Hi all,

I need to replace my front tires, and I'm thinking about just changing all 4 tires instead. The rear tires are barely worn and are in good condition, but the front are pretty worn out on the outer edge (I never rotated my tires). I'm currently riding on Michelin MXV4 Energy 185/65 15" tires, and I've noticed this particular model is kind of pricey--some stores have quoted me up to $400 plus for just two tires! I have this GoodYear ad that lists 4 tires for $125 and so on. My first question is does anyone know anything about Kumho or Lee Super Ride tires? Since I'm planning to change all 4 tires, should I increase the tire numbers?

Okay, my important question that I need to know: Since I'm using 185/65 15" tires, can I change to a higher number, such as 195/60 15"--or even up to 205/65 15"? IS IT RECOMMENDED? Will I notice any difference in ride quality? Thanks!

Last year I replaced the OEM size tires with 205/60-15 Michelin Pilot XGT H4 for about $90 a piece. From searching here that was the biggest I could put on a 190e and I believe it. The only problem was a little rubbing abainst the front of the front fender when I hit big dips but I rolled it a little.

For ride, I'm getting kind of numb in my old age and couldn't tell much, but it did handle better.

Kumho is a good tire but geared more toward performance I think...and a newer entry I believe to the tire market. You may want to look into the Sportline 190E tire size (maybe it was a 205/55/15?) don't remember exactly..you don't want a 205/65/15..too tall and wide...the 205/55 is a little wider in which your handling would be little better, which I had done to my 92' 190E 2.6 with great results and ride quality...definitely use the Tirerack site to read the tests and peoples write ins...or just wait a bit more for more of us members to chime in with their thoughts.

__________________
Jim

1992 500E
2007 CLK63
2003 Audi RS6
2001 Audi allroad

I changed the tires on my 190E to Pirelli's (P3000) - much better than the Michelins I had before. Have done 16K miles on the Pirelli's, in all kinds of weather including 12" snow, they are just fantastic. And cost me only $81 each, installed price!

When spring comes around I'll be needing some summer tires for my 190E 2.3 (I bought the car with winters on the stock alloys). If I decide to keep using the stock alloys for summer (thinking of getting 16" wheels for summer if I have the spare$), I can get Pirelli P7000s in a 195/50/15 for $109 Canadian (or about $69 US)installed. Would this size work on my stock alloys?

__________________
1987 190E 2.3L (Daily Driver)
1985 VW Scirocco (Mint-Summer)

Well I have been through all the sizes possible. I guarantee no one can beat TireRack's prices. I had the stock 185/65/15s. Then switched to 195/60/15s. I believe thats the best tire size overall for the 190E. The 205/55/15 (sportline size) is wider, and not many tires that last long, wear good, and are good in wet and dry while still bearing the all-season mark.

Michelin's in my mind are overpriced, many new tires match Michelins ride by 95% and handle wet and dry conditions the same if not better then them at almost half the cost.

Here are the specs:

185/65/15 = 24.46" (tire diamater)
195/60/15 = 24.21" (1% speedo error from stock, doing 99 if speedo says 100 )
205/55/15 = 23.87" (2.5% speedo error, doing 97.5 when ur speedo says 100 )

Now if you have 2 good 185/65/15s, I would say match them up with 2 more 185/65/15s. Why waste money. Michelins are very good tires, and might as well not waste money. But you don't have to get the exact same tire. Even if you wanted to have 2 195/60/15s on one axle, and have the 185/65/15s on the other, it wouldn't make much difference. Many people will immediatly gawk at hearing that. But it is true, nothing more then just keeping note of what where. You don't want to end up having 2 different sized wheels on the same axle, thats trouble. (imagine trying to drive your car with a donut, and you hit the brakes, the steering wheel pulls to the short wheel due to the different tire sizes.)

So in short good 185/65/15s to match 2 good 185/65/15s:

Dunlop Sport SP A2 $56 each from TireRack:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/dunlop/du_sp_a2.jsp

Read the results. A great tire for its price, and probably what I would put on mine. At that price, it almost out does the Michelins also. Has AA wet traction rating, high wear ratings, and still a great all-season performer.

For 195/60/15, if replacing all 4:

Same Dunlop Sp Sport A2 as mentioned above, for a price of $54, and you get more rubber (wider tires) on the road.

An alternative to the Dunlops, if you can't find them, are Firestone Firehawks SH30. They are great, but the new Dunlop SP Sport A2s out do them and are my new favortie in this category of more performance less sacrifice.

Bridgestone Potenza RE950 are another alternative, a little more performance, cost a little more in all-seasonability and long wear, and a little more expensive. Consider it the fastest 2 person coupe out of a race with 4 door sedans, probably best stats, but for the moeny, something close to it with more practicality.

for 205/55/15s, only one option I see:
Dunlop SP SPort 5000 Assymetricals for $87.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/dunlop/du_s5000.jsp

16s, are wierd, not really a good tire I like unless you totally forget about all-season. Then the choices are nice:

205/50/16s:
Bridgestone Potenza RE730 for $105.
Dunlop SP Sport 9000 on specail for $125.

