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While it might seem strange to MB, we actually bought our car to drive in the snow. The supplied tires (Dunlop GrandTrek Touring A/S MOExtended DSST) have about as much traction in snow as bald racing slicks on an empty rear-wheel drive van. Tried to drive down our almost level driveway with 2" of snow on the ground and no matter how slow I drove, the car was all over the road. Switched to our ML430 with Michelin X-Ice tires and no problem.
Hence, we need to put some real tires on the vehicle and hope to go with the Michelin Xi2 which work so well on our ML430 and Camry Hybrid (traded for the GLK). We replaced the Camry with the GLK to have better snow (mostly ice) traction, silly us.
My question is about size. The same size as the factory tire is NOT available in the Michelin X-Ice, I must go larger.
The 235/55 is the closest at the same width but 0.9" taller while the 255/55 is 0.7" wider and 1.7" taller.
As we go off-road (have 31" on our ML430 with no problems) and would welcome the added height, does the GLK really have room for tires of these sizes? Any experience out there?
Just glancing indicates that 235 is probably OK but I have serious doubts about the 255 and I don't see any way to raise the suspension about 3/4ths of an inch.
That'll tell you how much you're off on the speedo.
We have Michelin X-Ice 2 tires on our GLK, but on 18" BBS wheels. They are the correct size, so perhaps you just need to consider a different size rim?
I never trust a speedo or odo, always calibrate with a GPS on a long straight, south facing road. They will both be off by different amounts, the odo usually much more accurate.
I don't want to spend 2 grand on wheels, that is 5% of the price of the car. The car isn't good enough to be worth that kind of investment. If I was going to change wheel size, it would be to 17's. A taller/narrower tire is better in snow than a low profile tire. 17's are available in some snowy climes.
You must be kidding, what sane person would buy a 2WD GLK? That would be a terrible car combined with a terrible SUV. I've been driving in snow for 50 years, both 2WD and 4WD, and the All Season tires on our GLK are like slicks on wet ice.
Why it would even come with RWD escapes me but any GLK350 without the 4matic badge I assume would be RWD and there are a lot to my surprise. I bought a set of snow tires for my Evo but it didn't improve the times but more false sense of security. It will still slide as speed is the enemy and this is using Bridgestone blizzaks. I find using the manual paddle shifter improves the driveability of the SUV, GLK or not.
I was trying to drive out my driveway at no more than 5MPH and the GLK was all over the place. Put it back in the garage and drove the ML and it went straight out. Tires matter tremendously on ice and snow.
So what you're saying is you don't want to have dedicated winter wheels and tires and you'd rather the hassle of mounting / dismounting winter tires twice a year?
Tirerack has 17" X-Ice2 tires with alloy wheels for $1,028.
And you're right, speedo's are not 100% accurate. However, the math on wheel size differentials isn't up for debate. You can use the tire calc. to understand the percentage you're out by, and adjust accordingly from there.
Honestly I do also wonder if something else is going on. I've driven RWD sports cars on icy roads with summer tires and have managed to make it work.
We have the AMG package on our GLK so it comes with 20" wheels from the factory - even those 20" all seasons were quite fine in the winter. Took delivery of our GLK on an icy November day here in Calgary and it was absolutely solid. ABS never came on, rear end never stepped out.
I've fitted winter wheels and tires mostly to get a smaller rim size on, as you say - smaller tires do better in deep snow. But on ice, it's actually the opposite.
I am almost done with a complete winter wheel tire setup and will be adding details to my winter prep thread shortly! I have a factory MB recommended setup wheel and tire size of 17 x 7.5, 47mm offset and 235/60/17.
Here is a shot of the wheel I am using from an 08-10 C class.
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