Tyre choice on an SLK 230

[Tim_Astley]

I will shortly need a full set of new tyres for my SLK 230. I currently have Pirelli P6000s (from new), but I've seen people rave over Goodyear Eagle F1s and Bridgestone S-02s.

Does it really make that much difference? Should I expect a much higher wear rate as presumably they are a softer rubber? Or am I better off just sticking with the P6000s?

Thanks,

Tim

 

[Tony]

Selecting tyres for an SLK is very difficult - specially if you have 17" wheels. There are the following factors to take into account:

- Road noise. The car's rear wheels are not very well sound insulated.
- Comfort. Low profile tyres mean that the compliance of the sidewall is important.
- Wet weather grip. The wide tyres mean that you'll slide if the tyres are bad in the wet. (You've probably already noticed this with the P6000s).
- Winter grip. The car is absolutely undriveable in snow unless you have all weather tyres, so if you select S02s you'll either need a special set of winter tyres or leave the car at home in cold weather. SO2s also wear very quickly (about 10k miles on the back of my SLK320).

The best place to look is tirerack - it gives alot of advice about the above factors.

My car came with P6000s which are OK but bad in the wet. I then went to S03s which are better but wear very quickly and have almost zero grip in the lightest snow (believe me). I think my next set will be Michelin Pilot A/S.

 

[mbzslk230k]

On my SLK230K, I have 18inch Brabus MONOBLOCK VI with Dunlops SP9000s.. so far, they have performed faultlessly -- the car has also been lowered 30mm and this results in a much harder ride (in addition to that short wheelbase)

Performance in the wet has been good as well with these tyres...

You are right - the Bridgestones are much softer compound tyres (as are TOYO Proxes T1)

 

[Bob 2316]

hi Tim i have read yr posting and would be interested to know how many miles yr `from new tyres` have done?

best rgds

bob

 

[Tim_Astley]

Thanks for the information, I especially found the tyrerack website helpful, it's good to see some real reviews from owners rather than manufacturers blurb (which is pretty much the same).

I've not yet been put off either the Bridgestones or the Goodyear tyres from the reviews, but I did see a lot of bad views about the Dunlop SP9000s.

As I said in my original posting I'm looking for better grip and particularly in the wet. Snow isn't really a problem for the 2 days of bad weather we get in the UK.

Anyway, I've been compiling some prices and i'm still waiting to hear back from the independents, but so far my local mercedes dealer is the cheapest (surprised me!) as below. The cost is for all 4 tyres fitted including taxes, (most expensive in brackets):

Pirelli P6000 £397.15 (£540)
Goodyear Eagle F1s £489.25
Bridgestone S-03 - waiting for prices.

And for Bob - my current tyres have been on from new for 24,000 miles (not all of them mine) and are between 2mm and 3mm.

 

[Spike]

What size are your wheels?

I just bought a set of tyres for my W124 today. I thought I'd try something a little different and bought some tyres made by Nokia!!! Apparently Scandinavia's biggest tyre manufacturer.

The tread design is very similar to the Eagle F1's and the reviews seemed very favourable. Pricewise.....nearly half the price of the Goodyears.

Its too early for me to judge the tyres performance yet but I have noticed that the road noise is considerably improved over the Michelins I replaced.

Check out Nokia tyres below, you never know, you might like what you see.

http://www.nokiantyres.com/index_en.html

 

[Tony]

Re-snow

At the risk of labouring the point about snow, it's difficult to exaggerate how bad the SLK is in snow when it has the wrong tyres. I got caught out when about 2 inches of snow fell one lunch time. I didn't anticipate any problem driving home but I rapidly realised that the car wouldn't go up the slightest incline. S03s are not intended to be used below 4 degrees C and it's important to take this seriously. They become positively dangerous. The soft rubber goes hard like glass and has very low grip.

The problem is exacerbated by the fact that the SLK is rear wheel drive with a front engine (so the weight is not over the driving wheels like your average fwd hatch), it has very wide tyres and the ESP cannot be fully turned off. This last point is the real killer, because when the wheels aren't gripping the ESP intervenes (even though it's turned off) and cuts the power. This makes control in snow virtually impossible without good tyres. I wouldn't recommend driving an SLK in England on anything other than all weather tyres - unless you're leaving the car in the garage all winter or you have a separate set of winter tyres.

 

[MotardMan]

What size are your wheels?

I just bought a set of tyres for my W124 today. I thought I'd try something a little different and bought some tyres made by Nokia!!! Apparently Scandinavia's biggest tyre manufacturer.

The tread design is very similar to the Eagle F1's and the reviews seemed very favourable. Pricewise.....nearly half the price of the Goodyears.

Its too early for me to judge the tyres performance yet but I have noticed that the road noise is considerably improved over the Michelins I replaced.

Check out Nokia tyres below, you never know, you might like what you see.

http://www.nokiantyres.com/index_en.html

Err, I think that is "Nokian", not "Nokia" the telecoms giant... LOL!

 

[MotardMan]

I just ordered some of these, should be much improved grip in the snow/mud of the UK winters:

http://212.246.17.120/pc2/en/heavy_...&retrid=0&rid=pc2forestking&id=20

 

[Tony]

I think they'd fall down in the road noise area.

 

[Tim_Astley]

I think you've sold me on the snow/ice problem, how did you find out that S0-3s were only rated to 4C?

