Summer and winter tires

[mathesius]

Hello, I'm at the point where I need to buy new summer and winter tires. I bought a set of Mercedes 16" rims (six spoke, from the C230K) for my C230. I'm going to use my current Mercdes 15" alloy rims for winter tires.

The ContiTouring tires on the 15" wheels are close to shot, and the Pirelli P6000 FourSeasons are shot.

I'd like a tire that is quiet & comfortable but has better grip that the ContiTouring's I have today. I drive 24,000 miles/year so tread life does play a small factor, as does price.

I think the Kuhmo Ecsta 712s or Firestone Firehawk Wide Ovals might be good choices. They have outstanding dry & wet traction which should greatly outperform my Contis, but I'm worried a little bit about noise & comfort.

The Wide Oval will probably last longer and the test report out of TireRack is pretty positive for noise & handling. I've read the posts here on Kuhmo's.

Does anyone have experience with the Wide Oval?

Another plus for the Wide Oval is that it comes with the 30 day test drive so I can always change my mind.

Secondly, Does anyone have experience with the Pirelli Winter Carving, Michelin X-Ice, or Dunlop Graspics for winter tires? I'm leaning torwards the X-Ice as during the winter I'll mainly be driving on dry roads with the occasional icy or snow covered road. I think Blizzaks would wear down more than I'd like given these conditions.

BTW, This is my first Mercedes but won't be my last. I was hoping to get into a C280 but got an unbeatable deal on the regular C230. Gas mileage is outstanding at 31 mpg and I still get the nice steering, solid feel, good handling, and luxurious tidbits that is a Mercedes.

Thanks for any advice.

Cheers, Steve

[jlomon]

Hi Steve,

I run the same setup on my C280, 15" in the winter and 16" in the summer. I'm in the Toronto area, which wouldn't be too much different in the winter from Wisconsin, where you are. I'm running Blizzaks in the winter (195 65 15) and Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD3 for the summer (205 55 16). I love the Goodyears, especially in the wet. I used to run the same Pirellis you have before I went to the 16s (p6000 in a 205 60 15).

I've been using Blizzaks of varying types for the past 10 years on different Hondas and Acuras, and haven't found them to wear particularly fast. What I did notice with the C280 was that the Blizzaks just felt a little more more "nervous", especially on the highway, than I was used to. And this wasn't just when switching back and forth to the Goodyears, I also noticed it with the Pirellis. The problem is that the Blizzaks I have aren't the higher performance ones (I can't remember the model number). There is more sidewall flex, which leads to a less-composed feeling. But I can't justify throwing them out because they have plenty of tread left and they work well in the snow.

So whatever you choose, make sure it is a snow tire geared towards higher performance cars, not the standard tire. The performance snow tires give up a little bit of traction in the snow, but you'll get much more confident handling in dry conditions. When my Blizzaks wear out, I'm going with Nokian Hakkapelittas (I'm sure I spelled that wrong).

Question for you: are the Kumhos and Contis you are considering all season or are they dedciated summer tires? Since you run the snow tires, why not take advantage of better grip and performance from a dedicated performance tire? When I made my choice it was based on recommendations from Luke at the Tire Rack. I told him what size I wanted and what was important to me, and he was dead-on with his choice.

Good luck,

Jonathan