[E55 KEV]

OK, so the OEM tire is just too skinny for the size of this car and perhaps you want better traction and a wider tire. You also want to keep you OEM wheels for a while and not change your rims. Here's the ticket - these Ultra High Performance All Season tires:

BF GoodRich g-Force T/A KDWS in size 245/55WR18

This is the perfect upgrade using the OEM 18x7.5 rims. This is the only tire I could find in that size. The OEM tire of 225/60/18 (28.6") and the 245/55/18 (28.5") are the same height. This car is very difficult to upgrade due to the tall tire OEM tire used. The OEM Continental Tire is a Touring Tire.

Only $104 each at TireRack.com .

 

[E55 KEV]

specs from BFG:

http://www.bfgoodrichtires.com/assets/pdf/gforce_ta_kdws.pdf

 

[MightyMax]

Not a bad price per tire either.... Thanks for the info.

 

[TexasDriver]

Thanks! I have been researching all morning for the right tire. Do you know how does this tire rate interms of road noise?

 

[TexasDriver]

Also...is this a ZR speed rated or WR speed rated Tire....on the spec sheet it only shows a 245/55ZR18. Thanks

 

[E55 KEV]

Tire Rack list some numbers for every tire and road noise is included. Tire Rack lists the WR spec.

 

[Sting2114]

If ya'll want, I'll go to consumer reports site (I got a subscription) and will get their rating on that tire (if it's listed)...Give me a few minutes...

 

[Sting2114]

Aight, I really don't care to write this out, so I hope this copy/paste job works out okay:

Brand &
model Price Overall score Braking Emergency
handling Hydro-
planing Snow
traction Comfort Noise,
coarse
surface Recommendations
& notes
Dry Wet Ice

PREMIUM TIRES Tread-wear warranties range from 80,000 to 100,000 miles.
Michelin
X-One
Note: Discontinued. $75 Top all-around performer. Excellent dry and wet cornering. T speed rating.
Kelly
Navigator
Platinum TE 55 Excellent dry cornering, fair wet cornering. T speed rating.
Yokohama
Avid Touring 50 A very good tire. Very good dry cornering, good wet cornering. S speed rating.
Pirelli
P3000
Cinturato 77 A very good sporty tire for mild winters. Excellent dry cornering, very good wet cornering. T speed rating.
Goodyear
Aquatred 3 60 A fine choice where winters are mild, though wet cornering is poor. Very good dry cornering. T speed rating.
Hankook
Mileage
Plus 845 50 Very good dry cornering, fair wet cornering. Stiff ride. S speed rating.
Kumho
Power Prima
II 792 42 A very good all-weather choice. Very good dry cornering, fair wet cornering. S speed rating.
Cooper
Lifeliner STE 50 Very good. Excellent dry and good wet cornering. Poor in snow. T speed rating.
Uniroyal
Tiger Paw AWP 45 Good overall, with good dry cornering, but only fair wet cornering. S speed rating.
Bridgestone
Turanza T QL20
Note: Discontinued. 60 Good overall, with very good dry cornering, fair wet cornering. T speed rating.


Eh, turned out not so good...The site for ConsumerReports used to have ratings for all brands/styles, for some reason I'm having trouble finding it. I got some Dunlop A2 Sports thanks to their review for my old Firebird (handles awsome now). If you have never owned a RWD car, then let me give you some advice...DON'T GO CHEAP ON TIRES EVER. I don't care what idoit tries to tell you that tires are tires...They must own a FWD or AWD car, because I should know. I've lived in Buffalo, NY (home of 90 inches snow in only a matter of hours), Louisville, KY and St.Louis, MO. My experience, you buy cheap tires and don't pay attention to the tread styling on a RWD, your gonna find your car losing control easily and possibly spinning out doing a simple left hand turn (it happened to me 3 times and I was going 10 MPH or lower) in rain, yes RAIN. Yes I realize that cars now have all these traction control helpers, but that doesn't matter as much as you think. Tires are extremely important, so be smart. Pick something that has a tread styling that pushes water away from the car, and that has lines that meet up together, not working against each other like some models. I can not stress the importance of good tires enough, do you really want screw up your nice new ride because you wanted to save a few bucks? I didn't think so.

P.S.The tire pic for the above mentioned tire, looks good as far as tread, so keep that kind of tread pattern in mind when looking for new tires.

