. I ran across a thread that was talking about wheel weight vs tire weight and this guy did all these tests and proved that the tire weight is more important than the actual wheel weight...... I will see if I can find it again.

CatButt

Not sure how headers will affect suspension. It's not just a matter of added weight. It is a matter of the suspension of the car just does not like the added unsprung weight. The mechanical effect on the springs/shocks/control arms/ by the increased weight makes the car jittery over high speed (not to be confused with ground speed) bumps. It also makes the car feel slow to respond to steering inputs.

Again, I actually like the way it looks and I certainly appreciate the added contact patch...but not the ride. I can tell you from my personal experience...I have no data to back it up...when I was a mechanic we would replace more front end parts and shocks on cars with over sized wheel/tires. Also almost everyone would complain about poor braking performance. The last place I worked was a Chevy dealer and the trend then was 20s, 22's, etc. I know those are HUGE compared to these 19s but the result was similar.

To be honest I have not weighed the wheels...they were on the car when I got it and they had fresh tires...no need to dismount and weigh. I pulled them to replace the brakes and I almost dropped a nut though.

Saaboteur

Here's a couple good links on this subject:

http://www.caranddriver.com/features...sted-tech_dept

http://www.wheelweights.net

I don't think that tire weight or wheel weight is more important than the other. You have to look at both of them combined, after all, you don't use one on a car without using the other. I just had a quick look at falkentire.com and checked out the sizes and specs of their 452, as it's one site I know of that lists weights for the various sizes. The difference between sizes isn't huge. Indeed, they list their 255/35/19 at 28 lbs, and a 245/40/17 at 26 lbs.

Anytime you can ditch weight, you will get a gain in performance, and of course the converse is almost always true too (bolting on 50lbs in supercharger and accessories would be an exception).

DRBC43AMG

Unsprung weight is a killer for handling. Get things there as light as possible (discs, calipers, wheels,...) everything.