Am I the only one who is tired of having my fillings knocked out every time I drive on the streets of LA? The streets here in LA are filled with potholes everywhere! Last year, I had to replace an AMG wheel on my other car after I nailed a pothole and bent it. My brother in law who drives a CLK500 just said the same thing, he also had to replace a wheel after hitting a pothole in LA.
I'm currently running Brabus Monoblock V 2pc wheels with newer 225/45x18 and 245/40x18 Falkens but am thinking of down sizing to a 17 inch wheel just so I can run a little more rubber between me and the road. Has anybody else experienced this? Any suggestions for a tire that has decent absorbtion but doesn't sacrifice too much responsiveness?

 

I'm on 245/30-20 (front) and 295/25-20 (rear) in LA, and interestingly, don't really have any major complaints about ride quality. I suppose we all have different tolerances for such things though. I haven't experienced pothole damage to the wheels either, but I have popped two tires thanks to them.

 

You're a braver man than me!

 

I am in Colorado, a winter weather state with roads as bad or worse than LA and I run 255/35/18s all around. A little beefier than Kevins, and while I do notice a little more stiffness compared to the stock setup I've just learned to avoid potholes like it's my day job. Running more rubber would probably help but would also reduce handling sharpness in some respects so it's all a trade off. I've bent a couple wheels in the year and a half of owning this car so you just learn to drive carefully! Frustrating though man I get it...