 

[E55 KEV]

Remember, the BFG is rated as an "Ultra-High Performance All Season" and the Continental is a "Touring" Tire. That Continental is higly 'un-loved' in the Mercedes community. I had a set of them on my 98 E430 which I promptly removed on delivery day.

Ratings at TireRack:

BFG - http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=BFGoodrich&tireModel=g-Force+T/A+KDWS

Continental - http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Continental&tireModel=ContiTouringContact+CH95

The BFG gets a better rating. Don't be fooled by its low Tire Rack price of $104 - same tire is $186.99 at 1010tires.com.

 

[Sting2114]

I know this sounds dumb, but worry less about dry traction/ride, more about wet/snow traction/ride. By the way, I understand the next model 300C is going to have All Wheel Drive, is this correct?

 

[Sting2114]

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Dunlop&tireModel=SP+Sport+A2

What I use for my Firebird, I highly recomend these not only for price but for performance. They are awsome, the best set of tires I've have come across...I can throw anything at them, it can handle it. Snow traction is great, rain traction is great, I can't say enough about them...Check'em out. Yes I know the side walls are rather large, but it's a example of what you want for RWD car tires.

 

[E55 KEV]

By the way, I understand the next model 300C is going to have All Wheel Drive, is this correct?

AWD will be an option on 300C, 300 Touring and 300 Limited. It will not be standard.

 

[E55 KEV]

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Dunlop&tireModel=SP+Sport+A2

What I use for my Firebird, I highly recomend these not only for price but for performance. They are awsome, the best set of tires I've have come across...I can throw anything at them, it can handle it. Snow traction is great, rain traction is great, I can't say enough about them...Check'em out. Yes I know the side walls are rather large, but it's a example of what you want for RWD car tires.

Those Dunlops may be great tires, but is moot point if they don't come in a size needed for the 300. The only sizes that will fit the OEM 18X7.5" wheel is:

225/60/18
245/55/18

The above BFG tire is the only tire on the market in that size 245/55 and the only tire available in 225/60 is the Continental. Chrysler picked a tire size that non makes and now the other Tire makers will have to re-tool to make tires for this platform.

 

[Sting2114]

Has anyone ever owned a AWD from Chrysler or Dodge or Benz? If so, was it good/bad/indifferent? Jeep doesn't count here, something that was a car with AWD, no trucks/suvs/etc...Something the 300C could compare to.

 

[TexasDriver]

Still on the topic of better tires...how about the Michelin Energy MXV4 Plus in a size
255/55R18 and overall diameter of 28.9?? I currently have a set of these tires (not in this size) that have been excellent on my Mark VIII LSC for over 60K miles.

 

[E55 KEV]

One thing I hate about the OEM tire size for the 300C and Magnum Rt is the tire is just too damn tall. This tire borders on SUV tire height! Of the 19 tires on tirerack.com in the size mentioned by TexasDriver - 255/55/18 only 6 are Car tires - the other 13 are Truck Tires.

Both Michelin and Pirelli state that their 255/55/18 and 255/50/18 respectivily will fit on a 7.0"+ rim width. So each of these sizes will fit the OEM 300C rim 18X7.5".

 

[TexasDriver]

Thanks for the quick response!!

 

[300c Owner]

I have been getting conflicting information regarding wheel sizes ... has anyone received anything directly from DC?

So far performance shops are suggesting that both 5x114.3 and 5x115 bolt patterns should be fine. Not the confidence I was looking for.

Also, any experinence people have regarding what tire size and wheel size they have actually installed.
Some important sizing numbers include (example):
1) Bolt pattern -- (5x115)
2) Wheel size -- (20")
3) Tire size -- (275/40 20)
4) Offset -- (22mm)
5) Center Hole -- (2.5")

On another forum I did read something about Dealers having access to original concept car wheels for sale. I haven't heard anything definitive from a dealer but will be following-up with my dealer.

 

[RWDeVore]

Can anybody find the P7 Pirellis the Euro 300s have on them?

Anybody find these tires in the US yet?

 

[E55 KEV]

Some important sizing numbers include (example):
1) Bolt pattern -- (5x115)
2) Wheel size -- (20")
3) Tire size -- (275/40 20)
4) Offset -- (22mm)
5) Center Hole -- (2.5")

Doubt you will be able to fit a 275 width up front. 245/45/20 is on the concept cars front.