2012 merc amg

My main complaint is the ride over rough roads and there are a lot around here in Newport R.I, I live in Fla winters so I don't think it'll be a issue there. But man this car rides really brittle over bumpy roads, I've got the Conti tires on it now, maybe a softer tire might make it ride better? Any ideas? I was thinking about changing over to the Michelin Pilot Super Sports when these half worn Contis are done? would the car ride smoother over bumps with the Michelins, anybody tried this swap and any difference? I still can't get any answers on having the display show song titles and artists, other than that streaming works fine, the car can even show text messages which is cool. I guess I just won't worry about that because this car may never display info, I've tried everything I can think of with the car and the phone (android Galaxy 3). The car is looking great, just put a coat of Synthetic Wax on it the other night and really shining.

vdubpower

my car's fraternal twin

the Mich PSS come in 295 in rear, so u would have to go a touch wider....different opinions on whether our 9.5inch rears are ok with a 295

2012 merc amg

I'd think with the 295's it would ride a little bit better as there is a little more rubber on the sidewall as the tire is a little bit taller. That was kind of my plan in going to the 295's better traction and maybe better ride and I'd actually like the car a tad bit less low for getting in and out with my wheelchair as I'm a paraplegic. I've got the performance package on my car too like yours and the Distronic which I love as I drive with hand controls and it gives me a break from being on the controls all the time, great option for someone like me especially. I like this car so much better than the CTS-V I had before, it was a 2013, just did not like it and traded down a year and 20 grand more for this car, it was a good move, much more storage space in this car too as I play wheelchair tennis and lug around a couple extra tennis chairs in the back, even my handcycle fits in the back fine. Very practical car. I also have a VW Jetta Diesel for long trips to keep the miles down on this car and get 50 mpg, so good combo. The VW is not reading on the display streaming music either, maybe I've gotta get an iphone I guess, I know that would work.

vdubpower

wow hand controls.....impressive.....how do those work, are they directly attached to the pedals.....sorry i really have no idea.

they say there maybe too much flex in the sidewalls with the 9.5 wheel...as it is a little narrow...thats what some say

2012 merc amg

So does the flex adversely affect the handling of the car?

Yes, one straight rod attaches to the brake pedal and the other to the gas pedal, so you pull for throttle and push for brake, very simple. Install, about 5 minutes or less, no mods to the car. Some controls require drilling and cutting, I didn't want to do that with a car like this, I don't even really want to pop off the lower panel under the steering wheel because there is lots of electronics under there and better off not opening pandoras box. According to my scanner plugged into the obd 2 I'm getting 94 percent throttle at full, when I remove the controls and press the throttle all they way down with my hand it still reads 94 percent so I guess that's all she gets. Any others do a wide open throttle test with the engine off and key on? You just go to relative throttle position on the scanner.

vdubpower

jeez when i put my foot down, i make sure i have both hands on the wheel, this car has some power

i suppose too much flex would not be good esp with corners, but again, some people here have used them with no problem, i know ams uses them on their car with their turbo upgrades...

2012 merc amg

I'm careful and never really had a issue, use to drag race a 900 hp car and use to driving with one hand even when things get squirely. These seats in this AMG are a real blessing to me as I'm paralyzed from the upper chest down with no abdominal muscles and the inflating bolsters really hold me in better than anything I've experienced. In the past I needed a need a three point harness, not in this car, so glad I got this car. In my CTS-V, I'd slide all around in corners as I did not have the Recaros as they were too hard for me to get in and out of, these seats are a easy transfer, no lower seat bolsters like the recaros to get in the way. I'd think even for older folks or people who were over weight the recaros might be a problem, merc had a better idea with these seats, the car is much more comfortable than the V with a lot more leg room, not so squished in like with the V, I just felt so confined in that car.

335X-ray

With regards to going 295 with the Michelin PSS, I am on the fence. I would love to use them once the OEM tires wear down, but with the current sizes available, the diameter variance is pretty high. Check out this link to see the differences between the OEM sizes (255/35 19 and 285/30 19) versus the available PSS sizes in 19".

