Goyard

for people who live in cities with not too perfect roads?

I am thinking about going for 20s" on my SL55. I live in NYC, and I don't know how 20"s would be because I've never driven with 20"s.

Anyone here in the NY area?

thanks.

Bilal

For UK roads, 20's are definitely NOT recommended. Aside from the naturally harsher ride, you also have to remember that the ABC suspension is calibrated with the wheel size. Given the narrow wheelarches of the SL model and the fact that at speed, the car is automatically lowered for stability; the resulting heat buildup in the tyres and poor dissipation thereof could result in a particularly unpleasant blow-out - but you are unlikely to hit such autobahn speeds in NY

elviento

I haven't had one but it has to be very bumpy given how thin the tire will be. YOu should probably keep a set of stock wheels just in case the 20s are bent.

treynor

I'd recommend against them for a number of reasons. 20s are *much* heavier than even the stock wheels, making it slower. They are also inevitably going to be taller than the stock wheels, changing the gearing and raising the car's center of gravity which degrades handling and off-the-line acceleration. Finally, as mentioned there's the harsher ride to contend with.

18" or 19" wheels are currently the size of choice for performance cars.

bigred

i live in wisconsin and i have 20's on my sl55 and its not the most comfortable ride, and im constantly trying to dodge potholes,but they look so good on the car

Fantasm

p.s, i still ran 12.4 in the 1/4 with 20" asanti's

rajah996

I have a set of 20" Renntech Monolites on my car and I dont
have a problem. The ride is smooth and handling is good. I
would suggest you get a larger tire though. I have a 295/25
on my rears, and ideally I would like more tire. A 295/35 would
be much better to lower the risk of damage by potholes.

RoydRage

That is Absolutely NOT true!

The overall diameter of the tires are EXACTLY the same when you use the correct size. And will NOT change the gearing or speedometer at all.


The stock dia. is 25.8" that with a 285 35/ 18... My 295 /25 20 is exactly 25.8 also. Same with the front 255 30/ 20 is exactly 25.8" Dia.

Now as far as the weight is concerned my wheels & tires are lighter than stock. The weight would depend on what wheel/tire combination you choose.

So... The only detriment is the ride... There you have a valid point, it does rider harsher, and there is more of a danger of having a blowout if you hit a bad pothole.

Now this is a decision that the owner has to make for himself... Is the car used as a daily driver, or is it a special car, etc. Mine is only used on clear sunny days, and not in the winter... It's a car that will not be driven a lot maybe 2 to 3k miles a year. For me the looks are worth the price of admission, they just look stunning on the car, and fit perfectly, I would never go back to 18" or 19" ... After you get used to seeing 20's on the car 18's or 19's look like go kart tires.

Best,

RoydRage

treynor

Hrmmm - OK, let's see here:

From http://www.americanracing.com/techce...Calculator.htm , we have:
285/40-18 has a diameter of 27.0"
295/35-20 has a diameter of 28.1"

However, if you go down to a /25 sidewall, you get:
295/25-20 has a diameter of 25.8"

So I stand corrected, with ultra-low profile tires you actually *drop* the car by going to 20s, albeit with attendant ride degradation.

I'm curious about the weight -- when I looked at replacement wheels for my 997 turbo, the light weight wheels were all 18" and 19". The 20" wheels, even light ones, were all several lbs heavier per wheel.

How heavy are the 20" wheels you have listed?

RoydRage

Trey,

I saw your other thread saying goodbye, I would be very sorry to see you go.

The stock tire is a 35 series 285 /35 18" that is 25.8" dia. I made a mistake saying it is a 40 series.

To wit... It's easy to figure... my wheel tire combo is exactly the same: 295 25/ 20

Here is the formula:

295X.25 = 73.75 that is the sidewall length so you have to times that by 2
73.75X2 = 147.5

Now convert to inches:
147.5/25.4 = 5.8071

Now Add the Rim Dia':
5.8071+20 = 25.80

Exactly the same as stock. The car is not lower from the tires, although my suspension is about 2"

Now my wheels were about 2lbs, and 2.5lbs lighter than the stock AMG's. I didn't weigh the tires but because there is very little sidewall you know they are lighter.. When you picked up the stock wheel / Tires after handling my new ones... It was painfully obvious how much lighter the new ones were.

Hope this helps.

Best,

RoydRage

Goyard

The SL55 is a daily driver by the way. But I guess I'll give the 20's a try.

What are the widest tires that can fit a 20 X 8.5 front and 20 X 9.5 rear? What would you recommend?

Thanks for the help.

iolithblue

http://www.alloywheels.com/tyrecalc.asp

RoydRage

[QUOTE=Goyard;2355632]The SL55 is a daily driver by the way. But I guess I'll give the 20's a try.

