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GLE Research: Tires for the summer, Tires for the Winter, Half Azz tires for the rest
Tis the Season Community Winter Driving GuideIn an interview with David Letterman and Lewis Hamilton, Letterman was sharing his story about his E63S Station Wagon and how in the winter, the vehicle had no traction. Letterman stated: “I’m in the parking lot of CVS and I can’t stop doing donuts.” and “Holiday on Ice.” and “We are everywhere. We are all over the road and it’s all wheel drive. “
By the expression on Lewis Hamilton’s face, you can easily tell how surprised and perplexed he was about such a simple situation. Hamilton asked Letterman right away if he had snow tires. The OMG moment shined quickly after.
The simple rule of thumb with Tires is Winter Tires are for the Winter for temperatures 45F / 7C and below and Summer Tires are for warmer temperatures of 45F / 7C and up. There is some in between area both types of tires can play in with some performance loss. If you are keeping All Seasons on all year long, then understand it’s a jack of most trades type rubber. It won’t be the best in the extreme weather, and in the more optimal weather and touching towards the extremes, it’ll just do OK.
Check out this Pirelli Chart for a visual understanding of the differences.
From the above chart, It's very important to understand the Winter Tires is NOT going to make your braking distance any shorter from 62-0mph (100-0km) in cold and dry. Just braking in the opposite temperatures your tire is made for will damage your tires. Winter tires will usually stop much later on dry pavement than summer tires in the Winter as seen in Engineering Explained videos. When you start driving in wet, ice, or snow, everything changes.... hence the need for Winter Tires in cold climates.
One of the Major Challenges....
with AMG’s has been that some wheels only support Summer Tires, although this has been slowly changing. For Example, the GLE Coupe 63S only comes with 22” wheels, and only after 3 years has a Winter Tire been developed for it, however there is still no All Season tires available. I have an extra set of 21” wheels that I keep so I can keep the MB tested tires on them and install them at my convenience. Since Austin, TX weather jumps from warm to extreme cold from one week to another, this suits me well.
MB released a Winter Tire Guide in 2018
and can be found here. Ask your dealer or MBUSA for more information. Just make sure that you do your research and make sure that the new wheels you end up buying are Winter Tire compatible. The Parts Departments in warmer climates are not to familiar with Winter Tires per my experiences. Contact your Dealer or regional MB support email to get more details if your information is not listed here.
I have used Summer Tires in the winter with temperatures hovering around 35F / 2C on December, and I rubbed off ALL the tread in 2,000 miles. So if you decide to use Summer Tires with sticky compound, you will run into the additional financial transactions as well on top of the Summer Tires not being as safe on the road.
17-Nov-19: Updated second chart by clarifying braking on Summer vs Winter tires in the cold. Updated information on contacting your regional MB support for information on Winter wheels and tires outside of the 2018 document.
Last edited by Twilighthan; Oct 10, 2020 at 11:16 PM.
Mercedes SLR McLaren 722 S Is Extremely Rare Example Modified by McLaren
Slideshow: A one-of-one U.S.-spec Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster became even rarer after a factory-backed transformation at McLaren's headquarters.
