Jan AMG

Just curious .. Has anyone here sacrificed comfort and road noise in exchange for added security?

WSH

Would prefer superior braking/stability of perf, factory-spec (not runflat) tires even on crappy US roads, let alone smooth German rds

One only has second or two to react to an emergent situation on rds at speed; optimal driver judgment/tires/brakes/chassis engineering/stab ctrls are critical for active safety

soulsearcher

I dont normally check this section but happened to catch your question about runflats. Back in 1997 I was part of the PR management team (not engineering) at Goodyear for the runflat. As part of my "Indoctrination", I put the eagle run flats (1st generation) on my company taurus (I think I put 225/60/16 but cant be sure).
The car handled amazingly well...actually it was exceptional, even with a "taurus" suspension. The tires still had 6/32 after 55k miles (hard miles). The car did ride harder. Cant quantify it for you but it did ride harder and it was noticable. You could also hear the tires at highway speed much more and so u had to turn the radio up more. The struts did have a harder time "planting" the wheel/tire back on pavement whenever I went over a good sized bump. Probably due to the added weight of the tire (more steel-in sidewall AND tread area for reinforcement).
Conclusion: I dont put much emphasis on ride quality...some but not much. I certainly appreciate great handling in car...even if it a Kia with low profile tires. If u had asked my mom, she probably would hate the tires.

AND...almost forgot....I did have a flat and just for the sake of curiousity, I got approval to keep driving on the tire. Keep in mind that officially the tire can last 50 miles at 50 mph. I drove for 1000 miles at speeds well above 50 for prolonged period. No problems...however at about 1000 miles, I noticed whats called a "run flat heat ring" around the sidewall. This effect happens when u drive any tire at low air pressure. Some tires will get it within 5 miles ! My tire took 1000 miles at ZERO air pressure. Car handled fine...some noticable "looseness" under hard steering but not that much.....again due to the highly reinforced sidewall.

Cant speak for new run flats. Been out of the tire business for a long time.

Draw your own conclusions !

wilfie

I WAS SOOOO close to going to non runflats on my 2014 S550. I bought them and they wouldn't fit! Going to 18" from 19"s did not fit as I have the AMG sport option. Now they are for sale, all brand new. More details at for sale forum

https://mbworld.org/forums/wheels-ti...in-priced.html

Mike5215

The W221 S550 with the AMG package doesn't have larger calipers. Same brakes as the base car. The W221 also does not come with run flats. There's a spare tire. Need to move this to the W222 forum.

tifosiv122

My w221 s600 had run flats - no spare in the truck. Under the carpet was a organizer tray. I didn't realize all w221's didn't have it until I got my s65 and it had a spare.

Erik

Nuru

I am gonna get a full size spare and replace the current spare.