2012 merc amg

Crazy, I've only got around 11K miles on my rear tires that I replaced last Feb and they are worn pretty close to the wear indicator bars, I'd say I maybe have another 3K miles left on them if I'm lucky. The fronts seem fine. The tires are Bridgestone Pole Positions S-04's. No complaints about the tires, they hook up like glue off the line with no spinning even with the traction control off amazingly enough, but wow oh wow do they wear out quick. I guess my best bet is to replace them in a few months with the same tires on just the rear as I can get them @ $240 per tire and go another year and then next time around replace all 4 with something that wears a little longer. Any Suggestions, do the Michelin Super Sports last any longer? How about the Yokohama Avids? I notice they make those in my rear tire size. $600 bucks a year including install on just rear tires is gonna get expensive. These cars are not cheap to drive, but a lot fun

benyl

I was getting maybe 5000 kms out of the rears on my C63. New tires every season.

Critter

If you have no wheel spin, even with traction control off, you must be running on 5 cylinders.
My E will kill the Michelin PSS rears if more than normal driving is placed on them, 1st gear is a waste, 2nd gear is a ride and third if you feather the throttle the traction control light slows to a fast heartbeat.
To gain more from your tires try to drive like you need not win every race with yourself.
Or continue to enjoy the ride and pay the rubber guy.

2012 merc amg

That's what I thought that there must be something wrong with the car, but at the 1/4 mile I run consistant 12.2's and that's around what the car is suppose to do stock. These tires just bite in kick you back in the seat, no complaints at all about the tires other than the wear. Surprised me they are going so fast as they are not spinning like I said, I guess there is just a lot of force at the tires with all the torque from the 5.5 tt engine. I'm really thinking about the Yokohama all season sport tires which are very reasonable at $155 a tire in the correct size but I'm pretty sure those tires would just go up in smoke making the quarter mile very tricky and more time. I'm sure the Yokohama's would ride and wear a lot longer though if I can keep my foot out of it more.

ace10

11K miles on rear tires in a RWD car like the E63.... seems pretty good to me.

If you think $600 for two tires per year is expensive, perhaps a Honda?

PeterUbers

+1

2012 merc amg

I don't think 11K miles on rear tires is very good and once a year is a pain to have to get them changed out, you gotta worry about the guy messing up the rims, a defective tire, etc. It can get into a lot of extra time and worry, I want something that will go at least double that. Here's the tires I was thinking of http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....AN+Sport+A%2FS They have about double the wear rating of the Pole Position Bridgestones, will probably ride smoother over bumps as the sidewalls are not quite as stiff but yet the rubber compound must be less soft hence the longer wear rating. I can do all 4 of these for a little over 600 bucks and maybe have a more enjoyable experience driving the car as it will be smoother. Yes it will be more of a challenge at the drag track but should still be fun. I guess this change will probably not happen for a while though as my front tires still look practically new and I think they can go another rear tire cycle so I guess I'll search for the best deal on another pair of rear Bridgestone Pole positions and just do the rears this time around.


I sometimes don't understand the responses from those who act as though they want to waste money. It was like this over on the CTS-V forums. I knew when I had one of those cars it was probably one of the least efficient cars ever created and I offered comments like the revs should be lower on the highway and there should be Turbos as the benz has rather than the inefficient supercharger. People would respond that well if you have to worry about driving a 11 mpg car vs a 22 mpg car you should be driving a Hyundia. I do feel with the Benz I got it all, I get 22 to 23 mpg on the highway and yet nearly 600 hp. I was a Industrial engineer for my job (retired now) and I just could not live with a mechanically troubled inefficient beast like the CTS-V, I sure hope they do a better job with the soon to be announced V3 generation of cars because to me the V2's were a disgrace to American car building technology, the Merc is way ahead in all ways.

