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Any GLB35 AMG owners that can provide feedback on ride comfort?
Do you have the 21” AMG wheels? I’m really liking the 21” wheels but i feel they might be too uncomfortable for daily driving. I’m thinking of switching to a 20” wheels instead.
Also, do you find using the comfort setting improves the comfort significantly?
Picked up a 2021 GLB35 a couple of weeks ago, 21 wheels, I like a firm ride, have avC43 myself and use Sport all the time, so far no complaints from my wife who generally likes a softer ride in Comfort which is where she leaves it. The 21s look great and to us the ride is fine.
I too just got my 21GLB35 with 21" wheels. If I was to do a build, I would have got 20". Tires are much easier to buy in 20" vs. 21", especially All seasons and Winter. The ride is OK. Dealer put 42psi in each tire and I'll have to see if that's the right amount. I'm used to looking in the door jamb for the PSI suggestions, but see that on this model, it's inside the Gas door. I don't notice much of a difference in C,S or S+ for the ride.
I test drove a model with 21" wheels - the ride was harsh. I went with the 19" wheels for both comfort and to eliminate the need to change tires in the winter.
19 inch wheel ride is bad or choppy probably due to run on flat tires.
Better riding cars.
Civic Type R
Audi A6
Macan GTS (air shocks)
Audi R8
GLC 300 GLS450
Worst riding cars example
F80M3
F87M2
WRX STI
Lancer evolution MR
Rides kinda like the TTRS. Not great due to RFT and short wheelbase? They can do better like the Macan did but they probably designed not to take sales from the GLC. I thought electronic suspension would solve this but bend didn't do a great job. BMW was horrible. Audi R8 had mag ride and it's super comfortable and composed without floaty.
I dropped from 21" OEM wheels + 255/35ZR21 summer tires to 20" wheels + 255/40ZR20 winter tires without any problem. The winter tires has much softer compound and additional tire depth helps. Maybe I should have gone even 19 to get more comfort. I also changed from 21" summer tires to 21" Michelin PS A/S 4's later. It helped some, but still the 35 profiles are too thin with the AMG stiffer body and shocks. Also you need to keep the tire pressure high (39 front 35 rear) for potholes with 35 profile compared to lower pressure ( 35 front 33 rear) with higher profiles eg you can check your gas fill door for pressures. Higher pressure with low profiles helps on the curves. Also there are lot of third party option for wheels as long as you don't go below 19" wheel size and follow the offset (ET) of the wheels. My winters are Mandrus wheels with ET 42. They are for MB only. I had my 2nd winter with no problems. I don't know how the fitting will fit with lower ET numbers unless sb else tries it. As stated above, I would not go for Run Flats for tires as my GLB35 came with non run flats and there are a lot of options with 19"/20" tires compared to 21" tires...
Originally Posted by fdw78
Hi guys!
I live in Brazil and roads and streets here are terrible. My GLB 35 AMG came with 21 wheels and I am thinking about getting 19 or 20 inch wheels.
do they fit I this car or will I need worry about the brakes pinch as well?
No, circumference of tire is same. Tire sidewall height is changing with the wheel size eg 255/35R21 = 255/40R20 = 255/45R19 etc. You can use to check it by using calculators:
Yes, you can. It matches to GLB35 spec 20x8.5 ET51 with 255/40ZR20 tires. EQB has the smaller width 235/45ZR20 tires, most probably for efficiency, which matches to GLB250 tire sizes.
Finally I changed the 21" OEM wheels to 19" TWS Clypse Titanium wheels with Michelin PS A/S4 255/45ZR19. It is definitely much more comfortable with recommended 35/33psi air pressure with same breaking power. I don't feel small cracks/bumps anymore... It is highly recommended...
ET42 didn't clear the brake calipers so I added 10mm wheel spacer:
Finally I changed the 21" OEM wheels to 19" TWS Clypse Titanium wheels with Michelin PS A/S4 255/45ZR19. It is definitely much more comfortable with recommended 35/33psi air pressure with same breaking power. I don't feel small cracks/bumps anymore... It is highly recommended...
ET42 didn't clear the brake calipers so I added 10mm wheel spacer:
Did you notice much difference switching to those titanium wheels?
I'm a big fan of lighter wheels but never ran Titanium. I installed a set of lighter wheels on my WRX, shaved 40lbs and noticed them right away! Actually stalled a few times leaving the shop due to the weight change.
I don't have a dog in this fight, I'm running stock 18's I believe on my 2020 GLB 250. Its not like cruising around in an E or S Class but its not that bad.
Anyhow, I think another question would be what tires people are running. These cars come with run flats which are in my opinion lean on the heavy and hard side. I noticed a softer ride switching from Pilot Sport S tires back to the stock run flats on my Nissan GTR...had a flat and had to tow the car, so I went run flats again. Anyhow, that is just my opinion on this subject.
These wheels are cast aluminum with Titanium finish at 25lbs/ea with 2000lbs loading limit. I ordered originally Mandrus flow formed wheels, but ET was too agressive, so I switched to these. Still I needed wheel spacers to clear AMG brake calipers with these, so I ended up with ET32 equivalent... I don't know the OEM 21" wheel weight, but 20" Mandrus wheels (flow formed) are around 31 lbs/ea, so there is saving around 6lbs/wheel x 4 = 24 lbs. I am also carrying a Modern spare wheel in my trunk.
The big change is the tires which are at similar weight and same 255mm width. It's been a while since I drove 21" wheels, so I can compare to winter wheel/tires. PS A/S 4 is more responsive compared to Alpin 5 winters esp in dry and 19" is more comfortable to drive with stiffer AMG shocks... However the 20/21" PS AS4 has 9 inches of tread vs 8.5" on Alpin 5 winters vs 7.9" on 19" PS AS4 as you can see more curvy vs rectangular set up with lower profiles. 21" PS AS4 might give better performance on the curves with rectangular set up with higher psi vs 19" have weight savings in straight run. 19" tires comes also with higher weight limit with the additional sidewall.
Originally Posted by AMGRay
Did you notice much difference switching to those titanium wheels?
I'm a big fan of lighter wheels but never ran Titanium. I installed a set of lighter wheels on my WRX, shaved 40lbs and noticed them right away! Actually stalled a few times leaving the shop due to the weight change.
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