Which Tyres?

[jp]

Haven't seen this discussion for a while and seeing as how I am about to spend a small fortune on new rubber thought I'd bring it up again!
So, I need 245/45 18 x 2 and 265/35 18 x 2.
My local shop Merityres has a good website with all the new labelling (which incidentally I personally think should include longevity).
Hankook tyres are the cheapest @ £164 and seem to have the best ratings. But do they last?
Then they seem to go up in £10 increments: Dunlop, Continental, Pirelli, Michelin @ £201.
So now completely confused.
I've heard Michelins give the longest life so possibly worth the extra?
Continental are "reccomended" fit.
Currently running Pirelli Rossos with about 2mm left!
I guess I'm saying what would you choose?????

 

[Mic]

Haven't seen this discussion for a while and seeing as how I am about to spend a small fortune on new rubber thought I'd bring it up again!
So, I need 245/45 18 x 2 and 265/35 18 x 2.
My local shop Merityres has a good website with all the new labelling (which incidentally I personally think should include longevity).
Hankook tyres are the cheapest @ £164 and seem to have the best ratings. But do they last?
Then they seem to go up in £10 increments: Dunlop, Continental, Pirelli, Michelin @ £201.
So now completely confused.
I've heard Michelins give the longest life so possibly worth the extra?
Continental are "reccomended" fit.
Currently running Pirelli Rossos with about 2mm left!
I guess I'm saying what would you choose?????

I intend putting Continental SC 5s on my SL next spring.

Mic

 

[EmilysDad]

Which tyres are best is a very subjective question. I reckon that you'll get umpteen different answers from umpteen different people, depends on the car, the driver & the type of driving you do.
Coincidently I could also do with a couple for the back of mine, & the quoted price from MB themselves seemed reasonable not sure which flavour of Bridgestone they quoted on yet though. (I know I could nearly buy two for my other car for the price of one for the R Class :cry: )

 

[toby1]

I'll answer: Michelin

 

[Naraic]

Haven't seen this discussion for a while and seeing as how I am about to spend a small fortune on new rubber thought I'd bring it up again!
So, I need 245/45 18 x 2 and 265/35 18 x 2.
My local shop Merityres has a good website with all the new labelling (which incidentally I personally think should include longevity).
Hankook tyres are the cheapest @ £164 and seem to have the best ratings. But do they last?
Then they seem to go up in £10 increments: Dunlop, Continental, Pirelli, Michelin @ £201.
So now completely confused.
I've heard Michelins give the longest life so possibly worth the extra?
Continental are "reccomended" fit.
Currently running Pirelli Rossos with about 2mm left!
I guess I'm saying what would you choose?????

Are you sure? 245/45 and 265/35...that is a huge difference in diameter between front and rear...34mm. I would suggest that 235/40 on the front will give the same diameter front and rear.

 

[jp]

Are you sure? 245/45 and 265/35...that is a huge difference in diameter between front and rear...34mm. I would suggest that 235/40 on the front will give the same diameter front and rear.

Whoops: 245/40 18 & 265/35 18.
It's a "Sport" - bigger rear wheels...

 

[Naraic]

Whoops: 245/40 18 & 265/35 18.
It's a "Sport" - bigger rear wheels...

Even 245/40 will mean the fronts are a greater diameter than the rears by 10mm. Whereas with 235/40 the fronts will be only 2mm greater.

Your rear wheels and tyres are wider, not taller.

 

[Myros]

I'm running Falken 452s

on mine. Can't fault them.

 

[rf065]

I've bought Bridgestone, Conti, Michelin, Pirelli in the past, they were no better than the Falken ZE912's I now use, in fact, a couple of them were actually a lot worse, especially in the wet. I no longer see the need to buy very expensive tyres that are no better than the Falkens.

Russ

 

[amb67]

Tried all kinds, Pirelli, Michelin, Kuhmo, Linglong etc.... and keep going back to Continentals. They give the car that sure footed feel and perform whatever the weather, sure they are not cheap and do make a little more road noise but I like them and that's what really matters.

 

[LTD]

I've had, in reverse order, Dunlop SP9000, Kumho KU31 and Falken 452.

Of the three, I like the Kumho tyres the best.

I will be trying Continental or Michelin next as I now feel I want to see what a premium brand will offer me now that I have had around 40k on 'mid-range' tyres.

 

[Cardinal Biggles]

I put Michelins on my wifes C220 last time round, and they were initially terrible in winter. Didnt feel at all safe on winter roads, with the back end sliding about all over the place. They took about six months to bed in, and at last they feel ok.

I've been very happy with my Sport Contacts, but reviews on a specialist tyre website came out with GoodYears as being the ones to go for.

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk

 

[wheelie]

Whoops: 245/40 18 & 265/35 18.
It's a "Sport" - bigger rear wheels...

Yep thats about right they're the same on my E-Class sport (W211).

I've had Conti sport on when I first bought it - excellent IMO although 2 rear punctures had me quickly put on Goodyear F1 eagles as I was stuck and they were awsome.
Put Falken FK452 XL on 7,500 miles ago and while they are as good grip/performance wise to the Contis I find the tyre noise a little tiresome.

Recently put the winter tyres on - Vredestein Winter Xtreme XL.

Personally when I get back to summer I'm putting Contis back on as they lasted 23,000 miles (mainly motorway).

I used www.event-tyres.co.uk and www.mytyres.co.uk

Event are a little more expensive but they are really excellent, home or work mobile fitting and they take care with the alloys.

Pete

 

[jp]

went for Contis in the end. sports contact 3.
They feel much better that the well worn Pirellis, more comfortable and quiter...

 

[Frontstep]

Most new tyres feel better.

 

[ernieh]

on mine. Can't fault them.

I have these on the back of mine - they drive fine and give a comfortable ride, but I'm not going to get much more than 10K out of them. My tyre wear is normally fairly consistent, having had 21 & 20K out of 2 sets of Contis on this car. By contrast, the Kumhos on the front are looking like they will give me around 30 K which is what I got out of the Contis originally fitted on the front.

OK, the Falkens were only £100 each, but to get half the wear isn't the bargain that I thought. I only fitted these because Kumhos were in short supply at the time.

Incidentally, the wear rating on the Falkons is '330'. If I remember correctly, in the 'old days', I used to see wear ratings of 120 and 140. Do I take it that the higher the number, the quicker they will wear?


Ernie

 

[Frontstep]

Higher number means longer life, http://www.etyres.co.uk/tyres-ratings-nhtsa/tyre-wear-ratings.htm

 

[ernieh]

Higher number means longer life, http://www.etyres.co.uk/tyres-ratings-nhtsa/tyre-wear-ratings.htm

Thanks for that...obviously need to do some research here!


Ernie

 

[JBell]

I have conti SC3 all round, they are good but don't seem to last.

I have tried all the Falken, Kumho etc, the Hankook are excellent as are Vredestein Ultrac Sessanta

 

[exsaabpilot]

which ones?

Well as it was said there will be many differing opinons.
Personaly I like Good year ultra grips and the continental winter contact TS850 and Contact2 for summer -ok they cost a bit more but its the only thing that both transfers the power to the road and gives grip when braking - how much does a dent cost to fix. whats the cost per mile ? as an exbiker i know the value of rubber and the real cost of false economy.
Heavyer cars do need different tyres from light-weight ones so take that into account as each rubber compound is different.

check out http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/ for the "real world" test results let them speak for themselves.

Chris