taylorcoleman

Well, agaist my better judgement, I totally cheaped out on my tire situation.

So I have 8,100 miles on my '09, and this is the first time I've had to address my rear tire wear (because I had snow tires on my car).

As we all know, the rears wear quickly, and the fronts seem to be fine. So instead of dropping $1,200 on PS2's all around, I thought why not roll the dice on Sumitomo HTR Z III (Max Performance Summer) -- OEM size for the rears. I kept the P-Zeros on the front since the wear was minor.

I've logged about 100 miles on the car. It handles just as well as it did before, the traction is just as good (or fair however you consider the stock tires to be). My only issue now is treadlife. So if these things hold up at least as good (or bad, again, depending on perspective) as the P-Zeros, I'm going to be running these things from now on.

The rears are $165 each on TireRack (board sponsor) and the fronts are$112 each.

sflgator

Cool; let us know how your Sumitomo HTR Z III tires hold up on the rear of your Kleemann K2 C63 AMG!

FWIW, I've been pricing out a few other rear tire replacements for my oem Pirelli P-Zero's (which now have > 4,500 mi. on them and probably only have another ~ 2,000mi. or so)...

1. Falken FK-452, 265/35/18, $172/each from DTD...had them on my previous BMW 335i and they gripped almost as well as my Michelin PS2's, were much less expensive, and lasted 20k mi. on the BMW.

2. Bridgestone Potenza RE760 Sport, 265/35/18, $183/each installed a local Firestone tire center...another MBW Forum member recommends these tires as he's had them on his C63 for ~ 5,000mi. and they're doing quite well (340 treadwear rating) with great wet/dry grip. These fairly new tires are also #1 on the latest Tire Rack Ultra-High Performance Summer Tire Survey...

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/survey...y.jsp?type=UHP

3. GoodYear Eagle F1 A/S, 265/35/18, ~ $225-$250/tire

Although I've had great experiences with the Falken FK-452's, I may try the Bridgestone RE760 Sports since I can just get them at my local Firestone tire ctr for about the same cost as the Falken FK-452's installed.

Quadcammer

Tons of porsche guys run these tires and are happy with them.

MikeS54

I don't think people's gonna notice much difference between High performance summer tires and extreme high performance summer tires. In our case P zero isn't even extreme summer tires its a good all rounder therefore it won't be much worse than stuff like Falken 452 unless you take to the track or in the ring.

MikeG_C63_AMG

I have Michelin PS2's and they are by far superior to the PZERO's that came with the car. Yes they are expensive, but they certainly get the power to the ground and improve the handling in the corners. If I was buying a C63 new now, I would make sure the dealer got rid of the PZERO's and swapped them out for PS2's. You will save your self at least a grand over the year especially if you have a heavy right foot.

yooker

Dunlop Star Spec Z1 is the new tire to get, affordable yet amazing performance in wet or dry.

taylorcoleman

Tires are certainly very personal choices. Kind of like being an audiophile -- some people pay a lot more but get a lot more appreciation, where others who would pay for a high-end sound system may not appreciate the differences, so why bother.

Just so happens in my case I'm not the equivalent of an audiophile in tires. These new ones happen to work great for me, and they are half the cost.

Brian GT PRO

My opinion, is that for the type of driving and type of car this is (an AMG), Sumitomo, and other low end tires are not really suited (this is my opinion at least). But different strokes for different folks, I personally prefer the PS2. I like the Toyo T1R for a lower priced solution, the Falken's are not bad either and they have really been trying to build better tires every successive model that comes out, the FK452 is good for normal street driving, but thay are not good pushed to the edge.

BerBer63

I have them. They perform less than stocks in handling, straight line grip is about the same (i also stepped up 20mm in the back). Road noise is considerably higher. Decent tire for the price, I would probably try them again if I was on a budget. The price of these have dropped considerably since February too almost 65/per tire for the fronts.

I've put about 5,500miles on them and looks about ~40-50% tread left. No burnouts or track time, but def peel outs.

taylorcoleman

U sure we're talking about the same tires? $118 was the best price I could find on the fronts, so when you say $65/tire I'm not sure if we are talking about the same. If so...plz PM me the source, as I'll gobble up the fronts at $65/tire.

As for performance, I think running the 20mm step may have something to do with handling. I've seen other posts where people run a 20mm step for straight line improvement, but notice a handling deficit.

The primary intent of this post is to help other C63 owners to know they have reasonable, inexpensive tire choices. I had the impression that just because this was an AMG, I had to spend $1,200 - $1,400 a pop for a tire change. Turns out for me, that's not true. Will I run these on my turbo? I don't see why not. Certainly worth a shot.

GBlansten

Not trying to split hairs here but the Pzero tires that are OEM on the C63 are max summer performance tires.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....ireModel=PZero

I agree with your first point for those that don't track their cars like myself.

soldier2304

Thanks for the info dude. Will try this tires when my PS2's are no longer usefull!

drawde

Got PS2s for my rears as to Mike G's recommendation the other day.. They're coming in tomorrow. Was kinda scary driving in the rain today with my bald *** PZero's, lol

GBlansten

Just a vote for the Continental Extreme Contact DW tires. Love them.

KenFlo

The Vredestein Ultrac Sessanta tires have been great and are much cheaper than the Pzeros. Just shooting out another option for people.