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I find my S550 (staggered wheels) unstable in rain

i have new front tires and half worn rear tires (275/40/19). I find the car scary at highway speed in heavy rain. Car is new to me so not much to compare to. Are 275 prone to hydroplane?

I would do a 4 wheel alignment. These cars are touchy with regards to alignment.

Quote:

Originally Posted by apb (Post 7554726)

i have new front tires and half worn rear tires (275/40/19). I find the car scary at highway speed in heavy rain. Car is new to me so not much to compare to. Are 275 prone to hydroplane?

I had the same issue in my car with the staggered setup and actually did hydroplane. The car ended up hitting the side of the curb at about 35 on a side street (speed limit 40) and curbed the wheel up pretty bad and bent the strut control arm so bad the car was undrivable. Had it towed to my family’s business and replaced the arm for about $100~ dollars from an online vendor (can’t remeber specifics as it was over a year ago.) After I replaced that stuff I took it to my local tire shop and they found that the insides of the tires were super worn and needed replacement (1/32 tread.) The outsides looked fine, but the cords were showing on front and rear edges. I replaced all tires with Pirelli P-Zero Nero tires and don’t like them at all (lots of road noise and little grip, but great in snow and rain.) I also had the car aligned and tires rotated at MB dealer for $300. (Side Note: is it true that MB is the only place you can have the car aligned properly? That’s what they told me and the car drove so much different after. They did something to the Airmatic properties and the ride height increased prolly half an inch or so. ) Anyways back to topic. Make sure your car is properly aligned and tires aren’t wearing on insides. I had just bought my car 4 months prior to this happening and only put about 4K miles on the car when they looked trashed. The tires looked fine when I bought the car (were only a year old Michelin PSS.)

Thank you for the information! I will have the alignment checked to be safe.
But I have to think a 275 tire is not exactly hydroplane ideal...

Just another point of view, my staggered setup is perfectly stable in rain so far. I have Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+ tires, 255 fronts 275 rears. When we get rain here in the desert it's typically a lot of rain in a short period of time or a lot of puddling due to the runoff taking some time. We got 3" in an hour recently where I live and I had no problems getting around safely.

Quote:

Originally Posted by apb (Post 7556851)

Thank you for the information! I will have the alignment checked to be safe.
But I have to think a 275 tire is not exactly hydroplane ideal...

I don't think tire width matters by itself. A good tire will resist hydroplaning regardless of width. I just got back from the east cost and drove through torrential rain for a solid 4-5 hrs in my S600 with staggered, 19" wheels. Never had an issue, even going 80 mph.

Thanks to all. I will have alignment checked. Rears are Michelin Pilots as well.

I looked at the inside of my right tire (most worn). It is indeed very close to the bars... Seems I have my explanation. These 275 wear our quite a bit more on the inside.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dlafever (Post 7556913)

YES!!! I love, just LOVE these tires. They are great.

Quote:

Originally Posted by lionsfan54 (Post 7557026)

It doesnt really matter the width. But your rears tires are prb no good. Id have the dealer do alignmnt. and get new rears.

Hello,
have you got to the bottom of the instability issues on Airmatic ?

I have a w221 S320 CDi running staggered 19” winter AMG line wheels. The vehicle feels very dangerous in the wet currently. For such a barge of a car it’s something unexpected for me. This is also my first Airmatic vehicle so I have little context on how these behave.

Any advice would be appreciated

thanks

Quote:

Originally Posted by dlafever (Post 7556913)

This is the set up that I have and the car is Very Stable in rain or any condition. The tires have no issues in uneven ware patterns. They are extremely sure footed in any condition.
I do have a set of snow tires and rims for the winter, even with the 4matic. The car is a tank in the snow, best car and setup that I have had in my lifetime.

Do you have OEM brakes? One of the features of adaptive brakes on W221 is in the rain, Automatic Brake Drying periodically applies the brakes just enough to sweep water build-up from the discs.

In rain, there is a definite difference vs 4matic as slow as 40mph. I was surprised at the difference. Staggered was on RF and 4matic was not.