rene_gts

Does anyone have any experience with 235/40/19 on the front and 255/35/19 in the rear? I need winter tires and those are the only sizes available what I could fit. My car is not lowered so I'm wondering if these sizes might rub or not? I don't want to change my wheels, because I plan on keeping the stock 19" for winter and I want some new wheels for the summer.

bentz69

in for winter tire options and sizes...


I bought this car to drive it everywhere so Ill need some winter tires on my stock 19s also. Not interested in buying winter wheels

bentz69

How about Dunlop wintersport 3d in 235/35/19 all around. This size will still fit the rear 9" wheel and less width is better for the snow anyway


I had these on my previous car (5.0 v8 rwd) and they performed very well in snow, rain and dry. I will probably get them again for the c63.


https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...inter+Sport+3D


edit....this size might be an issue since the rears should be a 30 series tire.

rene_gts

I'm thinking about going with Michelin X-Ice North 3 (studded tires), but the problem is they don't have it with 30 profile and that's why I'm wondering if I can get away with 35 in the back and 40 in the front.

JimGnitecki

I'm going to follow this thread too, as I have been warned that despite the generally mild and ice-free climate here on Vancouver Island, there are highways here where driving on them is illegal between October and April without tires that are clearly marked as snow tires!

These highways are restricted this way because of significant elevation changes that produce the deadly combination of ice plus steep grades plus lots of curves. Fun in Summer but not so much on winter snow and ice!

I've been wondering about the optimal sizes front and rear.

Jim G

toosteeley

This has been discussed many times on the forum. Just do a search for winter tires. Your owner's manual and/or tirerack.com are good resources as well.

General consensus is running a square setup in winter on dedicated 18's (more tire options). Either 225/40/18 or 235/40/18 all around.

Good luck with your search.

Ambystom01

That's not the consensus.

I have stock, staggered tire sizes on my car for winter. Since I'm not driving in deep snow, it's swept snow or cold pavement, the stock setup is better on the stock wheels.

rene_gts

I'm not running on 18" wheels, I have 19" and I haven't found a single thread about this specific setup I'm asking about. Also the manual doesn't say anything about running 35 profile in the back on 19" wheels.

olszowa12

I used 235/35/19 and 275/30/19 Vredestein winter tires in heavy winter conditions without issues, so you're setup should work fine

toosteeley

I'm not saying a staggered setup won't work in winter, merely that the majority of owners on here will suggest a square setup.

https://mbworld.org/forums/c63-amg-w...ed-advice.html

bentz69

As we said already, we are choosing to stay with 19" wheels and have no interest in getting a dedicated winter wheel in 18". The manual does not say anything about winter tire sizes for 19" wheels and the amount of info on this site regarding 19" winter tires is very limited.

As far as my setup is concerned, I have a 275/30/19 on the rear right now and plan to switch to a 235/35/19 winter tire (dunlop wintersport 3d). According to https://tiresize.com/calculator/ and using the tire comparion option, it shows the following,



Sidewall height appears to stay the same so this combo should work fine without upsetting the abs or esp

toosteeley

That should tell you something You can easily find a set of 18" rims for under $1000 to mount winters on. Well worth it IMO.

rene_gts

I also have 275/30/19 in the back and this comparison is good. What about the front wheels? I guess same size should be fine because that's what the car has there as stock?

Ambystom01

And if you read that thread, you'll find articles or pages from tire manufacturers that go against the old mantra of skinny tires are better.

If the OP isn't gonna buy new wheels, a square setup would mean stretched tires on the rear.

bentz69

Yea it tells me that most people on here don't have oem 19" wheels. Whats your point exactly? I think we said 3 times we have no interest in using a 18" wheel. Whats worth it? Spending another 1000$ on winter wheels when its not necessary. I guess that makes sense Maybe now you understand?

bentz69

yea stock front wheels at 235/35/19 is fine. I think the most important issue is maintain as close as possible the orginal sidewall height to keep the systems happy.

toosteeley

Sure, but for every 1 person going with a staggered setup you'll see there's 3 or 4 with a square setup.

I will definitely concede it depends on the type of winter driving (snow vs ice vs wet roads).

IMO it's always better to get a dedicated set of winter rims and tires. Not only will an 18" set provide more tire options and make it easier to swap on and off, but will save the finish on the 19's. It's worth the $$ if you ask me.