215/50/16s:
Kind of like 205/60/15s, the biggest you can put on their, and will rub a little if you don't roll your fenders, but def the same applies as the 205s, sacrifice all-season, and you got yourself something real nice.
BFGoodrich g-Forca T/A KDW. Probably the best for all out handling, more rubber on the ground, and at a special of $116.

225/45/16s:
most widest possible, but no superb choices for the price.

Hope this helps.

Remember, good idea to get your alignment done when you install tires, espeically changing the sizes a little, also balance them well, and remember to rotate them. Usually the place where you buy tires or install them will rotate them for you for free. If not, I say do it every 7500 miles with your MB services, or if you don't service it at the dealer, do it every 5000 on your own at another shop.

Good Luck.

__________________
Chirag (Charlie) Patel
--------------------------------------------
- 03 Mercedes S600 Sport TTV12
- 97 Acura NSX-T
- 99 BMW E36 M3 w/500+ HP
- 04 Lexus RX330
- 04 Dodge Dakota Quad 4x4 V8

4 Sale:
- 99 BMW M3 E36 Coup with Dinan SC, Upgraded to an RMS Stage 3 with Aftercooler, 12psi, and 500+hp @ flywheel.

On my 1986 2.6L 190E (5 Speed) I run snows on the stock rims and I have a spare set of Konig 5-Spoke MB "Replica AMG" wheels that are 7" wide. This spring I will put on some 205/55 tires on the Konig wheels and I think I will try the Kumhos. I live outside of Philly and I figure if the snow tire/wheel combo takes care of the sloppy stuff, I can go for a more extreme tire the remaining 9 months out of the year. I have looked at all the specs and pictures on the TireRack site and I finally reduced everything down to three tires: The Dunlop SP 5000, The Potenza 730 and the Kumhos. Price is not a big issue. All three are under $100each. What sways me is that my main mechanic swears by the Kumhos and elsewhere, I hear a lot of great things about them. So, I 'll give them a try. Now, this does not really bear upon your concern, since you are looking for a tire to fit different conditions. I would say that for the money, the Dunlop SP 5000 (Asymetrical) looks very attractive. For a little more money the 730s really look good.

Trex: If you are going to the Sportline 205/55/15 tire size (and have the snow months covered with winter wheels and tires), the best pure performance tire available is the W-rated Bridgestone S-03 ($114 at Tirerack) -- read the Tirerack reviews and talk to Luke at Tirerack -- far superior to Dunlop, tho more $$.

__________________
'98 C43 AMG
'88 420SEL
'93 190E Limited Edition (including factory Sportline package)

I agree. If you are going for a dedicated summer tire, might as well go with the best bang for the buck. Remember that the RE730 will outdo the SP 5000s because the RE730 is a dedicated Performance tire.

For $114, you got one of the best handling tire, the Potenza S-03 PP. If you want more tread wear, then consider the SP 9000. However, if you really do look at treadwear, then stay away from both and hed towards the RE730.

Kumho are very nicely budgeted, but under extreme conditions, you start to feel where the extra engineering $$ go, and if you consider the fact that most people in this category push alot more, I just stayed away from them after on bad experience. However the treadwear is pretty decent, and the price is deff attractive.

__________________
Chirag (Charlie) Patel
--------------------------------------------
- 03 Mercedes S600 Sport TTV12
- 97 Acura NSX-T
- 99 BMW E36 M3 w/500+ HP
- 04 Lexus RX330
- 04 Dodge Dakota Quad 4x4 V8

4 Sale:
- 99 BMW M3 E36 Coup with Dinan SC, Upgraded to an RMS Stage 3 with Aftercooler, 12psi, and 500+hp @ flywheel.

By the way, I had a typo- the 190E is a 1988. Now, treadwear was some concern. This is my sons car. I want the car (and the tires) to get him through college. He ( with the help of prayers by all) will start college in September. He drives, at most, 3,000 miles between now and then. First year college he doesn't have a car, so the 190E sits. Then for three years in college at, what? 3,000 miles per year (yes, alot depends upon whether he gets accepted at The University of Tierra Del Fuego)? Afterall, the summer tires are on only nine months out of the year. So, that is 12,000 miles of wear. My main mechanic thinks I can get 15,000 out of the Kumhos. But, C43amg and Chiragp, I hear what you are saying about quality that may not really be there on Kumhos and I am aware of the fact that I HAVE to be giving something up for the low price of Kumhos. Now, if I don't get the Kumhos, its down to the RE730s (which have terrific specs) or the S-03 PPs or the Dunlop SP 9000s. Chiragp, you feel the RE730s will give a little more tread wear. O.K., I'm off to the TireRack site for a three-way comparison. Thanks, guys. I'll report later.

Now that you've mentioned that it's for your college-age son, let me qualify my response (I got the '93 190E Limited Edition for my 17-year old daughter, BTW):

Perhaps you want to keep him in something less likely to drive too quickly and get into trouble [if you can't put him in an '80's 300D] -- maybe stay with an all season like the V-rated Yokohama AVS Db rather than go to the full maximum performance tire like the Bridgestone S-03. You'll probably get better tread wear along with better bad weather performance in rainstorms.

