Any update? I'm trying to decide between Eagle F1 A/S, for a little longer life span, or another set of GS-D3's (which were great, but wore out sooner than I'd like.)
__________________ Dave M.
Boise, ID
1994 E500 - 101kmi (Q-ship)
1993 300D - 174kmi (Sportline)
1987 300D - 292kmi (Sportline Stage 2)
1987 300D - 247kmi (R.I.P.) Click here for my "website"
Any update? I'm trying to decide between Eagle F1 A/S, for a little longer life span, or another set of GS-D3's (which were great, but wore out sooner than I'd like.)
I have read a couple reviews of the D3's v. the A/S and it's what I expected: You can't really compare an All Season tire w/ an Ultra Performance tire. The A/S is a good All Season, but it does not compare favorably w/ the UH Performance tire. You have to decide what your priorities are, read the reviews and then make up your own mind.
Greetings, tire fans. I'm new to Benzworld, but not to Benzes (recently replaced my charming-to-the-end 1976 450 SEL). I see in this thread elements of something that's driving me a bit nuts regarding my recently-acquired 2003 S500 4Matic.
I am a big fan (and competent user) of what The Tire Rack calls Max Performance Summer tires, having gone through many sets on my 1987 Porsche 928 S4, which is currently on its 1.5th (the rears wear twice as fast as the fronts) set of the awesome Michelin Pilot Sport PS2s (a huge improvement over the Pilot Sport, and a nice evolution of the useless-in-the-rain MXX3s I otherwise loved for their surgical precision and absence of bad manners) on GTS-spec 17" rims.
On the Benz, I have the staggered 18" AMG wheels from the factory Sport package for the RWD cars; these came with the forgettable Dunlop SP Sport 9000s. I am now trying to decide what to put in their place.
07/08/2008
Since I have to move to Florida due to medical reasons they are now for sale. Contact me via PM for the best price plus shipping. They still have the ice sipes and show no appreciable wear.
In my neck of the woods (near Albany, NY), it gets cold enough to upset the tread rubber in the PS2 after Hallowe'en, and we get rare light snow and occasional frost from then through the first of the year (in between bursts of 50+ F high temps). January through mid-April sees occasional heavy snow, and for that I'm looking at the Nokian Hakkapeliitta RSi studless snows on the OE rims. However, the Hakkas, while good by extreme snow tire standards (compared to nerf-ball Blizzaks), are not anyone's idea of a crisp-handling tire on clear roads, so I'm loath to put them on until absolutely needed.
This raises the issue associated with this thread, and specifically with Jayhawk's comment: "any tire--or anything--that tries to be all things for all conditions will not do very well in any of them". While I agree, it's also the case that in climates like mine, conditions vary widely and often rapidly. It's also the case that, while I'm addicted to the control crispness of the Max Perf tires, this car is a long-haul tourer and needs to be quiet and smooth. It also needs to go out in any weather (the 928 gets to stay in the garage when it's nasty).
This is leading me to look seriously at what TR calls Ultra High Performance All-Season tires, both to permit me to keep the wide boots on for another two months or so each year and to get better ride, lower noise, and perhaps better dealing with heavy rain (which we have here in the summer) than the Max Perf Summer tires.
If I can't bring myself to compromise handling during May-September, I'm thinking of using a Performance Winter tire, such as the Michelin PA3 or the Nokian WRG2, to get real handling in cold, clear circumstances and some degree of snow and ice coping, and then either tiptoeing in the heavy snow or (here's where obsession creeps in) getting a third set of rims to carry the RSis for really bad times.
OK, this is already much too long, but it's only a snapshot of my decision process. Anyone have any suggestions? thanks!
In NH I use Hankook Icebear 300s in the winter. They are amazing under 50 degrees, are v or z rated! and they actually are good on in snow sleet and black ice if I sent up the handling system on my CL 55 properly. I have over 12k miles on them and they look new.
My Bridgestone RE050s summer tires that came with the car wore out after 7k miles. They are expensive junk and became dangerous as they wore because they wore unevenly from tire to tire for no apparent reason. Yes, I am a fanatic about alignment, offset, balancing, so its the tire not the rest of the system causing the wear. I will never buy a summer tire (with a wear rating of 100) when the latest generation of Ultra high performance all seasons beat them in real world conditions in NH. No more Bridgestones either.
I am going to go with Yokohama Advan S.4s since I need 9 month tires now. They are availble in the staggered sizes I need on the CL and have excellent ratings, are XL and have a wear rating of 400. (I know the Goodyear F1 all seasons are cheaper but I've heard horror stories about their quality control and have actually seen some them out of round, defects in mold, etc.)
Any suggestions on the cheapest tire shop in NH, or one where they won't butcher my wheels putting on the tires? BTW Discount Tire does have good pricing - one local vendor looked at their pricing and laughed - wouldn't even attempt to give a quote, so I may go with them but the dealer mumbled something about only installing Bridgestones or Michelins or the warranty is compromised. Is there anythig to that?
07/08/2008
Since I have to move to Florida due to medical reasons they are now for sale. Contact me via PM for the best price plus shipping. They still have the ice sipes and show no appreciable wear.
Last edited by grane : 07-08-2008 at 04:22 PM.
Reason: medical
I don't notice any noise on my car, but maybe our MB's are quieter than the Bimmer test vehicles used by the Tire Rack, lol. Traction is down a bit compared to the GS-D3 but I expected that.
I got these tires for my CL55. They are much better than the stock re50s in terms of handling, wear after 1200miles. I can take a special off camber curve that the Bridgestones slid. They also do not hydroplane at all.
Got a great price from Town Fair Tire in Nashua, NH.
Highly recommended!
Grane
My Hankook Icebears 245/45/18s are now for sale. 07/08/2008
Since I have to move to Florida due to medical reasons they are now for sale. Contact me via PM for the best price plus shipping. They still have the ice sipes and show no appreciable wear.
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