cyeung65

I have the original 16X8 wheels on my 00 ML320. With the Goodyear Fortera Silent Armor, they weigh a total of over 64 lbs!

I have found another style 16 inch wheel that weighs 19 lbs and Michelin Cross Terains weigh only 28 lbs in the ML size - total only 47 lbs!

Has anyone found using a lighter wheel/tire combo gives better acceleration and gas mileage?

BENZEN

Well, it is physics... It should give you better gas/mileage and also less wear on all the rotating parts and brakes.

Dreaming4AMG

Try checking the weight on 18,20,22 rims with big wide tires!!!!

16" rims can be found to get down a low as 15lbs. Tires will all roughly weigh the same based on size. Any 16 rim less than 20lbs is good to increase MPG, stopping distance, brake life, and suspension movements.

cyeung65

I found several wheels that may fit the ML weigh 20 lb or less. I also found that the new Goodyear Eagle Responsedge in 255 55 18 size weighs only 21.6 lbs.
That is the new kevlar/carbon fiber tire. Load rating is 105. Mounted on a OZ 18 X 8 wheel that weighs 18 lbs - and the whole thing is under 40 lbs!!!

I talked to Luke at Tire Rack and asked him why there are so few wheels listed on the website for MLs. He tells me that many of the wheels listed for other Mercedes models that would fit on a ML is not recommended by Tire Rack because of their relatively low load rating. Since the ML is load rated to carry much more weight than say an S Class, there are only a limited # of aftermarket wheels that are rated to carry the weight of the ML plus its max load capacity.

I guess as long as I dont ever load up my ML, I would be okay.

Dreaming4AMG

Didn't even think about the load ratings... But'll never tow anything heavier than a lawnmower or Buell motorcycle.

Curious as to what the stock rim load ratings are?

I also found a good website to compare wheel offsets. http://www.1010tires.com/WheelOffsetCalculator.asp

From what I can tell Audi and new VW 5x112 rims will fit. Even have the same hubcentric bore! And have the better offset that puts the wheels further out -- but not past the fender. Looks better and handles better.

Dreaming4AMG

I've found two pair of like brand new BBS CH 18x8 rims for 1500.00 with tires of the wrong size. If I can get them to sell just the rims..

cyeung65

You can always sell the tires yourself on Ebay. I am amazed how good the used tires sell on Ebay.

AndrewAZ

You can get 20 inch rims that weigh less than 20 lbs but you have to pay good money for them. I was looking at some 20 inch rims for the M3 that weighed in at a tad less than 18lbs vs current 19 that weigh 26lbs. But when I got the price quote of $1,400 per rear rim and $1,200 for front without tires I said eh forget it lol.

I forgot to add they even make them lighter but they cost over $10k for a set. Made of magnesium but they say not to use them on the street since they will bend.

Darkmann

I present to you a real life example of a case in which changing wheels/tire got me a better ride and better MPG. I recently moved from the OEM 17 EVO-II (17x8.5, 275/55-17 Dunlops) to aftermarket 19s, 285/45-19, Conti 4x4 SportContacts . The OEMs had about 1/2 thread left. Before the exchange I weighed the rim/tire combo and they were both in the low 40s. The new rims/tire combo with larger tires were consistently 2lb less than the 17inchers with about 1/2 thread left!!!! That was a big surprise to me.

Next, I noticed that the trip meter was recording about 1-1.5mpg better. I then started monitoring this and it was consistent - measured both by the trip computer and by my calculating number of miles driven by number of gallons filled up. I took a 800mile trip to Atlanta, a trip I did, same route last year with the OEMs. The numbers were consistently near 2mpg better. Additionally, on the 19s, I'm cruising about 1mph less than indicated on the speedo - so my average speed is a bit less - no big deal but I guess it all adds up. I have had explanations about reduced gearing and I'm now a believer!!!

Just watch which wheel you buy. Tire rack lists tire weight for all its tires. Good luck.

Dreaming4AMG

Tread depth changes the odometer readings. Thus they don't provide accurate MPH or MPG.

Heavy tires are the biggest factor due to the physics. The tire weight is the farthest from the center of rotation.

Tread style, width, and air pressure. Is tied for 1st place. Off road tires provide terrible rolling resistance on a road surface. Wider tires increase contact patchs and increase wind resistance. Air pressure also effects contact patch.

