SL-Class (R230) 2003 -- 2012: Discussion on the SL500, SL550, SL600

SL/R230: Tire Pressure

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Old Mar 28, 2005 | 12:49 AM
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Tire Pressure

? fellow SL owners. What tire pressures are you using. I am using the standard tires that come with an 05 SL600.
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Old Mar 28, 2005 | 12:59 AM
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Originally Posted by StephenK
? fellow SL owners. What tire pressures are you using. I am using the standard tires that come with an 05 SL600.
27 Front
30 Rear
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Old Mar 28, 2005 | 01:12 AM
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Thanks

Originally Posted by LovinSL600
27 Front
30 Rear
Thanks for the #'s. I need to check out my pressures tomorrow, I haven't done it in a while and have noticed my tires breaking loose occasionally on some aggresive starts. Thinking the pressure may be a little low, since this wasn't happening before, unless I am getting more spirited in my driving.
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Old Mar 28, 2005 | 08:00 AM
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I have noticed that anything under 30 front and the sides are wearing more, and anything more than 30 rear, the middle is wearing more. There was a previous thread were one guy was running 34 front-30 rear. This apparently was a recommendation from Tire Rack. At the price of these tires, I will using my tire depth gauge frequently!
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Old Mar 28, 2005 | 09:45 AM
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Originally Posted by PA500SL
I have noticed that anything under 30 front and the sides are wearing more, and anything more than 30 rear, the middle is wearing more. There was a previous thread were one guy was running 34 front-30 rear. This apparently was a recommendation from Tire Rack. At the price of these tires, I will using my tire depth gauge frequently!
34 in the front is 8 over the manufacturer's recommendation. Hardly seems like a good thing to do but then again, I have never done it.

I do, now that you mention it remember this thread. There were a whole bunch of posts about this a while back.
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Old Mar 28, 2005 | 11:29 AM
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I'm running 32 front and 35 rear with the staggared 18" AMG wheels. I feel when under 30 in the front, I loose some handling with turn in. I'm still playing with the rears as lower the pressure the better grip but, I notice uneven wear towards the outside. I'm not driving the car as hard as I used to when I first got it so, the higher pressure in the rear seams just fine for now. I kept lower pressure on a previous set and they started to cup around 5k miles and progressively got worse/noisier up to around 11k when I bought new.

I'm also very atuned to wear and look almost weekly and they seem to be wearing very evenly front and rear after 6k miles on this set...and still very quiet.

One other point regarding cupping and etc... I recieved the car with the factory balance and allignment and my tires lasted around 10k. I asked the dealer to realign with the new set of tires (long process as it includes making adjustments to the Distronic sensor) and my tires are wearing much more evenly. While I never felt the car was out of allignment from the factory (pulling one way or another) I DEFINATELY feel a difference after the dealer realigned me. The car feels freeer and tracks even better. Yes, the dealer said the car was very much out of allignement when they made their adjustments even though the car never pulled.
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Old Mar 28, 2005 | 02:51 PM
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Low?

Guys, aren't these pressures kind of low? On my placard for the 18" wheels that came w/ the car, it reads normal load 35 psi front and 36 psi rear.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love for you guys to be right because w/ the 19"-ers it would help to have lower tire pressures. My car came delivered with 31 psi front and 34 psi rear.

Jeff

Last edited by jeffreyy; Mar 28, 2005 at 02:56 PM.
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Old Mar 28, 2005 | 03:07 PM
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It's kind of a bummer to waste a set of tires figuring out which pressure is right for your car and your driving style. Unfortunately, it takes several thousand miles before you can measure a change with a tire depth gauge. The factory pressures are generally low for comfort, so 4-5 P.S.I. over is not uncommon for best wear and handling. The manufacturers will also recommend higher in the rear to create understeer, which is safer at high speeds. A staggered setup already does this, so optimum pressures will be closer to even front and rear. I have been running 32 F&R, but I am seeing more wear in the middle on rears, so I am going to try 30 for a while. I will keep 32 in fronts for now. Once again, you don't know until it's too late!
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Old Mar 28, 2005 | 06:10 PM
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Originally Posted by jeffreyy
Guys, aren't these pressures kind of low? On my placard for the 18" wheels that came w/ the car, it reads normal load 35 psi front and 36 psi rear.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love for you guys to be right because w/ the 19"-ers it would help to have lower tire pressures. My car came delivered with 31 psi front and 34 psi rear.

Jeff
Mine saids 26 and 29 on 18".
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Old Mar 28, 2005 | 06:26 PM
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Amg?

Tigger,

Maybe it's just AMG being aggressive on the pressures?

Jeff
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Old Mar 28, 2005 | 07:20 PM
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The AMG is about 300lbs more than my SL500 and have a different off set.
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Old Mar 28, 2005 | 08:05 PM
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From: Tallahassee, Florida
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Actual Pressures

LF= 29
RF= 26.5

LR= 28.5
RR= 29

The recommended tire pressures per the inside of the gas cap is 26 Front and 29 Rear.

There have been several posts with different #'s, what are the pluses and minuses to too much versus to little tire pressure. I know it will effect the wear, but driving would you feel a difference?
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