PeterUbers

I wish u good luck with your next set of tires

2012 merc amg

It's too bad they don't make the Firestone Firehawk Indy 500's in our size as I would go with them, they are reasonably priced, have a better wear rating than the Bridgestones. I just put a set of these on my TDI and really like them. I will not put anything but the factory recommended size on this car as I'm keeping it bone stock. I still have 4 years of warranty left and do not want to do anything that would give an excuse to void it as much as I'd love to do a tune and be turning mid 11's in the quarter mile. If I did have a tune I think would definitely just stick with the Bridgestones as they do hook up like glue.

vdubpower

told ya to get the Michelins PSS last time, LOL

Im at 10 miles on mine, after 13 months or so , so far got good tread left

remember my P0's got 18000 miles, but were slicks at the end

2012 merc amg

You may have been right, I just don't like the idea of 295's on the rear as they don't make 285's. Do you think the dealer could give a argument if the rear end went or something that it was because of the wrong size rear tires? This is what worries me. I just wish they made 285's x 30 x 19's. I guess so much with tire wear has to do with the way the car is driven and ya I do a lot of fast starts with my car, like I said, the fronts after 11K miles still look like new. Even with the SS tires the rears may still look the same as the Bridgestones vs SS tires with the way I drive.

vdubpower

once u get the 295's you wont go back

what will the dealer make issue with???the 10 mm difference is not gonna botch your airsuspension or bushings etc etc

when u go in for an oil change, they arent gonna bug out about your tires

sbtm

Impossible to do!

K-Mac

Fact is “Full front and rear wheel alignment” is no more!


Since the mid ‘90 model’s, with the ever increasing speed of vehicle assembly lines there has been no front or rear Camber (or front Caster) adjustment facility fitted OEM


Only current adjustment is front and rear Toe and situations where there is still insufficient rear Toe once the issue of lack of Camber adjustment is overcome!

To attempt to return vehicle to factory specs to resolve costly premature inner edge tire wear, improve traction, and fix steering pull the only current alternative for Camber and Caster is to fit offset, slotted bolts (for the front only). But these are inaccurate - one only position bolts - offering a minimal .3 of one degree adjustment (3mm / 1/8”).

It’s no wonder many owners continually change tire brands or go from one MB Dealer or alignment shop to another trying to get it right/fix the problem!


We saw the need therefore "to fix it right the first time" by designing, developing, patenting (and re-instating from the 1990's) fully adjustable front (and rear) suspension for virtually all models.

The current K-MAC kits have up to 4 times the adjustment of these one only position offset bolts (both Positive or Negative). And unlike these one position bolts that require labour intensive jacking and disassembly each time to alter. K-MAC kits only require use of a single wrench to accurately adjust on car (under load) direct on alignment rack.


Providing “ongoing” full, precise adjustment of both Camber and Caster settings if altering suspension height, fitting wide profile tires/wheels, curb knock damage or being able to quickly fine tune/change specs on race days (extra Negative/plus track width to go deeper into the corners/lower lap times). The unique K-MAC patented design only requires use of the single wrench/no disassembly.

For the rear, similar kits are manufactured for precise Camber adjustment (with additional Toe to compensate for the new Camber facility). Importantly unlike the alternative rear adjustable Camber control arms available K-MAC kits do not move top of tire outwards - this reducing essential clearance top of tire to outer fender when adjusting to fix premature inner edge tire wear/improve rear traction.


Also instead of spherical bearings as used on control arms which prematurely pound out allowing metal to metal contact, at K-MAC we have developed long life elastomer bushings.


Bonus with the four front and four rear bushes is that they are also designed with twice the load bearing area and replace the highest wearing suspension bushings. And with K-MAC no special tools are required to fit.


Note (Product background re bushings): Majority OEM bushes have air voids to allow 2 axis movement. So control arms can travel through their required arcs without binding, locking up.


Essential with today’s modern designs of “multi-link” arms with different angle mount points!


Yet most “aftermarket” replacement bushes the industry standard is to eliminate these air voids in an attempt to improve both steering response and reduce wheel hop, loss of traction under brake and acceleration.


The opposite is often the case – the elimination of the air voids causes even more severe wheel hop, loss of traction through binding, locking up of arms.


