[R129 SL] Need a tire recommendation for a 2000 SL500 Sport

[Mark DeLuca]

Rob -

Thanks for the thoughtful reply. Sorry if my note was misleading, at 44k
miles I am on my 2nd set of tires. I don't have a lot to go on, but I wasn't
happy with the Dunlop Sport 9000's that came with the car. Those Toyo's look
like a beautiful tire, I can almost smell the rubber from the picture.

Mark D.


On Fri, May 7, 2010 at 5:03 PM, Rob Vonderhaar <rob at robvonder.com> wrote:


>  Mark,

>

> I have that same AMG wheel setup on my ’95 SL500.  I’ve tried a lot of

> different tires on it over the last 14 years, and am currently running Toyo

> Proxes T1R’s.  My indie tire guy (whom I really trust) recommended them

> based on my unhappiness at paying $1100+ for a set of Dunlop SP9000’s or

> Pilot Sports.  I have been extremely happy with the Toyos.  The T1R’s are

> Ultra-High Performance summer tires that compete directly with the

> Bridgestone Potenza RE050A, Continental ContiSportContact 3, Dunlop SP Sport

> Maxx, Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3, Michelin Pilot Sport PS2, Pirelli PZero

> Rosso, and Yokohama AVS Sport.

>

>

>

> They have an aggressive tread pattern that’s very similar to the SP9000,

> and have been equally great in wet weather (something I really liked about

> the three sets of Dunlops I had previously).  They handle very well, and

> IMHO offer a solid balance between performance, wear, and noise levels.

> Best of all, they’re relatively inexpensive for a high-end tire:

> TiresDirect.net sells them for $172 (front) and $206 (rear).  Compare that

> to Pilot Sport PS2’s, which TireRack.com has at $266 front and $351 rear –

> that’s $1,234 for a set of the Pilots vs. only $756 for the Toyos.  If

> you’re interested, here’s the link:

>

>      http://www.tiresdirect.net/Toyo_Proxes_T1R_W63.cfm

>

>

>

> I also have a 2005 SL500 with the AMG package that I purchased essentially

> new, and it came with the same staggered wheel sizes and Michelin Pilot

> Sport PS2’s.  I’ve got 16k miles on the original tires now, but the rears

> are getting close to worn out and I need to replace them soon.  The Pilots

> were an ok tire, but suffer from the exact same problem I’ve had with other

> Michelins (e.g., the MX4’s):  They are deathtraps on wet roads once they

> wear much beyond halfway.  I still have tread showing on my rear tires (I

> don’t think they’re even down to the wear bars yet), and the fronts have a

> lot more useful tread remaining.  But driving at highway speeds in the rain

> has become so scary that I now leave that car at home when it even looks

> like rain.  Once I hit about 45 mph, the entire rear end of the car

> literally hydroplanes up and starts sliding left and right with no control –

> almost like driving on glare ice.  I’ve *never* had this happen with other

> high-performance tires, even those that were worn much further down than

> these.

>

>

>

> Earlier I mentioned the similar behavior of the Michelin MX4’s (now called

> the MXV4’s), which were the OEM tire on an Acura Legend Coupe I had some

> years ago and are very popular for MB sedans.  I was driving a winding

> 2-lane road in CT at about 35 mph.  The roads were wet, but only a very

> light rain falling at the time.  All of a sudden and without any warning,

> the entire back end let loose completely.  The car spun at least two

> 360-degree circles before the driver’s door impacted directly on a massive

> rock at the roadside.  I was extremely lucky to walk away from that one,

> which destroyed the entire side of the car and bent the frame to the tune of

> $16,000 in repairs (no, they didn’t total it because the car was so new!)

> Since then, I’ve also heard similar “terror in the wet” stories about

> Michelins from others on various MB lists and forums.  So needless to say,

> I’m not a big fan of Michelins and will never buy another set for any car I

> own.  I’ll probably end up putting a set of the Toyos on the 2005 SL to

> replace the Michelins, if only because I’ve had such good luck with them on

> the ’95 and they’re reasonable in cost.

>

>

>

> I do have one question for you:  How did you *possibly* get 44k miles out

> of a set of *any* tires on an SL500 Sport?  Both my R129 and now the R230

> chew through a set of tires every 15-18k miles, regardless of what brand of

> tires I put on.  Every tire pro I’ve spoken with says that even 15k is doing

> well, and that they have customers that barely get more than 10-12k on a set

> of tires.  Inquiring minds want to know the secret!  J

>

>

>

> Hope that helps –

>

>         Rob Vonderhaar

>

>         Leesburg, VA

>

>

>

> *From:* r129list-bounces at mbcoupes.com [mailto:

> r129list-bounces at mbcoupes.com] *On Behalf Of *Mark DeLuca

> *Sent:* Thursday, May 06, 2010 10:01 PM

>

> *To:* r129list at mbcoupes.com

> *Subject:* [R129 SL] Need a tire recommendation for a 2000 SL500 Sport

>

>

>

> To Jan & Team -

>

> Blowout earlier this evening so I need to order new tires tomorrow. With

> 44,000 miles on these tires I'll replace all 4. I have the spare on the car,

> but it pains me to look at it. Like a beautiful woman with a black eye.

>

> The car is only driven in the Summer and it has the 18" AMG wheels. 245/40

> ZR18's in the front and 275/35 ZR18's in the rear. Can you recommend a brand

> and type of tire?  The prices on TireRack are all over the map, from $105

> for Sumitomo HTR ZII's to $350 US per tire for the Michelin Pilot Sports.

>

> Thanks,

>

> Mark D.

>

> The MB Coupes Website!

> R129 SL Mailing List

>

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