Tire recommendation W211

[graysilm]

FYI this is not a recommendation for a Winter or Snow tire, this is about my experience searching for and buying a set of Summer/All Season/Performance tires for my car. Last spring I needed to replace the tires on my 06 E320CDI. The Michelin Premier A/S had served me well. They were on the car when I purchased it from the previous owner and I logged over 30k miles on them. My rear tires were significantly more worn than the front but the front tires didn't have enough tread to justify only replacing the rear IMO. My first inclination was to get another set of the the Michelin Premier A/S because I typically like to stick with what I know works well but I was on a tight budget and I needed some tires quickly because my registration was a few days away from expiring and I would have to get a safety inspection in order to renew. So I started searching for a tire that was in stock locally, affordable, and good quality. I once had a bad experience with some Nexan brand tires (they were impossible to balance) that were on my 99 E300TD when I bought it so I was naturally wary of Asian tires. Those criteria left me with few options. After countless hours of research I decided that I wanted to get the Nokian Zline A/S 225/55 R16 99W XL. Keep in mind I do not get snow or ice where I live, if I do it is very rare and I have a 4x4 I will use so I didn't want a winter tire. The Nokian Zline A/S seemed like the perfect tire, and at $98 per tire from Discount Tire not including installation the price was right. Unfortunately that tire went on back order before I could purchase it. I also considered several other tires but everything that I felt like would be a decent tire was out of stock or backordered. I was running out of time and ultimately took a gamble on a tire with a stupid name and a cheap price. Which tire could that be? Americus Sport HP 225/55/R16 99V XL. AMERICUS-BUILT FOR THE AMERICAN ROAD-made in Vietnam. Aside from having the most stupid sounding name and slogan, and being made in Vietnam I have been very impressed with these tires so far. I ended up purchasing them from a local tire shop. The price was $86.36 per tire plus mount/balance/shop fees/taxes/disposal-total out the door was $480.66 and includes free roadside, repairs for life with free replacement for first year if they are damaged beyond repair, and a prorated replacement for 3 additional years, lifetime balance and rotations. My opinion of this tire...I was amazed at how much better my car handled after getting these tires. It has been a night and day difference. The tires seem to be very well constructed and durable with a sleek looking thread pattern. They are a much more solid feeling tire and have a better looking tread pattern than say the Goodyear Assurance A/S or the Yokohama Avid Ascend, both of which are more expensive tires. The Americus Sport HP tire really grips the road and handles extremely well in wet conditions and the sidewall seems to be thick and solid. It is worth noting that the set I got was the XL version. It looks like the majority of the other sizes they make are not XL so I'm not sure how they stack up. The ride is smooth and quiet. I now have a little more that 6K miles on them with no noticeable wear. Those miles were all driven on hot summertime asphalt and I drive aggressively. I decided to share this because I had a hard time choosing a tire and there isn't much info on how certain brands of tire perform on specific vehicles which made the process a bit stressful for me. At this point I can honestly say I am very impressed with the Americus Sport HP and would definitely recommend it for a W211 Benz. If for some reason my opinon of this tire changes in the future I will update this thread, and I will also try to update as I log more miles on this set. I hope this helps anyone who is stressed out about which summer/performance tire to get for a W211. I would also like to hear if anyone else has these tires, or the Nokian Zline which was my first choice. Lastly, I am in no way affiliated with any tire manufacturer, distributor, retailer, or anyone in the tire business, and I was not asked to review or promote this tire or any product for that matter. I just wanted to share my honest opinion.

[dieseldiehard]

Thanks for the review! this probably belongs in the Tires and Wheels thread though.
I'd never heard of Americus tires before.
This past Summer I needed to replace the aging Yokohamas on my '99 E300D so I performed a diligent search of the tires available as to where they were manufactured and what reviews said.
First thing I discovered is there are a lot of Chinese tires are on the market, some quite dubious as I read reports of people making claims they were made elsewhere and claim on them like they wouldn't balance even outright failures like tread separations.
Next came VietNam and Indonesia as sources, there are many imports nowdays. The very last tires I would buy are Michelins, being over priced and trouble I had with them in the past.

I was inclined to buy Cooper tires as they are an American manufacturer but I didn't see any with what I wanted in a tire so after a suggestion from someone with lots of experience in restoring cars I bought Tiger Paws. I'd never owned a set and they have proven good tires for the way we drive. I like the Yokohamas on my vehicle but will be choosing something else and may look at Americus.
All this goes to say one needs to research tires carefully before a purchase.
But as they say YMMV.
DDH

[graysilm]

Originally Posted by dieseldiehard

Thanks for the review! this probably belongs in the Tires and Wheels thread though.
I'd never heard of Americus tires before.
This past Summer I needed to replace the aging Yokohamas on my '99 E300D so I performed a diligent search of the tires available as to where they were manufactured and what reviews said.
First thing I discovered is there are a lot of Chinese tires are on the market, some quite dubious as I read reports of people making claims they were made elsewhere and claim on them like they wouldn't balance even outright failures like tread separations.
Next came VietNam and Indonesia as sources, there are many imports nowdays. The very last tires I would buy are Michelins, being over priced and trouble I had with them in the past.

I was inclined to buy Cooper tires as they are an American manufacturer but I didn't see any with what I wanted in a tire so after a suggestion from someone with lots of experience in restoring cars I bought Tiger Paws. I'd never owned a set and they have proven good tires for the way we drive. I like the Yokohamas on my vehicle but will be choosing something else and may look at Americus.
All this goes to say one needs to research tires carefully before a purchase.
But as they say YMMV.
DDH

Absolutely. Its stressful trying to make a decision on what you hope will be a quality tire at a reasonable price. To make things even more difficult, as you mentioned there are a lot of tires on the market including several well known brands that have been traditionally made in the USA and are now being manufactured overseas. The Yokohama Avid Ascend GT is a prime example. I was considering that tire and did a fair amount of research on it. If you google where the Yokohama Avid Ascend is made the first results are "Yokohama Avid Ascend Made in the USA" and that is coming from Yokohamas website. If you dig deeper you will find that there are several models of the Avid Ascend including the GT, LX, etc. A few of them are made in the USA, the majority are made overseas including the GT which is made in the Phillipenes but that wasn't the reason I didn't get the Yokohamas. It was the fact that I waited until the last minute before my inspection/registration expired and I wasn't really aware of just how slick my back tires had gotten which left me with very limited options, however I have been extremely pleased with my Vietnamese made Americus Sport HP tires. Hopefully they will last me a good while, they are 500AA and have a 60K warranty which probably means nothing, and I'm hard on tires.

Also look into the Nokian tires. I was going to buy a set of their Zline model but they were sold out. I hadn't heard of Nokian until I started researching tires but I learned that they are a European manufacturer with a very good reputation for their winter tires. In 2019 they opened a plant in Tennessee where they manufacture summer and all season tires. The price for that tire was just under $100 and it was also a 500AA tire and had a 50k warranty.

The Michelins, Continental, Pirelli, and even Bridgestone/Firestone all seem to be overpriced and many of them had lower treadware ratings.