K-MAC bushes – with 50 years now of bush technology are designed without the air voids but where needed with “full 2 axis movement”. Result is power to the ground – maximum traction/acceleration/braking - along with noticeably improved directional control and steering response for highway driving, lane changing.

ace10

That's OK, I don't understand why someone would own a $100K car and then fret over $600 worth of tires.

It's like when I used own Landcruisers, and people would buy them used and then whine and moan to the ends of the earth about ongoing costs to own. Well, just because you bought a $20K used car, it doesn't mean the vehicle ceases to be a $80K SUV in terms of systems, consumables and maintenance.


If saving a few bucks by putting All Season tires is gonna make your economic equation feel better, then do it. But don't expect the car to have the same lateral grip as a summer tire, or hook up as well, either. Smacking the curb with the rear end, just one time, is gonna cost a whole lot more than a car's lifetime worth of tires.


And please know that comparing wear ratings BETWEEN tire manufacturers is not meaningful. Relative wear ratings among one manufacturers lineup is valid comparative data.

2012 merc amg

Good Point. I think it might be a good move to just go with the Michelin SS tires. I just don't want my back of my car higher than the front. What size can I put on the front to balance out the increased height difference of the 295's in the rear? 265's on the front? Will that work?

Lenin

295 is the width. Not the hight. What size rims do you have?

vdubpower

youll be fine with 255 in the front...trust me....i know the stock 255 is a touch taller than the stock 285, but its gonna be only a minor change

i know u can run 265 in front if u wanted to, i think ams tuning did on one of their cars, with no issues

Quadrobenz

On our 2007 E63 the best we were able to get was about 12k rear, 15k front out of a set of tires, and that was after adjusting tire pressures to get even wear across the tires. I settled on 36 PSI rear and 41 front. The problem in the front was the inside edge tread wear. I sure hope that was fixed by 2012. Our new 2014 only has about 3k miles on it so it is too early to be sure but it looks like 12k will be the max on those. It is AWD so wear may be different. Our SL600 weighs about 200 pounds more, but with the larger stock tires we get about 20k miles on the same model/brand of tire as on the E63. While I never tried it, putting a 285 or 295 rear tire on the rear of the E63 should make a significant improvement. You will need to make sure the section height chosen provides about the same rev/mile as the original 265 tires. 295's might be a bit wide for the stock rear wheels. Others who are using them would know.

benyl

295 and 255 in 19inch actually match. rev for rev.

285 is actually shorter than the 255s you have in the front.

Even with AWD in the summer, at WOT, my car leaves 2 strips of rubber on the pavement without "wheelspin" or the blinky light. You push 577 to the ground, and you are going to leave a layer of rubber behind.

Get PSS or AS/3.

Quadrobenz

I did not realize the the 2012 came with 255/285 tires. Putting on 295's should be straightforward.

otakki

Another option is to get a set of 18" for the rear with oem-sized PSS on them.

2012 merc amg

I guess I'll go the 295 Michelin SS route. Anybody tried mixing them with a tire like the Bridgestone pole positions? The fronts look so good I had to toss them out, I think I can get another 12 K miles out of the fronts easily. Either that or for now just replace the rears with a new set of Pole positions and then in another year go with 4 Michelin SS tire. Like was said I guess I'm leaving rubber without knowing it as it's gotta be going somewhere, I just thought I'd get 20K miles outta these tires. As Vdub said maybe I shoulda just gone with the Michelins from the get go, although I will say the Bridgestones have been great other than wear, I hope the SS tires hook up as good as these do.

PeterUbers

Keep all tires the same ... Four summer tires... Someone smarter than me will discuss the physics behind this intelligent decision

Just replace the rear pole positions with identical tires and be done with it for another year.

2012 merc amg

That makes the most sense, I can get a stock size pole position for $221.00 ea for the rear and the fronts are fine, the are a awesome performing tire, but I do think the Michelin SS lasts longer so next year I'll go with those, the fronts should be worn out in another year. With all the power and torque of this TT motor I can imagine running hard on all seasons would be a real handful. Glad I started this thread to think about things more so I did not make a mistake that could have caused me a wrecked car.