The OP asked for opinions, I gave mine. My opinion isn't incorrect, just differs from yours and the OP.

JimGnitecki

The cost and performance of a set of 18" winter wheels should not be downplayed for at least a couple of reasons:

- The 18" wheels are at least theoretically not going to provide performance as good as the 19" AMG wheels, unless you spend a LOT of money on the 18"ers

- Unless you spend a LOT of money on the winter wheels, they are not going to look nearly as good as the 19" AMG wheels

- If you DO spend a lot of money to get good performance and/or appearance, you'd better at least keep the car for a while to amortize the cost down to something sensible. In my case, where I rarely keep a car for more than a couple of years, spending big bucks on a set of snow wheels, and getting almost nothing for them when I sell the car, is hard to justify

- I can see an argument for keeping the nice 19" AMG wheels out of winter road salt, but then you will instead either corrode ANOTHER set of nice & therefore also costly wheels, or you will run around all winter with ugly cheap wheels on your pride and joy, which sort of takes the air out of the "preserve the nice wheels" argument

- If you decide to accept the lowered performance and/or the visual negatives, they ARE significant because if you live where snow tires are needed, you are going to have them on the car for at least half the year (October through March)! You bought the car to enjoy it. Why accept a reduction in that enjoyment for FIFTY PERCENT of the time you use the car, without looking for a better solution?

There are no clear winning strategies here if you live where it snows and/or ices.

Jim G

AMGonFire

Jim g? Are you serious an 18 inch wheel won't perform as well as a 19 are you kidding. What about my 17s with drag radials they sure as hell out perform my 18s and my 19s. Bigger Wheel size means nothing in terms of performance that post is just plain dumb and most of your posts are intelligent that one not so much. If anything the smaller the wheel the lighter it is the smaller overall diameter you can get depending on tire size and can actually make you faster. The side wall change front to back with 19s 35 vs 30 rear is to make the overall diameter closer to stock size and more equal front to back. The wider the rear tire the lower the rear profile has to be with the step up from 18 to 19 rim size. Look at the calculators online. Honestly it is this easy. Op your tire size you posted will work. However your rear overall diameter will be a little tall. It depend on what you want. Do you want the most snow traction? Then the smaller width tire you can get is what you want. Front and back. Personally if your stuck with 19s I'd go the smallest width tire possible. 235 is what I run on my winter setup and that is a stretched look in my opinion on a 9 inch rear wheel. I wouldn't want to go any narrower. I run the stock 18 Amg wheel though. 19s won't effect you at all though as long as you go as narrow as possible. If you care about more dry winter traction then wider is better. The car will still do fine in the snow just not as well as the same setup with a narrower tire.

JimGnitecki

If you want the same overall tire diameter for ABS and ESC, and you use a smaller diameter wheel, then logically you MUST have higher tire sidewalls. Higher sidewalls impair handling,plain and simple, because tire sidewalls, unlike wheels, FLEX under load.

This is why the highest performance models in a car maker's lineup, and also the high performance options packages always have larger wheels.

Dragracing is NOT the same as street or track handling. In dragracing, by definition, you are going in only a straight line, and there are no pavement variations. Your primary, almost ONLY objective is TRACTION. That's a very narrow objective compared to what the street and the road race track require. Your comparison is not meaningful in any way.

Jim G

Ambystom01

Because the average C63 will notice an objective reduction in performance going from a 19 inch wheel to an 18 inch wheel in winter, Jim?

JimGnitecki

It's not snowy or icy ALL the time, even in the winter. And my impression from this forum is that when it is NOT snowing or icy, and maybe even when it IS, C63 owners drive, uh, enthusiastically.

And you sure as hell see the difference in the appearance of 18" versus 19" ALL the time.

Jim G

rene_gts

Alright, to sum this thread up. Guys who want to use 19" wheels in the winter should go for square setup - 235/35/19 in the front and also the same size 235/35/19 in the rear?

Vladds

Theae are the tire sizes that the ECU knows about.

JimGnitecki

This is very helpful! Thank-you!

Note the rear axle ratio is 2.82. This is surprisingly low for a performance car, even with a 6.2 liter engine displacement, and especially for one that starts in SECOND gear when in Comfort mode.

Most modern performance cars have rear axle ratios in the 3.00 to 3.73 range. I guess that the variable valve timing system works really well at lower rpm.

Jim G