IMO the ML is all wheel drive. I will only use street tires. No dual purpose tires or offroad style. I live in GA and only see snow once a year for one day. Never will drive the ML offroad to the extent to need more traction.

marineboy0

Good point - from what I remember from physics rotational acceleration is realted to the mr^2. But I don't swear to remember this well. The total weight of the tire and rim adds to the unsprung weigth but this relates to handling - not accceleration. To be candid - I don't think the ML-320 does well on either elements due to the total body weight to power!.

I use different tires winter and summer - and the only appreciable difference between the two is grip in different condition. And noise. IN all other areas of performance - try a different style vehicle. SUVs aren't design to either accelrate fast or go round corners on rails. But they do do other things really well and the ML is fairly stylish INO

AndrewAZ

Well lighter rims and less unsprung weight you are right will help handling but it will also help acceleration since you have less mass to start moving. But as the rim size gets bigger the weight becomes further away from the axel creating inertia which basically cancels out the effect of having a lighter rim. But its sill better to have them cancel out then to have a double negative of having a big rim that is heavy, a lot of people end up putting on large cheap rims and dont realize the added wear and tear on the suspension parts and not to mention breaks.

Correct me if I am wrong on my physics I have not taken it for mmm 3 years now and wont take it again since I dont need anymore( thank god).

Darkmann

becasue you guys seem to be failing. Let's look at this in a very simple way. If one happens to change the weight at all four corners it will affect both performance and handling. Generally, inceasing the weight is not good becasue the same HP has to move the extra weight from point A to B. As for handling, it depends on where one locates the extra weight - i.e. wheel offset which will affect the steering angle (I won't bother to explain that here). Anyway, in addition to offset, if one lowers the truck, handling is also affected.

In real life, what you want to do is get the lightest wheel affordable (BTW the OEM ML wheels are really heavy!!!) with an offset as close to OEM as possible. Next, check how much the new wheel/tire combo affects the tire rate of rotation (rotation/minute) compared with the OEM. You want to stay as close as possible to the OEM to keep the speedometer in an acceptable range. Remember that the safety systems on these trucks monitor wheel speed for proper operation, and on a straight line, the top of the tire travels faster than the parts closest to the wheel. If you start reading +/- 1mph with respect to OEM speedo reading, that may be a problem.

Anyway, not to lecture here, but my advice is to see what rim/tire combo AMG offers and stick with those. For the 163, the largest AMG rim is the 19x9.5 with spec tires. If you have to go larger, make every attempt to keep the overall tire diameter as close as possible to OEM (The Rack has a whole lecture series on this stuff).

Personally, I'd say stay within the AMG spec range for two reasons:

1 - AMG pretty much knows what they're doing
2 - If you ever have a flat and have to use the spare, it may ruin you ABS or traction control system, and who knows what else, if your overall a rotational rate happens to be out of the range of what's programmed in the ML's safety system (most of us don't know that threshold, BTW).

Lastly, if you do upgrade such that you need new lugs (as in very low offset compared with OEM), make sure to keep one set of the OEM lugs in the truck because the OEM spare only takes OEM lugs and you never know when you'll need it!!!!

AndrewAZ

Do you know how much AMG rims weight? I have not been able to find that out.. But I agree OEM ML rims are heavy has heck...

Darkmann

I don't know what the original ML AMG rims weigh, but according to The Rack, the 19x9.5 2-piece AMG rims for the ML weighs in at 34.8lb. The recommended tire size is 285/45/19 or 295/45/19. These come in at 40 and 41lb respectively for the Advan ST. The 285/45 is 33 for the Conti, 36 for the Pirelis, and 34 for the Michelins. So, the 19 inch AMG with rec tire would weigh almost 75lb. That's almost 10llb/side more than my 19" aftermarket rims with the 285 Contis on them. Based on my experience, I wouldn't conclude that the OEM AMG 18" rims are any lighter. Can someone let us know what the dru weight of the W163 AMG rims is?? I'm really curious now!!!

Yazovets!

If you do get new all-season tires, the Michelin Cross Terrain rubber is damn good.

When I bought my 2004 ML500 (CPOed), it came from the dealer with all-season Dunlop rubber which was nearly bald for the fronts, and unevenly worn out.

I invested in a brand new set of 4 Michelins, and the ML has improved in every manner - cornering, road feedback, bump suppression, road noise, traction in dry and wet, etc.