Winter is almost over! That means I have to take the snow tires off of my 1990 Mercedes 420SEL and shop for summer tires. The challenge is that the car takes 205/65-15 tires, and the choices available on Tire Rack are all pretty uninspiring. So I am wondering how far from the stock tire size I can wander in my search for something better before I run into speedo accuracy and other problems?
I would prefer something that could sharpen the barge-like turn-in on this car. It's so big and soft that a tire with a stiffer sidewall is unlikely to hurt the overall ride. The problem is that nobody seems to make an interesting tire in this size. Finally, I have several sets of the stock wheels and I'd like to avoid buying more wheels if I can...
Any thoughts?
I am afraid buying 16 inch wheels might be the best choice. There are way more 215/55-16 tires than anything good for the stock wheels.
trucke
Dork
2/26/16 12:12 p.m.
Toyo Versado Noir comes in that size. I may put these on the Focus when it comes time to replace. Had the older Versado LX on the deceased Buick and currently have the Versado CUV's on the Highlander. I like this series of Toyo's.
Toyo Versado Noir
trucke
Dork
2/26/16 12:17 p.m.
Only $80 each free shipping.
Tread Depot
The Pirelli P6000 is available in 215/60/15, if you want a tire design as dated as the car ;)
for the very modest asking price of $225 per tire on Tire Rack
If you hunt around on Tire Rack you can find a few insanely expensive tires that in the ballpark in terms of size. But try to find something "normal" but with a sportier feel. My real issue here is that I don't want to do the sane thing--which is to buy 16" wheels. These cars are so straight-laced that they tend to look ridiculous with non-stock wheels.
What about a stock wheel off a higher trim (AMG maybe) or newer Mercedes? There's likely something in 16 or 17" that would look decent on the car.
