Continental Tyres?

[Zanimat]

I wonder if anyone here has experience of the Continental ECO tyres? They're supposed to have low rolling resistance, thereby reducing fuel consumption. Anyone tested this out? How do they affect ride & handling??

 

[jberks]

They're fine afaik. Michelin do a similar technology. But allegedly it kaes no more than 5% difference and that's assuming your existing tyres are really inneficient, which they're probably not, so I wouldn't pay anything for this 'feature' as chances are you won't see any noticable difference. Contis also wear out quite quickly so price depending, you may be better with Michelin which last longer.

 

[Zanimat]

Thanks for that; I read the Which report & they seem to think they are the bee's knees - however, they don't mention the ride/comfort aspect & I suspect they may give a harder ride than conventional radials......

 

[Rory]

One thing I would say is that Eco tyres generally have a higher treadwear rating (usually 300-400) than non-Eco tyres (usually 180-240) so *all other things being equal* you will tend to find they're not as grippy, especially in the wet.

I've read different things about the ride - some articles suggesting they may ride better as the sidewalls are thinner so as minimise enery absorbtion.

We have both Conti Eco and Michelin Energy tyres on our smaller cars. I drive the Jazz with Michelin on quite a bit and it is noticeable that the fronts will run wide on muddy country lanes more easily than the original tyres. However, it's not something that I would expect my wife, for example, would ever notice.
We have a Colt with Conti Eco's on and that seems fine, although I've certainly never pushed it.

I've absolutely no idea on the fuel consumption. Certainly there's no obvious difference on the Jazz when it switched from original Yokohama tyres to Michelein Energy, but does high 40's anyway and is only used around town.

 

[Zanimat]

Thanks, Rory......the plot thickens! I'd made an enquiry through the Conti tyres online technical service and their guy replied saying that he would not expect to find these tyres fitted to an E class Merc! He says they are aimed at the small/ medium range of vehicles & that the Premium or SportContact range should be used instead! Seems a bit odd, given that the tyre size/load rating is as per the Merc. recommendations.
Regarding the economy, I get the feeling that you would probably only notice a difference on regular M-way journeys.

 

[Rory]

Michelin Primacy HP's are, I think, a good all-round tyre. Decent life, good ride, reasonably quiet and the longer life *should* tend towards improved fuel consumption.

Only trouble is that they're pretty dear. If you have access to Costco then they're amongst the cheapest place to get them.

Are these for your 1995 W124 E300D? Does it have traction control?

There are some decent value tyres from manufacturers like Khumo, Falken and Federal (and others) but they tend to be softer compounds and therefore don't last as well. A softer compound would tend towards worse fuel consumption, however the differences are probably negligible and you'd probably save money overall as the tyres are cheaper.

I would (especially if your car doesn't have traction control) be careful of a cheap hard-wearing tyre. Look at the treadwear index if you can - not all tyres are marked with it, as it's an American standard. In my experience a cheap tyre with a high (like 400) treadwear index will be horrible in the wet.

 

[Bolide]

Are these for your 1995 W124 E300D? Does it have traction control?

If it does it doesn't need it!

Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk

 

[Rory]

If it does it doesn't need it!

Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk

I was thinking of in the wet!

 

[Zanimat]

Thanks, guys - no, it doesn't have traction control - and I probably wouldn't know what to do with it if it did!
I suppose I should come clean & admit that my car is fitted with these tyres - courtesy of the previous owner(s). I am disappointed with the ride comfort & wondered if the tyres were to blame. (I note that the spare is fitted with one of the Premium tyres recommended by the Conti tyre man, so there's obviously a history of their use on the car.)
I've also been looking into the possibility that the car has uprated suspension components, but I'm not getting very far. I guess I was hoping someone would say, "Yeh - OK, but ride comfort suffers"!

 

[Bolide]

The Contis work exceptionally well on W124s so I'd suspect some other factor

Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk

 

[Zanimat]

Thanks, Nick.....I have looked at a front spring & it has one red & 3 yellow paint marks on it. Not sure what that means, though MB tell me that the listed springs for my car (A 124 321 21 04) have 2 red & 3 yellow marks. Mean anything to you?

 

[johnschnell]

I've been using Eco Contis on my 300E 2.6 since for ever, and they're just fine. Experience says that they are even better in the wet.

A trick my tyre dealer taught me is to inflate them to 36lb front and 37lb rear. The soft walls need to be compensated if you're to get good handling, and I certainly do.

 

[Zanimat]

Gosh! Given that the present ride is too hard for my liking, I dread to think what an extra 6lbs. in the tyres would feel like!

 

[Bolide]

Thanks, Nick.....I have looked at a front spring & it has one red & 3 yellow paint marks on it. Not sure what that means, though MB tell me that the listed springs for my car (A 124 321 21 04) have 2 red & 3 yellow marks. Mean anything to you?

This should mean something to an MB parts man

Is the ride hard or lumpy/bumpy? If it's really hard at the rear the spheres may need replacing. If it clonks over bumps at the rear the leading subframe bushes or the rear ARB links & bushes may need replacing. Aftermarket tow bars cause clonks as well

If it clonks at the front replace the ARB bushes

In general the ride should be exceptionally good. Above about 100k the ride gradually deteriorates as all the rubber bits wear. This results in a slightly harder ride with clonks over bumps

Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk

 

[Zanimat]

Thanks Nick. Bit puzzled about your reference to spheres - I thought they were only found on Estates? (Mine's a saloon). The suspension - and the whole car - is very quiet and the mileage is supposedly 85,000 and its general condition supports this figure.
As you say, the ride should be very smooth - I was very impressed with my old '88 300D and am somewhat disappointed with the current car. Bearing the factory-fitted towbar in mind, I'm becoming more inclined to suspect that uprated dampers may have been fitted. When I try to bounce a corner of the car by hand it moves fairly easily for about 10 ~15mm over the wheel & then becomes hard. I feel this could be down to the dampers?

 

[Bolide]

You've never told us what the car is - I always assume it's an estate!

Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk

 

[Rory]

I've been using Eco Contis on my 300E 2.6 since for ever, and they're just fine. Experience says that they are even better in the wet.

A trick my tyre dealer taught me is to inflate them to 36lb front and 37lb rear. The soft walls need to be compensated if you're to get good handling, and I certainly do.

Hmm...I've found wear on my W203 tyres is very sensitive to pressure - in fact I run the rears a couple of lbs below the min figure to minimise the centre wear.

Do you find yours wear rapidly in the centres?

 

[johnschnell]

Gosh! Given that the present ride is too hard for my liking, I dread to think what an extra 6lbs. in the tyres would feel like!

Well, I don't find them too hard at 36 and 37 — on the contrary it's a comfortable ride for my taste — but be prepared for some rollover at lower pressures and watch the wear pattern.

 

[Zanimat]

Thanks, John - I'd describe the present ride as "joggly" - but I think your suggestion does add weight to my suspicions about the dampers....I certainly wouldn't want to harden the tyres any more.

 

[johnschnell]

Two replies:

Rory: At 36lbF and 37lbR I'm getting even wear across the tread. I was earlier running them at the pressures shown on the label inside the fuel flap, and they tended to wear at the edges, meaning they were too soft.

Zanimat: You may well be right about having suspension problems. However, why not do the simple and cheap thing first and try raising your pressures to see what changes? If you don't like the result, let the air out again and proceed from there.

My car was built in 1989, and tyre technology has changed. Eco Contis have very soft walls, and these have to be stiffened up to get proper handling. It works for me.