__________________
'98 C43 AMG
'88 420SEL
'93 190E Limited Edition (including factory Sportline package)

The Pole S-03 is a phenomenal tire. For a Max Performance tire, I would take it over the Dunlop Sport 9000. In comparing those two to the RE730, I note that in the Reviews, many complain of the noisiness of the RE730. And then there is the notion that this is all for my son and his car and maybe this is over-kill and I don't need all this much tire. I cannot find an AVS Db listed on the TireRack site in a 205/55 x 15 size. Is the AVS Db replaced by the AVid V4? If so, I think the Dunlop SP 5000 Asymentrical (yes...back to them) might be a better tire.

Well here is a flip side to things. I am a college student I put roughly 15,000 miles on my car a year. I know you must ask if I actually attend school or go take a road trip. But I live 2 hours away from home. (I live in Delaware, go to school at George Washington in Wahington, DC. Very familiar with your side of philly)

As for what I recommend. I'd say mileage is a key. IMHO, this is what I'd see mileage wise.

10k Potena S-03 PP
15k SP 9000.
20k-25k Kumho
25k-30k RE730
35k-40k SP 5000

I like the fact of having All-season tires, just because I decide when to put the winters on. If I know next week they predict less then 2" of snow, I am not changing them. I'll make do with the sets I have.

The SP5000 are no slouch either. I had them after the Pirelli P6000, BFG Touring TAs, Yoko Avid V4s, The SP 5000 took the cake and ate it to. These things are the only ones to get a AA rating in traction which signifies great wet weather abilities, and believe me they do.

It was the highest level of grip wt and dry, and decent wearing (the P6000 didn't even wear well)

BTW I love the Limited Edition. Its such a great car. Unfortunately we bought one and as soon as we were leaving the Benz Dealer, it got qrecked by a garbage-truck driver......It was ashame, the dealer only had that last one. But the interior, and everything was lovely. I eny your daughter right now :p

__________________
Chirag (Charlie) Patel
--------------------------------------------
- 03 Mercedes S600 Sport TTV12
- 97 Acura NSX-T
- 99 BMW E36 M3 w/500+ HP
- 04 Lexus RX330
- 04 Dodge Dakota Quad 4x4 V8

4 Sale:
- 99 BMW M3 E36 Coup with Dinan SC, Upgraded to an RMS Stage 3 with Aftercooler, 12psi, and 500+hp @ flywheel.

Patelji, mera dost (I'm a Sanskritist by training), does your mother know you do all that driving around? Do you have subzi choti out in Kansas City you visit every week-end? You know, as I was doing the calculations on mileage, I thought I might be a little low in projecting the kind of yearly mileage he will be putting on the car (it already has 240,000 miles on it). The SP 5000 Asymetrical tires look like a good compromise. What kind of mileage did you get on the tires? Also, what stereo set up do you have? My son is bugging me for a powered sub woofer. Yes, I am often up above on this message board at the Audio section. Your thoughts and ideas, please.

I got 20k on 4/32 tread inch of use. About 6/32s left. About half a tires life. I am very aggresive when it comes to handling, and the suspension at that time was just lowest pad height and sportline spec alightment.

As far as visiting the girl every weekend, not per say. I do visit alot of friends, since I am fortunate enough to have fridays off. My mother does know I travel alot as well, because I am always stopping by to do laundry and get some good home cooked food.

And actually all my traveling is the new york, philly, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, DC, and Virginia driving.

The stero system was completely redone. I took everything stock out. I added some nice MB Quarts (a little on the audiophile side) 6.5" components up front, with tweeters in the dash locatin, and 6.5" custom done in the doors (tweeter is a good place to take your car, but $$$$) In the back, took the old 4" out, added 6.5" MB Quarts coaxs.

For the subs, I am using 2 small 8s as I need my trunk. Its a box that fits nice between my wheel wells, and stil leaves a decent amount of trunk space. Head Unit is a Kenwood Z828, Satelite Radio, MP3 player so no need of a Changer, and I store all my songs on 2 cds, instead of 300 cds. It also encourages less buying and more MP3 usage, so its saves $$$. I have also seen 2 8" subs under the rear bench on a 190E. Very nice looking, if stealth looks are your treatment, do it!!! ITs expensive though. I put everything in knowing I can easily pull it out. So I didn't go through much custom work besides making wooden templates to fit the 6.5" woofer in the door.

Email me, when I get some time, I will emai some pictures, or if in the area I'll actually drop you a line. I am always around that area, love to go see the ferrari dealers's showroom right there.

Anyways. Take care.
And I would probably mess up the greetings in converting the pronunciation on some words, so english is my forte :p

__________________
Chirag (Charlie) Patel
--------------------------------------------
- 03 Mercedes S600 Sport TTV12
- 97 Acura NSX-T
- 99 BMW E36 M3 w/500+ HP
- 04 Lexus RX330
- 04 Dodge Dakota Quad 4x4 V8

4 Sale:
- 99 BMW M3 E36 Coup with Dinan SC, Upgraded to an RMS Stage 3 with Aftercooler, 12psi, and 500+hp @ flywheel.