Hal H

Luke:

I have a W208 CLK320 coupe in. I've read a lot of positive comments from the surveys on TireRack.

The OEM 205/55-16 Continentals (ContiTouringContact CH95) I really don't like.

Very noisy, marginal dry weather cornering traction and really lousy in the rain. They have 28k on them now (always maintained 2# above recommended MB inflation) and they might make it to 35k.

I'm considering using the 205/55 on the front and 225/50 on the rear, as is done on the current W209 CLK320 (the W208's had this option in
European markets).

My main focus is having tire with better traction, but to make sure the next tire I buy isn't as noisy as the Conti's.

Over the years I've used Goodyear Eagle GT, GT II and HP Ultra, and the Pirelli P6000 on my other cars -I found were much quieter and offered good performance.

Would the F1 GS-D3's work for the CLK? or is there another recommedation you might have.

PS - would it be better to go with the 225/50 on all four corners? I wanted a wider tire for a more substantial look - I didn't know if a wider front tire would create a more numb feel in the steering or not.

Thanks.

wmhjr

Made the mistake of switching from Pole Position S03s to Eagle F1 GSD3s on my BMW M series. The ride was no better, and the noise was no better. On the other hand, my ASC light started blinking at much lower speeds on the exact road segments during both wet and dry conditions.

I'll never purchase the F1's again.

meanie

I would recommend 225/50 on all four corners.
Even if you get directional tires, at least you can still rotate them front/back.
With a staggered set-up you're screwed.
Aside from that, what size of spare tire are you going to carry ?
Besides, 205's look out of place anyway.

peebs1

Hal:

Do yourself a favor and do NOT buy the Eagle F1s. I had them on my M5 and sold them 4 weeks later...lost a bundle. They are extremely quiet, but they are extremely soft. If you care about performance you will be very disappointed with this tire. Almost everyone I know who bought these tires has regretted that decision. Maybe they'll be okay if you have 19" wheels so the soft sidewall doesn't come into play as much. The folks at tirerack that I've talked to all agree that these tires are nowhere near the top of the heap. The tirerack survey is almost entirely predicated on hype...which these tires had plenty of. You'll notice that the pilot sport 1s moved way down the chart as time went by. You'll see the goodyear's start to slide too. I replaced my tires with PS2s and they are amazing. So much better than the Goodyears it's hard to imagine they could be mentioned in the same sentence.

Yokohama is coming out with a new tire called the Advan Sport which is supposed to be very nice. Poor treadlife, but great feel and stick. Course that's just hype too at this point. I hear great things about the SO3 as well. You really can't go wrong with either those or the PS2. I really hope you stay away from the Eagles...you'll kick yourself if you don't.

mcbaes72

I was doing a search and saw this old thread. After reading some negative replies, I thought I'd share this...

I subscribe to both Car and Driver and EuroTuner and in their Nov./Dec. '05 issue, they did a tire test on many different brands.

In both magazines' tire tests, the Goodyear F1 GS-D3 came out #1 tire overall.

2nd place: Yokohama Advan Neova AD-07 (EuroTuner) and Continental ContiSportContact 2 (Car and Driver).

Just FYI.

ClayJ

The PS2's Rock -- and all of us who have them, and who have used them to replace other rubber on a number of cars, know this quite well....

The F1 GSD3's are good -- just not as good.

The Advan Neova's and SportContact2's may prove themselves in time to be great tires...but have not done so yet.....