dan212

I live in NYC. Cold weather, snow and rough roads throughout the Northeast. My car has sports suspension option springs and shocks and the handling is great. But

I was a bit disconcerted to realize that Mercedes puts tires rated as "High Performance Summer" tires on as OEM on my car purchased in Paramus NJ. The tires are not rated for use in below freezing temperatures. It has been in the mid 20's for the last couple of weeks.

I may be looking in the wrong place, but I couldn't find anywhere a listing of what Mercedes uses as an OEM tire. The TireRack (and Bridgestone) site describes the Potenza x50 (mine are run flat) tires as the frequent selection of very high performance cars. I can understand the selection - especially on a car like the 550. I made no specific tire selection for the car when I ordered it except for Run flat.

But putting summer rated tires as OEM on cars sold in the Northeast seems odd to me. Seems like a big leap. I appreciate the grip when warm, but I DO NOTICE the grip when cold is less than thrilling. I am not talking about driving in sow per se.. But the weather is cold enough that the highways are pretty much frozen. Driving at 80+ will warm up the tires, but I don't know much this will offset the behavior the tire will have on the actual contact patch of the tire tread on frozen pavement if the rubber compound is designed for warmer temperatures.

Curious to know what thoughts people have on this. Maybe I have misunderstood.

Luke@tirerack

Sumer performance tire lose a large percentage of their grip and ability when temps are below 40 degrees. Mercedes, as well as most European manufacturers, have a better grasp on the role tires play in a cars ability and use seasonal tires to improve the handling and ride of their cars as opposed to the more "convenience orientated" US manufacturers. The use of all season tires in Europe is almost unheard of because they just don't do anything really well.

get "winter" tires for winter and run your summer tires in the spring, summer and early fall.

dan212

Thats my understanding of summer tires, but I can't help thinking that it is just weird to sell a car in the Trio-state area with tires that are unsuable (read potentially dangerous) at least three months out of the year.

Its 26 degrees out right now... Just how close the the edge am I??

p_mmk

Dan212. You purchased a CLK550 which is a performance oriented car. It has staggered wheels (different sizes front and rear.) Summer tires maximize the performance. If you look on the door sticker or instruction manual, MB makes recommendations for both summer and winter wheels. MB recommends you get the same size wheels and tires for winter.

It is NOT wierd to put summer tires as OEM. Many sports cars have that, even the Scion's have it. It is dangerous to drive your car with summer tires in the snow. You need to get another set of wheels and tires. One set for winter one set for summer.

I have a CLK500 and live near Paramus. OEM's for CLK's are generally Pirelli PZero, Michellin Pilot's, and occasionally Continental ContiSport

dan212

I guess that makes sense and I do understand. But honestly, it would have been nice if they had said something in their documentation or dealer intro. Nowhere is the tire model documented and had to take a pause to double check the tire model. In my case, they really ARE Potenza 50's. With 382HP (and the sports suspension option), the car does not have enough rubber - especially on the rear. I was going to replace the 17 inch wheels with (light wight AMG twin Spoke) 18 inch wheels. I was going nuts trying to figure out why I had these OEM tires - thanks all for answering.

(Side note: my office has a garage. I see several other cars of my type with the same or similar tires).

It is 15 degrees in NYC area right now, but winter will break in another month. I don't drive in snow - just cold weather.


By May my car will be 6 months old and I'll have close to 10K miles on it. At the rate these tires are wearing, they will be toast by then anyway.

I guess I will keep the 17's for winter use and the 18's for normal use. Now I just have to figure out how to store 4 wheels in my 23rd floor NYC apartment - LOL

thanks

dan