I assume you are in the US, as there doesn't seem anything in the way of an "All Season" tyre in the UK (unless anyone knows better). I've trawled the net and none of the all season tyres recommended in by TireRack are on the manufacturer's UK websites (including the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S).

The P6000 doesn't rate highly in snow, although I suspect that the S03s and F1s would be worse. Having driven through 2 winters in the UK on the P6000s (including the daily commute) I'd be comfortable with anything comparable in the snow, but I'm looking for something better in the wet and with less noise.

I think I'm more confused than when I started!

btw: my wheels are 16"

 

[Tony]

I'm confused too now. Basically I put a posting on the benzworld website about how bad the SLK was in snow (after experiencing the 2" we had in London this February). I was told that anybody who drove in winter on SO3s was either stupid or dangerous - possibly the only worse tyres were racing slicks. Several other people commented that they'd made the same mistake and had had to buy a separate set of winter tyres. I've got a few months before I need new tyres so I haven't been looking and I didn't know that Michelin Sport A/S were unavailable in this country.

I don't want to go back to the P6000s because they're bad in the wet and noisy. One way or another it's going to be a compromise. Looks like I'd better start investigating.

 

[Tim_Astley]

I've decided to stick with my original choice of the Goodyear Eagle F1s. I've trawled numerous forums and websites and it gets excellent reviews everywhere. Particulary useful was the following: http://www.mytyres.net/start.html Although the reviews are in German you can read the scores and the F1 was only marginally rated worse than the P6000 on snow, unlike to S03 which gets the lowest score possible.

I did have a look for all season, but most were for 4x4s and weren't the right size. Goodyear do an all season tyre called the Vector and although it's on the UK web site I can't find anyone who sells them. http://www.goodyear.co.uk/services/tyreguide/feat_eagle_vector_ev2.html

Incidentally I will be ordering my tyres from my local dealer as they were cheapest. It also puts my car in safer hands than my local tyre shop.

 

[Bob 2316]

grip

hi i have been reading his thread with particular interest, having recently purchased a 230slk.
i have been reading the owners manual pack and have been reading about different driving conditions etc. one suggestion in the book is to switch off the traction control so that the wheels dig into deep snow and get grip. i also would like to point out and please forgive me for not wanting to teach anyone how to suck eggs !!! but in the book it talks about the W & the S switch on the auto box. The settings can only be engaged if the gear selector is first put into R position before the W S rocker switch is pressed to the desired setting and there is no mention of the engine being on while this is done.

bob

 

[Spike]

MotardMan Wrote:-

Err, I think that is "Nokian", not "Nokia" the telecoms giant... LOL!

No my friend, I think it is in fact you that is mistaken.... http://www.fayettetire.com/nokian.html

The Nokia tyre range is very extensive: tyres for passengercars and trucks, agricultural and industrial vehicles, earth-moving machines, trailers, loaders and harbour vehicles.

Nokia is also the inventer of the winter tyre, proof of the high Finnish quality assured by Nokia.

In 1995 Nokia introduced the name Nokian for its new tyre products. This name reflects its newly acquired independence as well as its strong ties with its mother company Nokia.

A little over ten years ago, Nokia were only famous for making posh wellington boots. Then they took over Finlandia, a small Finish electronics firm and look at where they are now.

 

[waggers]

Tim, You'll find F1's work well although they'll wear fairly quickly. I've tried both the F1's and SP9000s. I struggles in the snow a few months back on my part worn F1's. Traction off, ESP off, W mode selected..doesn't make a damn bit of difference. I swapped to the Sp9000's for the deeper tread pattern. So far wear is no better. Backs I'm swapping at 7000miles :cry: Always buy from www.mytyres.net. Good luck! Waggers

 

[grober]

Nokian tyres

I made enquiries about getting Nokian snow tyres last winter for my e124. Most mercs are poor performers in snow without the correct tyres. I was told the following. "NOKIAN TYRES in the UK import summer tyres but WAIT FOR IT dont import their WINTER/SNOW TYRES" !!!!!!!!!!!!!. I actually contacted their home web site about this but didn't get a satisfactory answer!!! Nokian Tyres good reputation is founded on their winter tyre technology and there is a market for them here,especially in Scotland. So why dont they import them??? I finally got some Verdestein Wintracks H rated on the rear and they help a lot with traction They are sufficiently versatile that I leave them on the rear all year, but they would compromise road noise on the front. They also do some V rated snow tyres now.

 

[Bob 2316]

speeding fine

yeah spike did u hear about the CEO of Nokia, he got the worlds largest speeding fine cos over there they fine you a percentage of yr earnings and he was earning millions. ended up paying a few million quit for doing 50 in a 30 zone !!!!

 

[Spike]

LOL..

Yeah, I used to live in Helsinki for about 5 years and experienced that kind of thing first hand. Cant remember the percentages but it was a sliding scale according to your speed.

IICRC, I think I was stung to the tune of somewher just over 1 months gross salary!!!!

 

[Tony]

IN reply to Bob's comment about turning ESP off, you'll find it makes absolutely no difference. The Mercedes system will cut in when traction is very low regardless of whether it's on or off. Some say that it's only the independent wheel braking that stays on when the ESP is off (which effectively gives a kind of pseudo limited slip diff) but I'm not sure that this is true. I noticed on my car (which is a manual 320) that the traction light came on when the wheels began to slip and cut the engine revs - even though ESP was switched off. This makes it very difficult to control the car.