quick tire question...
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Super Member
Joined: Aug 2006
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From: palm beach
CLS55 & CL CK60
quick tire question...
i have grown to like the hankook ventus but they don't make the size i need for my front tire. the only manufacturer that makes my front that i would buy is pirelli. how lame is it to run different tires front and rear? other than aesthetics is it really a problem?
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ML550
It's potentially a safety issue, too. Different brand tires have different handling characteristics. Let's be honest, we all like the Hankooks because they're decent and very cheap to buy, not because they're a particularly great tire.
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From: New Cumberland, PA
ML63
@komp55 if all tires have unique characteristics then you could pick the tire based on how it will preform and to have it do the job you need. thats like saying all the tires and wheels need to be the same size on all four corners. On a CLS the front tires are a lot smaller than the rear. I don't think the tires will preform the same even from the same manufacture.
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@komp55 if all tires have unique characteristics then you could pick the tire based on how it will preform and to have it do the job you need. thats like saying all the tires and wheels need to be the same size on all four corners. On a CLS the front tires are a lot smaller than the rear. I don't think the tires will preform the same even from the same manufacture.
Actually, most cars will handle best if you do use identical wheels and tires at all four corners. A staggered set-up on a car like the CLS is primarily for aesthetics and nothing much else. It could easily use the 255/35/19 tires on the rear because they have plenty of load range for the weight of the car. Running wider rear wheels increases understeer (plowing); not exactly what a large car like a CLS needs - but safer for the typical CLS driver.
My point about mixing tire brands was simply that they're manufactured differently, and thus handle differently, have varying levels of grip or traction, and differing turn-in and braking response. So IMO, you're wiser not to intermix tire brands when you don't need to.
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From: Valley of the Sun, Arizona
C63, SL55, E55, CLS55, ML63, C55
A lot of people who are lowered are running miss matched tires front vs rear. Only because they go through (myself included) one set faster than the other. Sometimes you are at the mercy of what tires are in stock in your area. I for one run P Zeros up front and Hankooks v12s in the rear. I never notice them being different. I only am doing this because I'm going through 3 sets of rear tires a year vs 1 set per front. At that rate you are bound to run into availability issues on some tires. i'd say, just get yourself back on the road and over some time you won't even notice. Unless you use a really crappy tire.
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I have run different brand tires on just about every car I have ever owned, for one reason or another.
The ONLY issue with doing this is that different tires will have different roll over rates.
AKA, Keep BOTH hands on the steering wheel when driving over wash board roads, as the car will try to jump from lane to lane.
And YES, I have actually IMPROVED handling by doing this. Namely R type up front, and regular radial in the rear. This was done on a car that suffered from DRAMATIC understeer. Actually worked VERY well
The ONLY issue with doing this is that different tires will have different roll over rates.
AKA, Keep BOTH hands on the steering wheel when driving over wash board roads, as the car will try to jump from lane to lane.
And YES, I have actually IMPROVED handling by doing this. Namely R type up front, and regular radial in the rear. This was done on a car that suffered from DRAMATIC understeer. Actually worked VERY well
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From: Valley of the Sun, Arizona
C63, SL55, E55, CLS55, ML63, C55
Both valid points. OTOH, it's not like you don't know your tires are wearing down before they're ready for the scrap heap. You can always plan ahead and order in from many of the great online tire sellers the same tire brand as those that are worn out - and not have to mix and match tire brands on your car.
BTW: Love the sig!
Last edited by MBH motorsports; Nov 17, 2011 at 11:26 AM.
