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What do you need from your tires? Performance? All-season driving? Longevity? Inexpensive? I am partial to Michelin. I've never been disappointed in them. I've had good experiences with Bridgestone, too. I am not fond of Hankook or Continental. I currently have the Pilot Sport A/S 3+ on the SL550 and like them very well, though I've only put a few thousand miles on them. I had A/S 3's on the CLK and it also had MXV4's. One thing I look for is good performance along with good wear. The Michelin A/S 3+ has a 45K mile warranty. That is cut in half with staggered widths because they can't be rotated. Given that the rears will probably not last more than 12K, that's a pretty good deal - I had the rears repalced twice under warranty on the CLK because of this.
OK - so I purchased a clk 320 from a Mercedes Dealer with new Falken Tires on it. After many years of primarily Michelin tires, I was afraid that I might have to ditch the Falkens. But after inquiring at a couple of tire shops, I was reassured and elected to keep the Falkens. I decided that I liked the ride and handling of them and when I subsequently purchased a clk 550 and later needing new tires, I revisited the question of what to buy. The staggered tire bit means the mileage warranty is cut in half as stated. I bought Falkens again - 75,000 mile warranty at Discount Tire. I haven't regretted my purchase.
They are Falken Azenis PT722 A/S. Now have 10,000 miles plus on the rears and have lots of tread left - almost 1/4 ". This may turn out to be one of my better tires purchases.
Forgot to mention. Some of the reviews of this Falken tire seemed to indicate only average performance in the rain. Since I live in Albuquerque, NM where it rarely rains - maybe 8" in a year - I was not concerned with rainy scenarios. I note that I have never noticed any problem in the rain.
When I bought my CLK 350 last year it had new Falkens, but now, about 11K miles later the rears are almost worn down. Regular wear across the whole thread. I had expected much more out of these tires.
I've never had Falkens. I know they are owned by Sumitomo, and I think are considered a "performance" tire in that product line. I poked around looking at them and found that some sizes have a only a 300 treadwear rating, while other sizes are 500. The Michelin A/S 3+ I put on the SL were 550. Of course if you get a 75K mile (37.5K with staggered widths), that's a good deal.
E Coupe C207, ML W166, ML W164, Sprinter 1500/144, W111 SB220 Fintail(s), A5 chassis Beetle 5+5
The 2006 CLK 500 I just got had 4 different, all beat tires. My mechanic even jokes there could be 5 different brands if the spare were a Continental.
Without going too far into it, I'm pretty picky. My winter car is an Audi allroad, we live in the Poconos. My wife has her 2nd VW Tiguan. Between us, we have like 5 mounted sets.
So, I want to drive the CLK mostly in nice weather, BUT I still want to have some cold/wet traction and treadlife, so all-seasons is the ticket.
I don't know which sizes you mean, or I'd look specifically for you. In my 17" staggered, I got Nokian Zline all-seasons. Pretty cheap off Amazon, under $90 each shipped Prime. There is also the Nokian eNTYRE there and WalMart.com, which is less of a performance tire, still suited to the CLK. We have them on the Tig right now....great tire.
Depending on your goals, def consider the new General GMax 05.... General is owned by Conti
I would normally think the Yoko s-Drive would be a nice performance tire, but the one on my car is split on the carcass. Dry rot is typical of Yokos too.
BFG g-Force Comp 2 is a very nice new tire (owned by Michelin)
Mine are Azenis FK 450 A/S on 17" staggered. My car has the sports suspension.
What puzzles me is that I don't drive the CLK 350 hard. If I need to pump adrenaline I drive my Boxster S.
I have been checking Tirerack's reviews and will probably go for one that have high ratings for wear and wet/snow traction. They need to be all-season since this is my daily driver.
I am retired, so I don't put any commuting miles on the car. Most of our miles are the yearly trip to the Florida Keys every winter.
Audi J says "BFG g-Force Comp 2 is a very nice new tire (owned by Michelin)"
Just my 2 cents: I took a test drive in a BMW Z3 with these tires on it - was very impressed with the ride and handling. When I bought my BMW M Roadster, and needed new fronts, I put these on. So far I like the performance very much.
What puzzles me is that I don't drive the CLK 350 hard.
I just don't know why the rears on these cars wear so quickly. Being RWD, they will wear faster than the fronts. Using staggered width so you can't rotate them to balance that out wear emphasizes faster rear wear. Wider, lower profile tires will also wear more quickly, but my CLK550 had 17's, which is not really very "thin" by today's standards. I NEVER spun the wheels, and still only got about 11k out of the rears. It's just a fact of life when you own a CLK (and many other sport model MBZs)
I am very happy, in all weather, with my Sumitomo tires from NTB. HTR A/S P02. Great traction wet or dry. Not sure about the mileage, I only have 3K on them.
I used to love NTB. They are nearby, right next to the mall, so at least there was something to do while waiting. One day, I took the ML in for new tires. They quoted me a 2-hour wait, but it took almost 5. I drove down the highway and the thing was horribly out of balance. I went back, and they told me it would be another 2 hour wait to recheck it, but they probably would not be able to even get to it today - come back tomorrow. I did, and was told I'd have to wait my turn again. I spoke to the manager but got no help so I waited another 4 hours, and it was still out of balance! They did take it back in right away, but they still didn't get it right. When I got home, I had THREE broken off and missing lug bolts! I ended up taking it to a local MBZ indy that specializes in road-force balancing and they fixed it (had to dismount one to put the rim and tire in sync). That was my last business with NTB. Costco came to town, and I've used them ever since - they have never disappointed me.
I've Michelin Pilot Sport 4s. Incredible tyres. Outstanding grip dry or wet, and so far they seem to be wearing nicely, I've done about 5,000 miles on them and they're about 1/4 worn. Undfortnately michelin do not make a PS4 in 225 r17, hence I've had to go with Michelin Primacy 3s up front. On my father's Quattro Avant they've done about 15,000 mile and worn only 1.5mm.
The PS4s are noticeably more grippy than the primacy 3 tyre. I used to get oversteer quite nicely, now the occasional understeer comes through.