What are the widest tires that can fit a 20 X 8.5 front and 20 X 9.5 rear? What would you recommend?

Thanks for the help.[/QUOT

Goyard,

Although MB uses a 9.5" rear rim for the 285mm tire, The tire is really a little wide for that Rim... I would advise yoiu getting a 10" wide rim for the stock width tire...

If you want to go a little wider tire like I did, Then get a 10.5" Rear.

The Front is the same deal... I would get a 9" Rim for the stock width of 255mm.

So you would get in a 20" Rim Dia':

Rear: 285 /25 20 With a 10" Rim - Or - 295 /25 20 with a 10.5" Rim
Front: 255 /30 20 With a 9" Rim.

Best,

RoydRage

SL%%

[QUOTE=RoydRage;2355874]RoydRage,

Hi, out of curiosity, I see here that you have Vellano 20" as your SL55 Rims and as I was reading your replies here, I would assume that you based your judgment from your Vellano 20". Are they lighter compared to the stock 19" AMG rims particularly the 19" of the 030PP? Thanks, and nice rims by the way

rbtronnie5

20's all day long...the way to go.

ItalianStallion

20"s look awesome and I've seen plenty of SL's riding on dubs in NYC. But beware that you are almost guranteed to get a rim bent.

SLcharger

I have driven my combination now for 2 years, and no rim was bend. I live in an area, where the roads are not that good, so i vent for 19" on front, to give it a little more sidewall, and 20" on the back. Works very well, and i have choosen the tires so that the rolling diameter is nearly the same both front and back. To calibrate the car for new tires, you simply go into the menu of the Command and alter the tire size.

I know the car is not born with 2 different wheel diameters, but it works well, and looks ok.

By the way, to get it right i had to go for 275 instead of 255 up front, and they did fit without any alterration of the suspension.

Look at the specs below.

vb26

I drive in and out of PHI constantly with 20's 255/25 front and 305/25 rear. the ride is not too bad i thought it would be much worse. always on the look out for any debree or any imperfections the road may throw at me. BTW: I'm not looking forward to winter since I just sold my stock wheels to a friend. I'm currently in the process of talking him out of the deal, lol.

jl88

It depends on where you live and mostly the road conditions. In LA, 20's are the standard wheel setup's for SL's.

Note, you're going to have to lower the car. Even though the overall dimension may/may not be the same, you'll have a more noticeable gap between the tire and the fender.

Rick SL55

here's a good tool to calculate tire height.

www.1010tires.com/tiresizecalculator.asp

allenjdmb

r230 SL's. The 20 " setup will work fine, if you use a quality wheel and a quality tire. Yes, the ride quality is slightly harsher on the 20" setup, but I'm not taking my SL down any raods that I know are suspect. I should also say that I live in the south where roads are generaly less "fractured". In addition, if a pothole or debris is bad enough to bend a 20, it will bend a 19 as well. I have yet to say "boy, I wish I had bought the smaller wheels". Just m .02, which is all it's worth.

okbarnett

Harshness of the ride is caused by the sidewall height.
If you have a 18" with 3 or 4 " sidewall, you are riding on alot more rubber and air and cushioning than if you have a 20" with 1 1/14" sidewall height, which you are riding on basically a strip if rubber .
Its basically the look you are after. Everything has compromises.

carcommander

If you fall in a bad pothole you will bend any wheel. I have renntech's on my car as well. My car came with 19's. My rear tires are 305 as well. Outside diameter is outside diameter. They look great, ride about the same as the 19's. You will probably bend one sooner or later so keep your stock wheels. When they bend you just fix them. My Sl65 is daily driven I am just carefull. I had them and did bend one on my SL55 and I bent one on my CL55.

Benz-O-Rama

I have a set of 3pc forged 20's on my SL600 as I type this. While I haven't bent any of them yet, I can say with zero degree of uncertainty, that the ride is severely compromised. It's not to the point where I don't care to drive the car, but it's a much harsher ride than the stock 18's. You'll also get more vibration and road undulations will be more pronounced. Just a byproduct of riding on such a low-profile tire, I suppose. I absolutely love the look of the 20's, but whenever I switch back to my 18's, I always enjoy the cushier ride. It's still a bit of a stretch to call the SL a super comfortable ride, with my E500 and Range Rover parked right beside it. Both of those cars trump it in the comfort category.

However, if aesthetics are more important to you than ride compliance, 20's are a great choice. There's very few days, in which I take my SL600 out somewhere, that I don't get some sort of compliment on it. And being a very vain person, that makes me happy.

Al E

Have Asanti 20s on my 09 SL63. Several months ago my wife hit a cut out section in the street that was not mark and had to replace three bent whseels. We purchased wheel insurance when we bought the car and it paid for the wheels.