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Car Forum / Mercedes-Benz Cars / June 2008

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Tires, 300TD

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Stupendous Man - 19 Jun 2008 03:13 GMT
What tires do you guys like for the 123 models? The old Michelin ZX is gone,
most tires I find are cheap tires for cars that weigh a lot less than my
panzer, plus I drive on terrible mountain roads.
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Stupendous Man,
Defender of Freedom, Advocate of Liberty

Cordy - 19 Jun 2008 09:46 GMT
Stupendous Man ha scritto:
> What tires do you guys like for the 123 models? The old Michelin ZX is
> gone, most tires I find are cheap tires for cars that weigh a lot less
> than my panzer, plus I drive on terrible mountain roads.

Usually Michelin makes good tyres. For Europe, they are still the best
choice.
I don't know where you are from, but usually a good alternative are the
traditional German manufacturers, for old german cars. I.e. Continental,
Goodyear (the european production). If you are worried by the weight,
remember that every tyre is usually marked with following information:
width (for example, 185)
width-side ratio (normally not shown for 80, might be /70 which means
side is 70% of width)
R which means Radial
82 (*load max per tyre'... very important for you!!! Higher letter means
heavier load admitted)
A letter, which means max speed admitted (R, S, T, U...)

Try searching 'tyre marking' with a search engine... ;-)
heav - 19 Jun 2008 11:50 GMT
> What tires do you guys like for the 123 models? The old Michelin ZX is gone,
> most tires I find are cheap tires for cars that weigh a lot less than my
> panzer, plus I drive on terrible mountain roads.
> --
> Stupendous Man,
> Defender of Freedom, Advocate of Liberty

I like Dunlop SP Sport A2 Plus tires for all season.

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

They are "H" rated, which means they can handle a heavy vehicle and
are tested to be safe at 140 mph, I think it is.

$68 in 195 70 R 14, which is the size for my 1982 300 TDT
Tiger - 19 Jun 2008 16:12 GMT
Yes, check with tirerack.com for choices and see what the ratings are by the
survey.

I personally don't like Michelin... mediocre tire.
trader4@optonline.net - 19 Jun 2008 20:47 GMT
> Yes, check with tirerack.com for choices and see what the ratings are by the
> survey.
>
> I personally don't like Michelin... mediocre tire.

I have Goodrich Traction T/A's on my 300SD and have been very happy
with them.   Previously I had Pirelli CN36, Mich MXV's and others.
By far these are the best.   With all the others I had problems with
wet traction, easily spinning the rear wheels from a start on wet
pavement.   The T/A's are excellent on wet pavement and an all around
nice ride.  Also, less expensive than many others.
weelliott@gmail.com - 20 Jun 2008 13:06 GMT
I got Sumitomos for mine and am not happy with them. they seems to
have nice firm sidewalls, which give it good response, but not too
solid that the ride is too firm. However, the wet weather brakign
performance is horrible. I have locked up the brakes on wet roads
twice now while not even braking that hard. It was pretty scary the
first time it happened. I was braking at about half of what I woudl
think a car shoudl be capable of in the wet. So no to sumitomos.

I have toyo HPT4s on my wife's car though, and they are wonderful.
Might be a little sportier looking than you are looking for, but I am
very happy with the performance for the price. I think I paid about 75
bucks each.
Cordy - 20 Jun 2008 14:18 GMT
weelliott@gmail.com ha scritto:
> I got Sumitomos for mine and am not happy with them. they seems to
> have nice firm sidewalls, which give it good response, but not too
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
> very happy with the performance for the price. I think I paid about 75
> bucks each.

As already mentioned, I'm writing from Europe (Italy) so I can't assume
that we have same models available. But:
I'm using Michelin on a 1982 MB 207 D (well... an RV made by Hymer, a
German manufacturer and based on the naked chassis of a Mercedes Van 207
D). They are the only tyre that can resist to the stress of living under
a van always at full load. All the other tyres break down after very few
years. So my suggestion on using Mich is based on the question 'because
the car is heavy'....

I don't suggest using Yokohama. Expensive and in my experience (with a
Toyota Celica) very noisy, skiddy and ovalize very easily.

I don't know if you can find them in the USA, but an interesting brand
might be Nokian. A spin out of the giant Nokia (yes, the mobile phone
manufacturer), they manufacture excellent and not very expensive high
performance tyres. At least... not very expensive in Italy...
Tiger - 20 Jun 2008 15:32 GMT
Nokian in USA is expensive... but it is a great tire... especially the snow
tires.
Stupendous Man - 21 Jun 2008 14:56 GMT
I was in the city yesterday and saw some nice uniroyals that will fit, I
will get them next friday. I have passed on the Sumitomo and "Weeliot"
confirms my suspicion.
http://www.uniroyal.com/overview/tiger-paw-touring/3150.html
I will see how they do, but any new tire usually feels great compared to the
old set, its usually only after about 20K miles that a review is qualified

Thanks
Signature

Stupendous Man,
Defender of Freedom, Advocate of Liberty

Tiger - 22 Jun 2008 03:19 GMT
I'd probably would try General Altimax due to size limitation before I would
buy any Uniroyal tires.
Cordy - 22 Jun 2008 10:57 GMT
Stupendous Man ha scritto:
> I was in the city yesterday and saw some nice uniroyals that will fit, I
> will get them next friday. I have passed on the Sumitomo and "Weeliot"
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
>
> Thanks

Yeah. It's another german brand name and could fit well on a 300TD; as a
matter of fact I've seen may MB with those tyres in Italy (I don't know
anything about the specific model, btw). I'd suggest to drive carefully
for the first 2-300 km, just to remember that tyre is not perfect (it
takes some time to adapt completely to the wheel and to remove the
detaching substances used in the mould, from the surface of the tyre).
mcbrue - 22 Jun 2008 17:22 GMT
Michelin - they have a model for you. Call a Michelin dealer and ask
for the best model. If they can't tell you, ask them for the national
Michelin help line phone number. Or just call the Michelin
headquarters in Greenville, SC and ask for customer service. I have
been drivng Michelin tires for over 30 years and have never had a
problem with them. Some new cars came with non-Michelin tires and I
have had problems with them. I had problems with other brands before
switching to Michelins. You sound too busy saving the world to worry
about tires, so go with Michelins.
 
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