sflgator

I don't drive aggressively that often (despite what my wife says, he he ). Seriously, I drive about 90% highway miles, so I'm typically in 6th + 7th gears most often; even around town, I'm usually in 5th-6th gears. I've never done a burnout thus far and only do "fast" starts from a light if/when I'm challenged and feel like "playing."

eagle_lex

im wondering how much paddle down shifts are killing our rears.... you know that has to eat up that soft rubber. i never did a "burn out" or jack rabbit start but i have enjoyed the down shifting... that has to be my issue....

Savoy6

forget about the re960as' they are crap on this car. I just got finished with a set. oh and they wont honor the mileage warranty either since you cant rotate the tires. mine lasted about 9k miles while better than the stocks mileage wise not worth the time spent with ill handling.

sflgator

Thanks for the tip; sorry about your experience. After some research, I had ruled out the Bridgestone Pole Position RE960 A/S tires. Since it doesn't help to rotate just the rears from side to side, I will inquire about the 45k mi. Michelin tread life warranty before I get the Michelin Sport A/S Plus tires though.

sflgator

I don't think the down-shifting via the paddles burns up the tires much as it's probably easier on the tires than using the brake to slow the car.

CaliforniaCrook

Haha. You should get that milage out of the A/S+

rory breaker

how would downshifting negatively affect tire life vs naturally slowing down vs braking?

eagle_lex

@rory - i just meant that obviously when i do a semi aggressive down shift i have to assume that the rear tires are aggressively gripping and/or slipping on the throttle blip. sometimes i can feel them slip a little. just a thought.

@sfgator - i have no idea how downshifting would be better on tires then using the brakes. i guess unless you are saying braking super aggressively.... i dont know.

@Savoy6 - you only got 9k miles out of an A/S tire? geezz... whats the treadwear rating those things... the RE760 summer tires have a treadwear of 340 verses the Pzeros 220. i figured i sacrafice a little grip for the higher treadwear of the Re760s.

sflgator

No, not really. I would say that 9 x out of 10, paddle downshifts (with the throttle blip) will still slow the car more gradually than braking (even average braking); thereby being easier on the tires. If you notice, the car's TCU usually will not allow super aggressive downshifts; doesn't even allow you to downshift 2 gears (like from 5th to 3rd)...1 gear down only and if you're lucky, it might allow you to downshift again 1 more gear after a second or two after the first downshift.

sflgator

UPDATE...

Last week, I put a set of the 265/35/18 Michelin Pilot A/S Plus ("ultra high performance all season" tires w/ a 500 tread wear rating and a 45k mi. warranty) on the rear of my tuned C63 AMG...



Love 'em so far!!! Although I have only driven ~ 400 miles on them thus far, all I can say is that there seems to be little to no loss in traction with these tires. They seem to grip just as well, and are almost as quiet as my previous Bridgestone Potenza Sport RE760's; hopefully they will have much more tread wear life.

I will update everyone in a few months after I put about ~ 4-5k mi. I would love these tires to last ~ 15k-20k mi. and still have decent grip in the hot summer heat and torrential rain. If all goes well with these a/s tires over the next few months, I will most likely replace my oem stock front Pirelli's (currently w/ 13k mi. on them) with a set of 245/40/18 Michelin Pilot A/S Plus tires to match the rear!

iatacs19

Summer tyres in the front and all-seasons in the rear...

How smart/safe is it to drive with mismatched tyres like that?

sflgator

Well, I think here in S. FL, it should be okay for a few months. I haven't driven with this setup in the rain yet, but I suspect my traction will be just fine, especially with these all-season tires on the rear. Let's not forget that the aren't just typical all-season tires, but rather "ultra high performance all-season" tires...look at the uni-directional tread design in my previous post.

c63canada

Here in canada they have a 70 000km warranty. Thinking about doing the same thing as you to replace the bald rear pzeros.

yarukc

Would 275/35/18 fit for these michelin pilot sport a/s plus's? i have goodyear f1 a/s in a 275/35/18 and they barely fit. Fronts i will get 245/40/18 but dont know about 265 or 275 for rears yet.

sflgator

Don't know since I have the 265's in the rear...didn't want to chance it since I carry ~ 100lbs. of work stuff in my trunk and it already sits a bit lower.

yaymitch

What is the advantage of 245's vs 235's on the front?

DTMCLK

Potenza S001 ? Anyone?

http://www.potenza.eu/

sflgator

Larger, more contact patch, maybe slightly better handling, and of course, it looks better with less space between the tire and fender.

exdes

I have 245 and 275 and no problem.

emericr

Exdes: the 275 you have, are they Pilot A/S? I am about to pull the trigger and would love to be able to put 275s on the rear.

drawde

Currently running michelin ps2's.. No complaints, got maybe 14k on these with a little more to go (much better and the 6k I got with the oems.. next rears will prolly be ps2s.

Arclight338

I'm sticking with the P-Zero's. Where I live in Northern NJ, SNOW tires are an absolute must. I have a TireRack sourced set of Winter wheels/tires/tpms that I put on when th eweather gets cold.

With the power that the C63 has, and the type of driving most of us do-there is no substitute for max performance summer tires. Poor tread wear is the cost you have to live with. Anything else is a compromise IMO.

BerBer63

I've gotten 17k out of my Sumitomo 245 fronts. I got about 12K off the rears, no track days no burnouts, but yes peel outs, WOT, and downshifting. Weren't that great of tires, but weren't half bad either.

efx1

try the nitto invo's

very similar compound to the PS2 michelins

quiet and excellent dry handling

iatacs19

I got the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus, 235(f) and 255(r).

They ride quietly and smoothly. BUT, give up a lot of feedback and the response is greatly decreased. It feels like I am driving on marshmallows or a Lexus ES350. I'd say unless you get snow, stick to summer tyres.