My experience with 18" wheel upgrade for R129

[KenSilver]

After a lot of idea searching and opinions over the last few months, I finally decided to upgrade the rims on my 93 SL500 from the original 16" to the AMG 5 spoke staggered set that are standard on the 2000-02 SL.

The new set is:
Front: 8.5J x 18 ET 25 with 245/40 R 18 tyres
Rear: 9.5 J x 18 ET 23 with 275/35 R 18 tyres

I've put on Goodyear tires - the Eagle F1 GS-D3. These are not to be confused with the earlier F1 tires. These new ones have the highest rating in the Tire Rack customer reviews in all segments of handling, ride, cornering, longevity etc, than Michelins, Pirellis, Dunlop's and the rest.

So finally, after several weeks of ordering, shipping and sorting, this afternoon I put on the new AMG rims (with machined lips - very nice!) and took the SL for a test ride.

I had always been concerned with the larger wheels that I would have excessive tramlining, sensitive steering and a hard ride, as happened when I upsized my 350SL from 14" to 16" wheels. But it turned out to be nothing like that at all. In fact, apart from some slight - and I mean *slight* - firmness of the ride at low speed, nothing has changed. I needn't have worried about a thing.

There has been no tramlining whatsoever, and even though our secondary roads are a bit like European roads... narrow, windy and bumpy... it hasn't made any difference to the steering accuracy. It's as solid as a rock, handling just like the original wheels.

Steering precision and road feel is just the same.

On the highway/motorway, the ride is perfect right up to 120 km/hr. The car runs straight as an arrow, the ride is comfy and luxurious--just like the smaller wheels, and there's no increase in tire/road noise either.

While I haven't put the tires through their paces because of the 500 mile run-in period, I have no doubt they will be very stable when cornering hard. As for the wet, I don't care - I don't drive when it rains.

So to sum up, all my worries were unrealized. The tires look stunning because they fill out the arches and make the R129 look very pretty, they run as well as the smaller wheels, and there are no bad side effects whatsoever.

If you have been looking to sharpen your SL's looks up, you'll have no problems going to 18" instead of 17", I guarantee it!

I'm taking some photos of the wheels and others upgrades on my SL tomorrow, and will put them up here soon after. And change my sig pic too!

Ken Silver
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~1993 SL500, glistening triple black, xenons: http://www.kensilver.com/SL
~1999 SLK 230 Kompressor, silver/black leather, CD, immaculate (my wife's)
~1999 Suzuki Grand Vitara. black & silver
~1991 Daimler, shiny grey/grey leather, best in country!
~ex 350SL, 230E, 280E, MX5 and a lot of other makes not nearly as nice.