Tires for a W126

I have an 87 300SDL that needs tires soon. My Goodyear Regatta 2's lasted about 40K miles, but the front corners are getting rounded from aggressive cornering/driving.

Whats a good tire that can handle the turns and highway driving that I do so much.

John,

Do you mean that the outside edges of ONLY the front tires are rounding off? If you do, this is not from aggressive driving, rather, the toe is toed slightly in. I say slightly because if it took 40,000 miles to show up, it is a minor misadjustment. It should be set on exact zero.

What are you looking for in tires, performance or long wear?

Have a great day,

Larry

The front inner and outter edges are getting rounded off. I just had an alignment (done by hand at an indy, so who knows how accurate). I just assumed it was my aggressive cornering that was rounding the edges off. The edges are almost bald (no tread), but in the center the tread wear indicator is about 1/10" from showing. The rears have like 50% tread left.

Well, I would like the best of both worlds. An all season tire. Something that is going to last, but can grip the road and handle the corners.

Forgot to add that the alignment was just done about 1K miles ago, so I have no idea on its accuracy.

[420]

Sorry to be off subject but......
Turbodiesel, where did you get that pic of the W126 in your signature? It's very nice. Could you send me a copy?

Sorry, but that is the only one I have. I dont have a biger version.

Turbodiesel, I thought of eventually going to a "v" rated. I have always seemed to get a drastic difference in sidewall stability vs h-rated? what ever most passenger cars come with..maybe I have s , it was rated up to like 120+ mph before turning into a football.

John,

Okay, I'm happy now. If both inboard AND outboard edges are wearing like you describe, your toe is probably okay. That said, since your alignment has been changed, keep an eye out for both inboard or outboard edges wearing indicating the need for toe adjustment.

Now for requisite lecture. If you had rotated these tires every 7500 miles or so, you would probably have gotten another 10kmiles out of this set. Sorry for the lecture.

It does indeed sound like you are driving aggressively and I suspect that you brake heavily when entering a turn, rather than braking before reaching the turn and accelerating through it. I could be completely wrong, but it sounds like that.

Given your aggressive driving style, you definitely need a high load rated and probably a high speed rated tire is the only way you can get that. The compromise here is that when you go to a very high speed rating, you get a softer compound, gumball tire that will not last as long. I would consider an H rated tire as the minimum speed rating, and probably the best compromise.

Nowdays there are some pretty good compromises in H rated tires. I would suggest going to the tirerack.com link on the Wheels and Tires forum and search by size. I would recommend checking the Michelin, Continental and maybe the Yokohama boxes when doing your search. Compare the treadwear numbers only among the same brands, you can't compare a treadwear number from one maker to that of another.

Look for an H rated tire with a high treadwear number. Also the weight rating should be high. This is the number such as 91H.

You're a smart guy, if you will spend a few hours studying all the information on that site, you will know much more than the average person selling tires at the tire store.

If you have any questions, I will be happy to try to answer them. I have been on a tire kick lately and feel that I can help you with this. You get to learn from my years of mistakes.

Have fun,

[Aaron]

As I understand it, MANY 126 owners love the Yokohama AVS dB tires on their cars. Just heard another customer praising them the other day at the shop. I have Pirelli P400s on my 300SD and Michelin Energy MXV4s on my 380SE. Hate the Pirellis, love the MXV4s but will be putting AVS dBs on my 420SEL.

Thanks for your help, I really appreciate it.

I will do a little research and post what I find interesting

John,

If you have read any of my recent tire posts, I agree with Aaron that the Yokohama is a tire worth considering. Although I've never run them, they are one of the few tires with the same construction methods and mold types as the Michelins. Additionally I have seen and heard many positive things about Yokohama tires.

I expect to try Yokohamas in the future. Currently, in my mind, there are only three tire brands I would buy, Michelin, Continental and Yokohama. The last two use the Michelin methods of construction. The last two are also economical alternatives. I totally believe in Michelin tires, but they have become increasingly expensive. In the past, I paid the premium and felt that I got more mile per dollar. Now that others are copying their construction methods, I'm not so sure that's true any more.

Good luck,