Some tyre guidance please

[julesg007]

Just about to get some new rubber but would be grateful for some opinions before I finally decide on what name goes on the wheels (205/55/16).

From mooching around on the web I can see that I can get some pretty decent rubber for less than £300 but could shell out a whole lot more if I wanted to!!!

I don't drive an the ragged edge - just steady as she goes - no exploring the extremes of grip - don't want to be digging the car out of a ditch or bush.

The car can be a bit thristy car especially round town and thought that "fuel savers" might be an option - are they really any good?

Seen some good deals on Avon ZV5's (had good feedback from my MB tech friend), Firestone TZ200's (fuel saver) also seem to get fairly good reviews. Can also get Barum Bravuris at less than £60 a corner and again seen good reviews/comments.

Would like something that is nice a quite, my rears are Federal SS595's which are hellishly noisey and nothing really cheap and nasty like my fronts -Infinity INF-05. Would like decent wet grip for our unpredicable summers and soggy winters and reliable dry grip for those fastish runs down winding A roads. Dual and the M way driving. Would be nice if they were fairly hard wearing.

Was wondering if anyone has had any experience of a brand called Milllenium?
http://www.tyre-shopper.co.uk/ts/search/tyredetails.aspx?code=2055516ML2W They seem to be a good combination of perforance and price.

Or do I have to bit the bullet and cough up big money for Michelin, Bridgestone or Conti.

Any help comments or recommendations is greatly appreciated.

Thanks, regards and happy driving.

 

[television]

Jules Kwikfit can do premium tyres for less than £60 per corner,,try and avoid those unheard of makes, they can be lethal in the wet

 

[Juddian]

I'm decidedly jealous of you Jules, your tyre size is just about perfect and i truly wish i hadn't gone for 17", ah well such is life.

I'm a big fan of Vredestein, and their new all season Quatrac3 could be an all year round choice.
There are other Vredesetins as well, i have their winter tyres on the pick up and the cold weather grip is nothing short of remarkable.
My daughter has Quatrac2's on her little 106 with no ABS and has no grip problems at all, they are wearing very well too.

I'm running a set of Toyo T1R's on the 124 for my summer set (they were on special offer at Camskills and i couldn't resist), very high grip both wet and dry, but a little on the noisy side.

These people take some beating for prices

http://www.camskill.co.uk/products.php?plid=m4b0s291p0

Its worth having a nose on Tyretest.com for their user opinions, obviously you have to have an open mind to possible abuse of their scoring system by unscrupulous people, but you can get a general feel for things.
Autoexpress have regular comparison tests and you may find some of their results on the net.

 

[doversole]

Jules - see my post on 'Help choosing alloy wheels' mate.

Toyo Proxes T1R in a 205/55 can be had for less than £60 each from Demon Tweeks.
They have good prices on Yokohama as well.

Goodyear Eagle NCT5 is also a good mid-range european tyre.

IMO, stay away from the cheap Korean stuff, good tyres are an investment and could save your life one day!
Premium quality slant-eyed rubber for me!!

DoverSole

 

[Nick1964]

My advice would be to go for a Michelin and don't bother paying the premium for a special MB dedicated fitment. Best to go for a higher speed rating than the 'MB V rating as they have a wider application, are manufactured in greater numbers and are correspondingly cheaper to buy.

You'll have to go a long way to beat a Michelin in terms of grip, quiet running, and wear; they last ages if kept to the correct pressure and rotated. Bit more expensive in the first place but 'you pay for quality' and that's exactly what you'll get. Try http://www.blackcircles.com/ or http://www.mytyres.co.uk/ as a good start point.

 

[julesg007]

Hi Juddian,

Slight tangent I know but interested in your comments about wheel size.

The car came with the same size stock size alloys both front and back.

However the lady wants to up size both size and width.

Is the ride that bad with 17" wheels - how does the car now ride and handle?

 

[Juddian]

Jules, quite honestly the ride is ruined, that lovely 124 glide is gone, i now avoid any road irregularities whearas on the stock size the car would smooth out all but the worst.

But, the handling is superb, whereas on twisty roads and roundabouts the motor would roll a fair bit that has completely disappeared, long bends on roads i know well can be taken at a fair old lick.

When i bought the wheels i really wanted 16" and planned to get your size tyres as a sensible sort of improvement without ruining the ride, and a good choice of very reasonably priced quality tyres, unfortunately there is very little choice in 16" wheels so i was sort of forced into 17's.

At least with your car you don't have the 124 front arch clearance problems, but i would try and find someone with you model to see if the ride quality is compromised too much before you shell out the hard earned.

 

[television]

This is easy to work out, all done on percentages.

Take a 225 x 40 that gives a sidewall height of 9cm

go wider say 245 x 40 and you get 9.8cm this would increase the diameter and upset the speedo etc if you deviate too far, so with a 245 wide tyre you would drop the profile down 1 to 35, so 245 x 35 is 85.75cm

Its a matter of striking a balance so that the sidewall does not increase by too much. 1cm is OK

My V70R came with 205 x 40 tyres with a sidewall height of 8.2cm but I was bending wheels in pot holes so I went up to 215 x 45 and got the sidewall height to 96.75cm. this improved the ride and no more wheel damage, and the speedo has been near enough right

 

[dave.robbo]

and got the sidewall height to 96.75cm.

I hope that's a typo!!!

 

[julesg007]

Evening All,

Well the decision was made and now there's are hole in the wallet - the car has now been shod with some better rubber.

In the end I went for a fully fitted option and used Kwikfit - they had a 30% dizzy when buying 4 tyres. Usually much more expensive than most other options but they were almost the cheapest - yes really - and the closest to me - less than 2 mins in the car.

In the end I opted for Firestone Firehawk TZ200 Fuel Savers. Read some good reviews and they were the tyre I was using on my Alfa 155 and would still be if the head gasket hadn't had blown . I never had any scary moments with them no matter the weather or conditions and I didn't always drive in a conservative manner - the red mist - sorry red line was seen on a fair few occasions!!!!!

Will now be interesting to see how the tyres perform on a 3.2L RWD 215BHP MB against a 1.8L FWD 140BHP Alfa.

Thanks again for all the help and guidance.

 

[Juddian]

Blimey Jules, do you mean to say that your car with its leaking shocks, worn ball joints, worn out brakes, perished wiper blades, and 3 broken springs is OK after all

How did you fend off the safety recommendations do tell.

Will you update us with a review of those tyres when they've had a chance to bed in please.

 

[julesg007]

Juddian

Simple....

Put the blinkers on and hope for the best!!!!!!!!

Must say that this is the first step on the road of MB ownership and it is really the better halfs car but she does let me drive it - I hope to be getting a CLS sometime in the near future - better start saving the pennies for her, however, might pick up something else until I can afford her as you still need over £20K.

Was a gamble when you buy anything used but following a free safety check at my local MB dealer they thought the car wasn't at all bad and from what I can see there isn't any rust - perhaps W208 CLK's are better put together than W210 E's. Here's hoping she'll stay that way.

Will be more than happy to update about the tyres once they are fully bedded in.