mderka

Posted on another mercedes forum with no response. Maybe someone here can help:

Hey guys, new here to the forum and new to Mercedes/AMG in general. Picked up a silver 2009 C63 on Saturday and so far love it (even though I only have a whopping 250 miles on it). By far the tightest car I've ever had the privilege of owning. In case you are wondering, I'm upgrading from a Jeep GC SRT8 which was a bit of a beast itself.

Anyway, since I live in the snowy northeast I immediately had a snow tire/wheel package installed from the tirerack (225/40R-18 MICHELIN PILOT ALPIN PA3). Tonight I was cleaning up the factory wheels and did not see a directional indicator on the Pirelli's. Are they directional or can they be mounted on either side?

Just wondering. Look forward to reading more on the forum.

lee7758

I think there are indicators showing the inside/outside!!!

GBlansten

The side you are seeing should be on the outside.

mderka

I understand that there are indicators for inside and outside, but with the wheels and tires mounted off the car there are no arrows showing which wheel should be mounted on the drivers side and which should go on the passenger side.

GBlansten, in that picture, would the wheel be moving clockwise or counterclockwise to be rotating the correct direction?

GBlansten

So long as you walk around your car and see the side that is facing you in that pic you are fine.

GBlansten

InsideOutside

qship5

The tread design of the Pzero is not directional. It is however designed to have specific tread blocks on the outside and inside edges and as others have stated needs to be mounted as shown in the picture from GBlansten. The side of the car that it is mounted on at that point doesn't matter.

mderka

Thanks guys, thats all I need to know.

The tires on my last couple of cars all had unidirectional tires that needed to be mounted side specific (ie no side to side rotation)

So that means the c63 can have tire rotations side to side, yes?

GBlansten

Yes but they go so quickly who has the time.

mderka

That's what I beginning to learn.

qship5

Technically you could rotate them side to side, but as others have said they go pretty fast and with a asymmetric tire you can't balance out inside or outside shoulder tread wear. On a directional tire you can do this, it just requires unmounting the tires and remoutning them on the other side wheel.

mderka

So most directional tires don't have a proper inside/outside orientation?

I thought many of the directional tires also have specific tread patterns that have a definite inside and outside.

qship5

Directional tires are designed to rotate in a single direction. They do not have a specific inside and outside. You will find rotation direction labels on them, but not inside or outside labels. Asymmetric tires on the other hand have different tread designs and/or tread compounds on certain sections of the tire. They are designed to bear tire load forces differently for inside and outside portions of the tire and as such are labeled appropriately.

mderka

Wow, I'm learning all sorts of good things about tires!

Tell me, oh tire gurus, does anyone make a directional, asymmetric tire?

PatSC23

so do continentals no longer come on the C63 ? pirelli only?

dps01

The car that I just picked up last week came with Pirellis as well.

BobsC63

I killed off my rears pretty good within 2 months. I squeal em at every other stop sign so i guess thats why..hehe. Off to Tire Rack soon.

vkam

Cost of set of tires for 5000 km ($700) ~= cost of gas for 5000 km (15 L/100km * 50 = 750L).
Will we prolong tires by going to wider tires?