Tyres advice SL500

[mrfunex]

I've got an MOT coming up, beforehand I shall be getting two shiny new front tyres. Car is a 2004 SL500, driving style probably best described as mixed (the usual boring commute to work through town, a few motorway trips and the odd top-down hoon). I probably only cover 8K a year, so longevity isn't top of my list, just a good all rounder with a slight leaning towards sportiness I suppose.

I need 255/40 R18s with a load rating of 95 according to the book... if I choose a load rating of 97/99 how might this affect the car?

Currently I have Pirelli P Zero Rossos (£263.60 each). The ride at the moment is a tiny bit on the twitchy/tramliney side, but all-round grip seems fair.

Tyres I've seen are:

Continental Sport Contact 2 - £223.85 each
Continental Sport Contact 3 - £235.94 each
Bridgestone Potenza RE050A - £268.19 each
Michelin Pilot Sport 2 - £293.57 each

Any advice, or just stick with the Pirellis?

Thanks enormously!!

[r129sl]

You probably won't notice an increased load index. The sidewall may be stiffer but the difference between a load index of 95 and load indices of 97 or 99 is marginal. I doubt it is perceptible.

I have found Michelin PS2 to be the best tyre I have ever experienced on any car, although they wear quite quickly. They particularly suited my r129 SL500, being quiet, smooth riding, good at clearing water and very, very grippy when cornering.

That said, the Conti SC3 has been well reviewed and at that price I'd be tempted to give it a go.

[Johnboy Mac]

http://www.camskill.co.uk/m61b0s5056p0/Car_Tyres_-...


Check out the prices.

[r129sl]

Johnboy Mac said:

http://www.camskill.co.uk/m61b0s5056p0/Car_Tyres_-...

Amazingly low prices at Camskill albeit the link is to the wrong size. Thanks for that, I may well be using them in future.

[mrfunex]

Thanks for your help R129 - I'm game to try a different tyre - at the moment it's a toss-up between the Conti SC3s and the PS2s. The hunt continues.

Johnboy - do Camskill include fitting? My prices were from BlackCircles. Most garages around here seem pretty reluctant to fit tyres that they haven't supplied :-(

[Johnboy Mac]

Sorry, silly me as I looked at 225/18. I've 225 on the brain as that's what I need.


Have a look here. It may help. Yes, Camskill do fit but location maybe a problem for you. I would shop around and make a few phone calls before paying what you have been quoted.

http://www.camskill.co.uk/m61b0s4776p0/Car_Tyres_-...

Edited by Johnboy Mac on Tuesday 17th January 13:29

[Johnboy Mac]

mrfunex said:

Most garages around here seem pretty reluctant to fit tyres that they haven't supplied :-(

Stay away from them so. They are short sighted, their business logic is flawed putting it mildy.

[mrfunex]

I see I can get (for example) the CS3s delivered for £199.99 each, so a fairly decent saving - thanks for the link - and Cumbria would be a bit far to go for fitting :-)

Is it just garages round here being arsey about this issue, but a friend of mine's had immense problems with finding a garage to fit tyres for him. Not expecting a freebie, but even offering to pay for fitting, they won't do it. Is it insurance problems, or are they all hell-bent on fleecing me with their own stock?

[Johnboy Mac]

mrfunex said:

I see I can get (for example) the CS3s delivered for £199.99 each, so a fairly decent saving - thanks for the link - and Cumbria would be a bit far to go for fitting :-)

Is it just garages round here being arsey about this issue, but a friend of mine's had immense problems with finding a garage to fit tyres for him. Not expecting a freebie, but even offering to pay for fitting, they won't do it. Is it insurance problems, or are they all hell-bent on fleecing me with their own stock?

Nothing to do with insurance, some of them just feel that it's their right (which it is) to only fit tyres that they supply and the likes of you, me and thousands of other punters are taking money out of their pockets. Which, by the way is incorrect if these narrow mined tyre shops looked at the big picture.

Edited by Johnboy Mac on Tuesday 17th January 13:46

[Luvmysl]

I've had a few sl500's & I've always found the conti's are the best for ride quality & I do believe that MB supplied the cars new with conti's on them.

[mrfunex]

I've managed to find a local garage to fit two CS3s for £420 - a relative bargain!

Re Contis being OEM, mine was supplied with the Pirellis, were your SLs R230s?

[mrfunex]

Thought I'd just write a final post in the interests of completeness for anyone who is interested.

As above, I went with the Continental SportContact 3s. So far I've done about 40-50 miles of mixed driving. The tramlining my car suffered over poor quality road surfaces (particularly bad if one side of the car was on a different type of tarmac, like a long repair after replacing pipes) has disappeared. I can pretty much point the car at the end of the street and almost drive hands-off it tracks so straight now. There are a few roads near me that almost required me to fight with the car; they are now a pleasure to drive down.

The slight understeery nature of the car (a heavy beast after all) has been reduced somewhat and it bites and turns in a lot more neatly. I haven't yet experienced on-the-limit cornering, but I'd imagine it to be as predictable as before, just a few mph faster.

So all in all a success, I can't wait to fork out another half grand or so to replace the rears in a few months time