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Hi, question for you all. I have a 2013 GL450 which has Continental 4x4 Contacts on them. I am not happy with these tires. Poor snow traction ( even when they were new ) and the car just does not seem to handle well with them. We had them put on new when we purchased the vehicle. They now have 20,000 miles and are worn and need to be replaced. Any suggestions for a better tire that will help with handling and last a little longer then 20,000 miles. Thanks in advance!
Hi, question for you all. I have a 2013 GL450 which has Continental 4x4 Contacts on them. I am not happy with these tires. Poor snow traction ( even when they were new ) and the car just does not seem to handle well with them. We had them put on new when we purchased the vehicle. They now have 20,000 miles and are worn and need to be replaced. Any suggestions for a better tire that will help with handling and last a little longer then 20,000 miles. Thanks in advance!
I've got a GL550 with the standard 295/40R21 tires, but I just ordered some 19" wheels and 275/55R19 tires for winter duty. If you have the standard wheels on your 450, then you have that size. After considerable research, the tires I ordered are Toyo Celsius CUV's. They are "all weather" tires, not all-season. The biggest distinction is that all-season tires are pretty much useless in the snow or on ice. The Toyo's do very well in all weather conditions, including snow and ice....and have the snow flake and mountain symbol on them....which is only given to tires that pass a strict Canadian snow and ice test. According to Consumer Reports, they rate better on snow and ice than many dedicated snow tires, but can be used year round and actually have a 60k mileage warranty. On dry roads they are supposed to handle as good as an all season and will not wear out prematurely like snow tires when the weather heats up. Toyo and Nokian are really the only brands that offer an "all weather" tire at this time as it is a very new segment with new technology. Toyo is the only brand that offers your size in an all-weather. The best deal I found was a place called "Used Treads" in Neenah, WI that sells them at $205 each plus $5 shipping. Despite the company name, they are a new tire shop.
Thanks for the info. I am going to look into them. The car rarely goes out in the snow as we take the trusty old E320 4matic with 4 studs out. It’s a tank in the snow. Hopefully whatever I choose will be better than the Contis which I was very disappointed in. Thanks again!
My GL550 wears 295/40R21 111W XL Pirelli Scorpion Winter year-round. They cost an arm and a leg, but they are very nice replacements to the Continental’s that were on there.
After the OEM Conti's wore out after 20K miles, I installed Michelin LTXs. Still going strong 35K miles later and use them year round here in Minnesota. Just visually looking at them I'd predict they are good for at least another 10K miles.
Last edited by cadetdrivr; Nov 15, 2018 at 09:35 AM.
My GL550 wears 295/40R21 111W XL Pirelli Scorpion Winter year-round. They cost an arm and a leg, but they are very nice replacements to the Continental’s that were on there.
You should definitely NOT be using those tires year round. The tread will wear out very quickly during the summer months (even in dreary Portland) and traction in the rain is not great with them. I used to have those tires on my old Chrysler SRT8 RWD. They were awesome in the winter, but sucked as the weather warmed, so I was quick to get the stock wheels and tires back on by mid-April. I have to imagine that they would be even worse on a big, heavy SUV like the GL.
You should be swapping the stock tires on every spring.
You should definitely NOT be using those tires year round. The tread will wear out very quickly during the summer months (even in dreary Portland) and traction in the rain is not great with them.
Yeah, we'll see. I put winter tires (Michelin PA4) on my S63 Cab about 10,000 miles ago, and drove them through a very warm summer including a couple weeks of 100+ temps, and they now not only have lasted longer than my summer OEM tires (Conti 5P), but appear to only be about 20% worn. Plus their performance is so much better than the 5Ps.
So I'm hoping for the same with the Scorpions. So far they've been fine in the rain.
Yeah, we'll see. I put winter tires (Michelin PA4) on my S63 Cab about 10,000 miles ago, and drove them through a very warm summer including a couple weeks of 100+ temps, and they now not only have lasted longer than my summer OEM tires (Conti 5P), but appear to only be about 20% worn. Plus their performance is so much better than the 5Ps.
So I'm hoping for the same with the Scorpions. So far they've been fine in the rain.
When I had the Scorpions on my SRT8, they were good for about 3 winters before needing replacement. In three winters, I'd put a total of about 10k miles on them. Perhaps I could have gotten a 4th winter out of them since there was around 4/32nds left on them. But with that depth, they were basically useless for winter use. There's a reason that dedicated snow tires do not have mileage warranties. They just don't last due to the soft rubber compound. Even if you took them down to the wear indicators, you likely won't get more than 12k miles out of them before they are trashed.