I picked 265/35/19 and then both 285/35 19 and 295/35 19 to see. (Those are the available PSS sizes in 19").

The 295s are 4.24% larger diameter than the stock 255/35 fronts and 5.37% larger than the stock rears.

When you bump the fronts to 265/35 19, those are 1.06% larger than the OEM fronts so when you pair them with the 295s in the rear, the diameter difference drops to 3.18% (the 1010 tire web site doesn't recommend differences over 3%)

If you drop to the Michelin PSS rears in 285/35 19 size, the difference from front to rear is only 2.12% which seems more reasonable.

Regarding side wall height which likely makes the most ride comfort difference:
The stock 285/30: is 3.37 in.
285/35 19: 3.93 in
295/35 19: 4.06

Your real change is from stock rear size to the 285/35 which will keep front/rear diameter differences relatively narrow. You don't quiet get the beefiness of the 295s but it is really only 0.4 inches wider.

Just my 2 cents

X

2012 merc amg

Anybody who had done this change? Is the speedo reading inaccurate now, any performance difference or problems?

335X-ray

Speedo would be off by 1% if the car reads the front wheels or 4% if it reads the back. Given that most manufacturers actually have a built in speedo error which reads erroneously high, your actual speed will probably be pretty accurate. BMW typically is down about 3 mph at 65mph.

sikm3

There have been report of increased understeer in corners with 295's on the rear. This was from track usage. For the street, I doubt you would notice a major difference. In straight line drag racing, you won't notice any difference. No reported inaccuracy with the speedo.

There's also aesthetics invovled. 295s sidewall will bulge slightly over the rim.

otakki

I know none of you like the idea of going down to 18". But that's another option for the rear to have PSS and not have to worry about diameter, speedo err, etc.

drrodge

Disappointing to hear the car rides is too stiff on rough roads. I wish that balance between ride and handling was easier to achieve.

2012 merc amg

Yes, I'm not the only one to complain about this, I googled it and found lots of threads about the bad ride over rough roads, I guess the earlier 211's rode a little bit better.

Ya, know that's a thought of going down to 18's and getting a tire with larger sidewall area in the PSS's. That would definitely help the ride of the car, although might not look as good as with the 19's. I'm probably not going to need to replace the conti's for around another 10K miles so I can always hope Michelin comes out with the proper size tire for the 19's in the meantime. It would be nice to keep it stock the more I think about it with the proper tire and I do like the rims that are on there now and they are in perfect shape. I just noticed today though a little high speed vibration for the first time, not sure if the conti's are going out of balance or what, but just a slight shake at around 90 plus mph.

vdubpower

y are u checking the details on a 35 ratio on the rears, we use 30s stock

your should be comparing 285 30 and 295 30 for the rears

for fronts u can keep 255 35 or goto 265 35's

the ams car has 265 35 and 295 30 PSS with no issues per them

those who get 20 inch wheels, usually will drop the ratio size by 5 in front and rear, allowing for overall diameter to be similiar, but it does narrow the side wall...hence a rougher ride not only due to having 20s but also less tire

i saw the weistec car had 255 35 20s and 265 30 20s, which are larger rolling diameter, more than 3 percent.

i dont know how big a deal it is.....

335X-ray

I talked about the 35s since the sizes unquoted are the only sizes the Michelin PSS comes in. It is one of the best tires out right now. If you go 20 then there are other options.

