wilsondharma

Hi Guys, I am trying to get a new set of tires for my car. Have guys heard of the federal tires? I heard most of the C63 are using them for performance tires. Are they true? do they make a lot of noises on the road? Are we actually allowed to use different brand of tires for the pair?


thanks

vic viper

They are cheap Chinese made tires, there is no way these tires are used as a performance tire.

Go for a premium brand, Michelin, Pirelli, Continental or similar.

larrypmyers

Good advice.

ua549

I've had a lot of trouble with Michelin made in the US tires including a set of Pilot Sport AS3+ that lasted a mere 5,000 miles. I never had any issues with ones made in Germany. Currently I'm happy with a set of original equipment Pirelli Cinturato P7 tires other than the fact that they are run flats.

wilsondharma

ua549

I recommend that you stay away from Chinese tires under any and all circumstances.
Personally I would take public transport before staking my life on Chinese tires.

Cambridgehank

I noticed you did not include Goodyear tires. That is what came with my E400, any reason or are they not premium or performance?

ua549

Goodyear tires have had a bad reputation over the past few years mainly due to very poor treadwear. Thus the slogan "Good for a Year".

wilsondharma

wilsondharma

ua549

Go for one of the brands recommended by Vic or Goodyear. Stay away from all other brands. Check prices and availability at tirerack.com.

wilsondharma

jhpmbusa

For 1 year maybe even the HANKOOK tires are good. They came stock with my e350 with night package in 18s. Do you say 1 year because it is a lease? All 4 tires should match and they should be run flats if your car came with them.

Cao Black

Hankook are Korean rather than Chinese and have been around for quite some time. I believe they once had some association with Goodyear when they first were sold in the US. I think they enjoy a very favorable reputation. I always look for durability and quietness, and Hankook would be on that list.

Cambridgehank

Just for the heck of it, I really do not need tires, I followed your link to tirerack.com . The E400 2018 is not listed? To soon for them I guess.

ProtonCharlie

Every brand people do not know about is not made in China. That seems to be a theme here. Federal tires sold in the U.S. are made in Taiwan. Outside the U.S., yes some are sold that are from their China plant. I should know since we are a distributor of Federal ( one of the largest tire distributors of most brands in the U.S. in fact). The tires are not incredible, but they are known for making good UHP tires. Some of their patterns are extremely popular for drifting.

So much money is thrown away on premium brands. For the money, Michelin, Pirelli, Conti, Goodyear, and Bridgestone are not providing near as much value as a Yokohama, Hankook, Toyo, Kumho, Nexen, and others. You're paying more and do get a great tire, but you're not really getting a significantly better tire and maybe not better at all.

vic viper

Why do you think they are used for drifting?, because they are cheap and slippery, Chinese tires are not worth the rubber smoke they let out.

Show me a serious tire test were a chinese tire outperform a premium brand, I have worked with tires over 20 years and I have never seen it happen.

ProtonCharlie

They have plenty of patterns that aren't slippery. Pattern is what is important. Federal has patterns like SS595 for drifting amd othet patterns like AZ01 or FD2 that are touring tires.

Plenty of these major brands you are propping up have tires made in China, though they mostly don't make it to the U.S. because of tire duties now. China can make some of the worst tires in the world but is also perfectly capable of making some of the best tires in the world. Did you know Pirelli is now owned by the Chinese? As an example, Vogue is a Chinese tire that you'll see on Discount Tire's site that they classify as "BEST" in their good, better, best classification system. They are made by Sailun.

Edit: to be fair, because of duties, some Vogue are now made in Vietnam still using the same Sailun Chinese technology.

vic viper

Is it really now, I always was under the impression that road tests are the important part?

If the chinese plastic tires are so great how come you cant find them on any larger car manufacturer?
How come they never show any good results in tests?

ProtonCharlie

double post

ProtonCharlie

Keep on drinking the premium brand koolaid. Find me tests where the premiums brands are significantly better than something like Vogue or even Maxxis who makes some of their tires in China.

I'm not advocating Discount Tire since all they do is put on tires and do not offer services other tire dealers do, but Discount tests every single tire they sell on advanced machines and tracks. If they rate it BEST, it is because it performed the best.

edit: they don't come O.E. because there are not enough points of sale of the tire, so they might be hard to find. Many don't have U.S. operations even. And O.E. tire's are mostly junk bought at the cheapest O.E. price, so I wouldn't look there for which is the best tire. I replaced my Pirelli tires for some Nexen and much prefer them.

All I'm saying is you should pay more attention to facts and the brand value than simply country of origin because you might be throwing money away not getting a tire that is much better.

ProtonCharlie

To be clear, I don't think I would put Federal on my Mercedes in this case since they are really focus on UHP more than touring tires, but there are some brands less known that are extremely high quality for a better price, and some are made in China. I would have no problem fitting my Mercedes with a Yokohama, Hankook, Nexen, Kumho, Falken/Sumitomo, Vogue, Maxxis, and many others, some of which are made in China.

Chinese factories are building in the U.S. now and U.S. brands are being made in China. Globalization happens. When that "crappy" Chinese tire is now made in the U.S., will you then think it is a great tire? I hope not. Reviews, any testing you can find, and the recommendation of your tire dealer are the best bets, but you do not need the so called premium brands any more than you need a Chanel bag.

vic viper

Oh I enjoy that koolaid, I have a family with two kids, I would never put them at risk just to save a few bucks.

Good tires are a cheap life Insurance,

ProtonCharlie

I agree with that, but that's exactly what premium brands want you to think-- they don't want you to research but instead just trust them and pay extra. The only place I disagree with you is shutting out GOOD tires from brands you know less about. Goodyear makes some of the worst tires in the world, yet they also make some good ones.

The key is that you can have both a great tire and at a great value.

ua549

In a car tires are the only thing between life and death. I won't gamble family and friends on anything less than the best. I have driven a Mercedes since the 1960's because even the best tires can fail. Back in the day I experienced a very high speed tire blowout. The MB saved the day. That's why only the best is good enough.