BucketofTruth

New member here. I'm getting my father's 2009 SL63 ready for sale and thinking of putting new tires on it. I've heard great things about the Michelin Pilot Super Sports, but I notice they only have a fitment for the fronts (255/35-19) but not the rears (285/30-19). Are there other sizes that will still work well? Is there another tire I should be going with instead? The car is currently on the original Michelin PS2s.

hyperion667

save that money and pass that cost on to the buyer

okbarnett

dont put tires on it to sell, but if you want good tires get a set of bridgestone potenza s-04

cal1

Go with the sage advice of the two long time members that have already posted .

Keep in mind the tire choice of the new buyer could very greatly. I know SL guys living in the northwest that like to run All-season tires. Some buyers may want to daily drive the car, others like me, only drive SLs in the summer. The DD guy will want to consider many tire attributes like wet traction, road noise and tread life. On the other hand, I am interested in straight line traction above all else. I run sticky ultra performance summer tires only. Tread life sucks because of it especially the rears

euphoriaDSM

I have super sports and have a had a few sets of them and love them!! 295/30/19 will be fine for the rears and that's a super sport size. I also agree with letting the buyer worry about tires.

EXECMALIBU

2006 SL65

I used to run OEM tires, the Bridgestone RE050A 295/30/19... They performed very well in dry conditions but the tread life was absolutely HORRIBLE!! I do not drag race or do excessive burnouts etc (OK so once in a while 800lbs of torque does take control) and I only got 7,000 miles on the rears and they were showing the steel belts...

Then I moved into the Michelin Pilot Super Sports because they advertise both extended tread life and ultra high performance even on cars racing 24hrs at LeMans.

Michelins are great tires with double the tread life so far and they still have tread! (not much but some).

I have always run the next tire size up 295/30/19 in both the Bridgestones and the Michelins because I used to have the larger 10 inch AMG 19 inch two piece wheels (factory option) and now run 11.5 inch SLR Wheels. The 295s fit without issues!

F1BHP

The 295/30r19 pss would be the best but I also advise not spending the money if you are selling as most buyers have their own opinion on tires so leave it to the new buyer. You could use the money you save to negotiate the deal which will give you a much better chance to sell than new tires.

BucketofTruth

Thanks for the tips folks. I'll try to sell it with the used PS2s and see where that gets me.

EXECMALIBU

A 6 year old SL will probably need tires even if the car had super low miles and original tires. They get hard, dried out!

If the buyer mentions the tires give him a $400 credit but only if the tires are totally shot.

A used car will always have "used" tires!

m-svt-amg

Sorry for thread revival, but i have to report extremely poor handling under hard acceleration with the 295/30/19 pss rears. Im taking a brand new set off and switching to bridgestones because it does not feel like an amg should handle with the tail wiggle.

EXECMALIBU

I agree that there is a tail wiggle with the Pilot Supers but because the RE050As only lasted 7,000 Miles on my SL65 I have ben running the Michelins.

How much for your take-offs?

hyperion667

what does the SL weigh?
only 295 for an AMG?
are you flooring it each time you leave?


maybe you need wider rubber for that power delivery?

cal1

SLs are pretty notorious for that tail wiggle. PSS always perform near the top of the list for traction in the tire reviews. In the past, I have run Toyo proxes and Nitto envos which I think are stickier under their optimum conditions which is warm to hot dry pavement. Tread life will suck with these, but if you are after an ultra-high performance summer tire to try and tame that 55k grunt, you might check them out.

If you already changed out to the Bridgestone, first, it would be great if you could report back here and let us know what you think. Secondly, many people deal with that SL tail wiggle by installing toe links of some kind. Renntech has them and check out this link if you have any interest.

https://mbworld.org/forums/c63-amg-w...oe-camber.html

SLs are pigs, weighing in at around 4,400 lbs. SL stands for "Sports Licht (light)." I always thought the proper designation should be SS for "Sports Schwein."

By the way, 285 is the stock rear width.

F1BHP

I have the PSS 305's at the back of my sl600. It's not traction that is the issue, it is the soft compound and soft sidewalls giving the wiggle.

When the tires were off I pushed the sidewalls and was very surprised how soft they are.

m-svt-amg

Agreed, i wanted a 285/30/19, but the closest PSS comes in is 295 (unless you count the corvette runflat)

its too wide for the softness of the compound. The tires arent breaking loose, it feels more the car is rolling is ankle and swiveling real quick until it regains balance.

On switching to bridgestones, if my contact at michelin cant get me a non runflat 285/30 XL load PSS in the next month, ill switch and report. Ill give them until i sort out the p0106 code and replace all the worn bushings.

On toe links: thanks, i do have the toe links, but shardul believes they are not installed properly because theyre making noise. Im hoping the new bushings fix this.

m-svt-amg

To answer the question.. they have 700 miles on them. Id sell the set of 4 for 1200. They were 1450 new.

I might wait, rumor has it that th 285/30/19 is currently being manufactured and should be availabls within a month.

Im skeptical but hopeful.

sound 8

I just put 325 25 20 on the back of my car, grip and ride are superb,
gearing is a fraction higher.
S8

AMG 17GT

The answer to the "wiggle" is indeed the XL tire with stiffer sidewall. Limiting spacers to get maximum width Will also help.

m-svt-amg

Romeo, care to elaborate on spacers?

AMG 17GT

Sure, A lot of shops will add spacers so wheel is pushed out towards fender so it fills wheel well completely. This adds further stress to sidewalls intensifying the wiggle effect.

The correct solution would really be the proper offset wheel for the car, but then all these wheel companies that advertise all these wheels would go out of business

RNSL65

I've tried the Michelin Pilot Super Sport 295/35-19" on the the standard SL65-AMG rear rims and this is absolutely a no go. The rims are too small for these size of wheels. I now have 305/25-20" on 11" Carlsson UL 1/16 Rims, and handling is now in a different league. The Michelin Pilot Super Sport is one, if not the best tyre I have ever tried - but the problem is a to small wheel for that tyre size.