If you live in a climate that gets annual snow and ice, snow tires are definitely a must. But putting them on 21" stock rims is not a good idea as potholes show up in the winter and it's much easier to bend a wheel or blow out a tire with that low profile. Also, the wide track of those wheels makes handling in the snow much more challenging than a narrower wheel.
For the cost of what you paid for just 1 set of those Scorpion tires, you could have had an entire tire and wheel package with TPMS sensors. And I'm talking about tires with a 60k mile warranty on them that are ranked very high for winter use and can also be used year round. When those Scorpions are worn out, you may want to consider a dedicated winter wheel set as it will save you money. You can also keep them on year round if you don't mind going down to 19" wheels.
I put together my own wheel/tire package as I didn't like any of the choices from TireRack or other vendors:
Mount, balance, program sensors: $110 out the door.
So for under $1700, I have a dedicated wheel/tire package that looks great and can perform year round if I want. I can use these for probably 10 winters (I won't have this rig nearly that long), and which will have great resale value when it comes time to sell the truck in a few years. If you drive even an average number of miles, you'll only get about 1 year out of those Scorpions before they are useless.
I just got them mount, balanced, and installed. Installation was only $86. The sensors i bought do not need any kind of programming and work great. Looking forward to seeing how this thing handles in the snow.
BTW, 19" wheels are definitely the smallest you can go with on the 550 to get over the front brakes.
I switched to Michelin Premier LTX 275/50R20 on 3/2017 after only getting 28K miles with the Latitude Sports my GL350 came with. After 20.5K miles, the LTXs already need replacing. I rotated my tires every 5K miles and all 4 tires have even wear. Fortunately, the tires have a 60K warranty so I should be getting some money back. Discount Tire is suggesting I try the Michelin Primacy which is rated for 55K miles but have more tread depth.
I switched to Michelin Premier LTX 275/50R20 on 3/2017 after only getting 28K miles with the Latitude Sports my GL350 came with. After 20.5K miles, the LTXs already need replacing. I rotated my tires every 5K miles and all 4 tires have even wear. Fortunately, the tires have a 60K warranty so I should be getting some money back. Discount Tire is suggesting I try the Michelin Primacy which is rated for 55K miles but have more tread depth.
With these very heavy trucks that eat tires, you should never expect usable wear to exceed 40-50% of the tread warranty. You won't get any longer wear out of the Primacy tires than you got out of the LTX's.
Michelin's are good tires....but they are very expensive for a wear item that only lasts 20-30k miles on these hefty beasts. I would go with a less expensive brand that has similar wear, weight, and speed ratings. If you were in the snow belt, I'd highly recommend the Toyo Celsius tires like I have since that are "all weather" tires with a 60k warranty. Mine have been great so far. But in a state like Texas that rarely sees snow, a decent "all-season" should be good enough.
Michelin's are good tires....but they are very expensive for a wear item that only lasts 20-30k miles on these hefty beasts. I would go with a less expensive brand that has similar wear, weight, and speed ratings.
But that's the thing, these Michelins have a warranty on the mileage. Even if I only get half the mileage I'll still get money back on the warranty claim. I don't know what cheap tires go for but the Michelin Primacy I ordered were $232/tire and I would hope 20K miles on a 60K miles warranty on the LTXs should net me decent savings on the new set (which will also have a warranty). The new tires haven't come in yet so I don't know how much I'm getting back on the warranty claim.
I second the Toyo Celsius CUV all conditions tire. Just put them on my 14 GL450. Love them. Dry road / wet road, very good handling. Did well in snow in VT a few weeks ago. Pretty quiet on the highway too. So far I am very happy...
Just got back from Discount Tire. They said my tires had a mixture of 5/32" and 4/32" tread depth left. Even though they typically recommend replacing tires at 4/32", these tires were probably good for another 10-15K miles because they were Michelin Premiers. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. I told the guy that when I last had the tires rotated there 2 months ago, the person who helped me said I probably needed to replace them after another 3K miles. The guy today said they were mistaken and shouldn't have told me that for these tires.
I forgot to ask how much I would be getting back at 30K miles on a 60K mile warranty.
Just got back from Discount Tire. They said my tires had a mixture of 5/32" and 4/32" tread depth left. Even though they typically recommend replacing tires at 4/32", these tires were probably good for another 10-15K miles because they were Michelin Premiers. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. I told the guy that when I last had the tires rotated there 2 months ago, the person who helped me said I probably needed to replace them after another 3K miles. The guy today said they were mistaken and shouldn't have told me that for these tires.
I forgot to ask how much I would be getting back at 30K miles on a 60K mile warranty.
Don't count on getting any kind of refund based on your mileage warranty. Read this:
At 4/32, it's time to change your tires as they can become unsafe in any kind of inclement weather below that point. If you lived in sunny San Diego, you'd probably be fine taking them down to the wear bars at 2/32.
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