205/ 70-14 H rated tire choices for my 85 300SD - Page 2 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

william rogers · #16 05-24-2003, 01:52 AM

I have 205 70 14 Michlien Rainforce on my 81 SD, would never buy them again thought they would be good in wet N.W. but they are noisy no better than elcheapo's in the rain and are ready for replacement at 20 K.
Have Avid tourings on my Euro 500SE and love them.........
William Rogers.......

edge · #17 05-29-2003, 12:19 AM

Thanks for everyones input. I decided to go with the H rated 205 Firestone Affinity LH30 for $73 shipped from TireRack (thankis, Luke) and will get them mounted at Costco for $10 apiece. Treadlife warranty is 70,000 and apparently they are quiet and great in rain and snow.

jjalex · #18 05-31-2003, 05:06 PM

Edge:

You will like the Firestone Affinity LH30s. I have them on my 123 and love them. Quiet, good handleing, and great in the snow...

And the right price as well.

Piotr · #19 06-01-2003, 12:13 AM

well, now it's too late, but I tried Yoko's Avid T4 and did not like them (flat spotting in winter. Did potenza's 950 - lasted 20K mi

I'm on my second set of Dunlops SP Sport A2's (running 195/60/15 which is "plus 0" upsize on my 190D). Probably the best compromise between dry, wet, and slush. You will curse Firestones (as per two techs from Tirerack). I Found Luke is not the most reliable info source unless you buy expensive tires for AN expensive car.
Good luck

jjalex · #20 06-01-2003, 10:05 PM

I have no complaints about the Firestones yet. I have about 9,000 miles on them and they were just fine in the snow....

Mike123 · #21 06-01-2003, 10:28 PM

I have 22,000 on my LH30s and I love them, as I stated above. They hardly show wear, are quiet and give me excellent traction in all weather. We had record snowfall this winter for this area and have had an exceedingly wet spring and I have had better slick road performance with these on the 123 than I have had on my 116 with Michelin MXV4s. The Michelins were purchased before the Firestones, but I drive the 450SEL far less. These Firestones are the best tires for the money I have ever had, and are some of the best tires I've ever had, period. I really don't know what the "tire techs" are talking about. Of course, this is only my opinion.

Piotr · #22 06-01-2003, 11:50 PM

well, one said " oww, we can do better then that." The second one said " I really would not run Firestones on the MB unless you don't mind trouble." My co-worker said he bought 3 sets of Firestones about 2-3 years apart. All three had tread come off of them. Personally, I have nothing against Bridgestone except my above referenced adventure with Potenzas.

That's all.

edge · #23 06-17-2003, 03:38 PM

I love these Firestone Affinity LH30 tires, very quiet, holds the road great in rain and is warrantied up to 70,000 miles! They are now my tire of choice when I need replacements on the other two MB's.

bodyart27 · #24 06-17-2003, 03:55 PM

The tires on my hand-me-down 84 300SD actually have good tread left, but they were installed back in 97. They are michelins and there are quite a few surface cracks on the sidewall that are making me nervous. They have no slow leaks but I'm wondering if I should be trusting these things on long road trips. (opinions on aging in the texas heat?)

So, I have been half-heartedly looking at tires while my checkbook recovers from my latest round of repairs and maintenance.

The michelin site rates this tire pretty high:

http://michelinman.com/catalog/tires/MichelinXOne.html?tiretype=0&tire=0

But when you search for tires for your car - you get the tried and true MXVs.... (see pic) - I assume this is the OEM tire?

Tire Rack had this Michelin Harmony highly rated higher on feedback than the MXVs:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Michelin&tireModel=Harmony&vehicleSearch=true&partnum=97SR4HARMONY&fromCompare1=y es

The MXVs:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Michelin&tireModel=Energy+MXV4&vehicleSearch=true&partnum=97HR4MXV4E&fromCompare1 =yes

So go figure. For some reason I feel Michelins belong on my Mercedes. Decisions, decisions......

Mordecai · #25 06-17-2003, 08:51 PM

The yokohama touring tires have a good reputation and are inexpensive. If you don't mind a 60 profile tire I would suggest looking at Nitto 460s. They are H rated, and I will attest to their excellance. I used to run them on a several cars and got superior handling, wear and ride.

They used to be cheap, but I haven't bought any lately.

Paul

jfikentscher · #26 06-18-2003, 09:38 AM

I have the Firestone LH30's on my 1987 300D. Although they ride well in the rain and on dry, they are ready for replacement after only 30,000 miles. The previous tires were Pirelli's. They also only lasted about 30,000 miles. This means I'm buying a set every 10 months. I will be trying the Yokahama's next.

My son's car has Toyo Spectrom's on it from the PO. They seem to handle very well in the rain.

Joe.