Palladin

OK, so we all joke about the rear tire wear, complain that the car needs bigger tires, debate which tires to get, etc., but I never see anyone who actually gets anything close to decent tread life regardless of what they do. OK, sure the car has quite a bit of torque and maybe it's a bit under-tired but I'm not so sure that's the whole story. I drive almost exclusively highway miles with very little hard digs and no track time and still only get 4K miles on the rears (Sumitomos with a 300 treadwear rating, not just the crappy PZeros). So......, I have a theory that I want some informed opinions on. What if the abysmal rear tire life is due to an alignment issue? Since we all have this problem I'm sure it's not just isolated to my car, but what if it's a design or factory spec "flaw". I know other cars in the past have had similar issues (the Honda NSX comes to mind and it had almost no torque and was notorious for eating rear tires). The truth is that there are a lot of cars out there with just as much power and torque as the C63, and I've never heard of tire life this ridiculous. What about cars that have really serious torque like Vipers, ZR1s, etc. Do they go through tires every week or what? Does anybody know (not guesssing....) the details on the factory rear alignment specs? Does it call for an unusual amount of toe or camber? Is there anything odd about the factory setup specs that could contribute to the rear tire wear? I know a lot of you guys have a strong technical and tuning background so somebody must have thought of this before me. I know I won't get a straight answer from the dealer (everything is "normal" to them, right?) so I am looking for some ideas from you guys. Any comments?

bushburninc63

I got the Nexens 3000 on my car right now and i drive them a lot harder than the stock and they show no wear at all.

Palladin

Let me know how they look after 5K miles. They have a treadwear rating of 340 so they should last longer than most of the tires people put on this car. On a normal car that tire should last 20K miles on the rear, longer for the fronts. My Sumitomos looked great after about 3K miles and now they are shot at 5K. I bet you dont make it to 10K. Thanks for the response but I am still looking for comments on the alignment specs.

Merc63

335/25R-20 ZR1 CURB WEIGHT: 3350LBS
335/30ZR18 VIPER CURB WEIGHT: 3284LBS

P255/35ZR18 C63 CURB WEIGHT: 3726LBS

Combine the small tire size with the weight, torque an aggressive negitive camber = bad tire life.

I find the out side of the tire usually has a few mm of life left compared to the inner edge be down to the cords.

I can't find anything that says what the rear camber is set, but I assume its pretty aggressive

BerBer63

I've gotten 11k out of my Sumitomo rears, probably have another 1k in em.

gsrjc

I heard that these tires don't have good traction. Can you discuss how the car handles with these tires?

Merc63

They aren't the best for traction. Mine spin all first and second gear if I punch it off the line.. But its good for ripping around on the street, I doubt a normal driver will push them to their limits.

Hans Delbruck

Unless the tread is not wearing evenly all the way across, your alignment is fine. Did your inside or outside edge wear faster than the center? That suggests more negative or positive camber than you need. Otherwise I really think rapid wear is just a characteristic of a high-HP car. Yes, they all do that!

bushburninc63

Traction sucks on them, you'd have to warm these up real good. The traction control would kick on more often compared to the stock tires. My evalution might be skewed also because I still have the stock tires up front. Maybe if I changed all four to the Nexen I might get a better balance.

I say these tires are good for street and occasional hard/spirited driving and not for weekend track use.

Mr. Happy

I like your theory. Makes a lot of sense. But if you're right, why doesn't this problem occur on other c-class? Is the alignment so different for the c63?

mthis

i have a pair of GT champiros that were $100 each. they been getting me more then 8k. and i been getting on them. they are done now but time for mickys now.

GT champiro
265/35/18

Brian GT PRO

I have been thinking about this very hard..it is very odd that tires wear so quickly on the C63