X

2012 merc amg

Yes I agree about the Pilot SS being one of the best tires, I can attest to that from my last car. I definitely don't want the back end of the car any higher than the front than it is already, even stock it looks like the back end is jacked up a couple inches higher than the front. One thing that is real tempting to do though, maybe even now way before my stock conti's are completely worn out is to get Bridgestone Potenza Pole Position tires, they are dirt cheap right now on tire rack for $197.00 for fronts and $228.00 for rears, so 860 for all and not a bad tire at all, they may really help out with the ride of the car over the conti's, I notices the front tires when I brake with the conti's are making a real lot of noise and also vibrating a little bit on the highway now, for under a grand I think I could solve all the issues i'm having even at this halfway worn point on the conti''s, all the review's I find on the pole positions say they are a really good tire, and especially at this closeout price. What do you all think? Go with the bigger SS's or just go stock size with the Bridgestone Pole Positions? I'm really looking for ways to improve the ride quality of this car and get rid of the tire noise and the vibrations it now seems to have. When I just got the car @ 12K miles used it had no vibration on the highway and no tire noise, now it does for some reason. Have not done anything unusual with the car.

JJCTHE1

I can attest to the Michelin SSs they are a revolution in tires as far as I am concerned. I was burning through rears at 8k in my M3 for 4 sets of MPS2s, I get the SSs, drive the car 11k miles, still had plenty of meat on them when I sold it. I was shocked. I am planning on replacing the contis with these when I burn through the first set, which from driving this car for a week, and realizing the rediculous power it has, I speculate buying a set for christmas!

2012 merc amg

I'd be curious to know if anyone who replaced the stock Conti's with the SS tires had a better ride? Right now my ride is horrible over bumpy roads. I may take it to the dealer to get it checked out under warrantee because the other weird thing is that whenever I'm near the car with the key the rear air suspension seems to constantly fill up and then the check valve opens to let out that air and then it cycles through again, real strange.

vdubpower

whats the tread life on the mich compared to the pirellis

ive got 16000 on the pirellis, fronts are still good, rears could be changed....problem is i dont want to waste the fronts, so do i just get new rear pirellis and change all 4 next time around, or get 2 pss now....

2012 merc amg

I'm pretty sure it's around the same, but if I were you I'd just get rid of the Pirellis entirely and go with either the Pole Positions if you don't want to change sizes or the Michelins, either one of those would be much better handling tire than the Pirellis, heard nothing but bad things about the Pirellis.

vdubpower

ive had a good experience with them.....no issues.......Its not like there is any tire out there that will lay down perfect traction with any car that has 550hp.

If i dont goto PSS, i would get the pirellis again, over the contis....Had contis on my S550 and c320 ( i know, not the same league as the amg) but i was never impressed

im wondering about these new pirellie pzeros silvers......not sure where they sit in the scheme of things

2012 merc amg

What did you not like about the conti's just out of curiousity? I'm thinking maybe they are part of my harsh ride problem. The car seems to handle and hook up great with these tires though. According to the carfax on my car from a couple months ago it looks like they were new at 9700 miles along with the rims and a alignment so @ 15000 miles now I think I'm stuck with them for at least another 6 to 10K miles as it hard to justify changing them out when they are less than half worn right now as tempting as it is. I would like to learn more about the Pole Position Bridgestones, they sound like a really good tire, although I do know the SS Michelin are a amazing tire, the best and only around 100 bucks more a tire than the Bridgestones, if only they came in this 19 inch size. Hopefully as was said if the 2014's have them it may only be a matter of time. I might be tempted to drop down to the 18 inchers too with the SS's and get some really cool looking rims and that would most definitely solve some of my ride issues too.

vdubpower

personally i felt that the ride in a PP car vs a NON PP car was very similiar, others here disagree

i almost never put the suspension in Sport plus enless i know its gonna be a nice road and i plan on driving spirited, otherwise i keep it in C

the Conti's were ok, they were probably the sportconti 2 or 3's i dont recall, they wear out fast, they werent horrible, i remember we used them at the amg academy...

its wierd that the mich pss are cheaper than pirellis in a compartive size, yes PS2 are still more expensive....dunno why that is

2012 merc amg

Ya, that's what I thought too, the PS2's have a lot more crabbing in expansion joints and wear a lot faster than the PSS's and the PSS's just have a much better feel, they are a deal.