blittle

The good ole manual clearly says that "to get the best performance out of the ABS, ETS, etc., etc. in snow" "winter tires are reccomended" That's great, except......if you plug in the tire size into Tirerack, only one winter tire comse up and that's a Blizzak(sp?) BUT it has a 109 load rating and Tirerack advisors say they cannot reccomend a tire with a lesser load rating ( GL requires 110) and that using a lesser load rating tire can invalidate various aspects of your MB warranty! So...........it makes me wonder what "winter tire" does MB have in mind when they suggest you use one I even checked the Euro. Nokian out.........nothing for the GL! Anybody have any other info..........?

Danno4x4

do you have the 19 or 18 inch wheels?

I think that the 18s have more tire choices. Smaller wheels are generally better for the winter anyhow.

If you have the 19s, you might be able to pickup a relatively cheap set of 18s from someone who upgraded and use those wheels for your winter tires.

jpeardm

Yeah, I went through this when I ordered mine but I wanted the Appearance pkg and the 19's. My sales guy said the same thing that the Cont Contacts are fine in moderate snow conditions but if I want true winter tires I'll have to go with a set of 18's for the winter season. I'm sure for my area in Boston the all seasons will be fine. I've had many SUV's and never any trouble. But for blittle up in Vermont you might have more problems than me. Get some 18's and leave them in the garage or you can be the test case for the rest of us. LOL

blittle

Guess what guys.....I HAVE 18's.......it's the 18's that, so far, no manufacturer is making a winter tire with the correct load and speed rating! I just assumed ( ) that if you can order the GL with a genuine off road package ( like I did ) then, there would be some all-terain or winter tires available......particularly since the owner's manual reccomends the winter tires Yokohama is telling me that they hope to have one available by December.

jpeardm

Hi blittle, did you see the Continental "ContiExtremeContact" tire? It is a 110/V and is definitely good in the snow. Pretty sure it's available in the stock sizes. Check it out.

blittle

I'll take a look...............

blittle

I looked at that ...... those tires are really max. performance tires ( higher speed rating ) and are actually listed as "car" tires rather than SUV. Deep snow performance is questionable. The really frustrating thing is that the only winter tire that MB recommends for the vehicle is the Conti Winter Contact tire, and, so far I have not been able to find that tire in the proper size listed as one that Continental makes! I told that to MBUSA Customer Service and their only answer was "that it is the only winter tire that they recommend" and that their sources tell them that tire "should still be available"!! I currently have an email in to Continental.........we'll see what they say.

Any Euro owners have any suggestions??

Mushroom

Go for Nokian Hakkapelitas.
http://www.nokiantires.com/en/tire_hakkasuv.aspx

Won all the tests I've read and they work really good.
And since my MB dealership recommended them to me I guess they go well with the GL.

blittle

Would love to be able to do that.......BUT, Nokian does not make a tire in the size needed: 265X60 R18 110H


And........heard back from Continental today......they make a wintercontact tire that size but as they said "unfortunately none are available" They did not say when or if they ever would be available.............not real helpful

Mushroom

Im sorry, forgot you got 18inch rims.
Their website might not be fully updated.