Mercedes Benz SLK 230 Tires

On this page you will find the best real world tire reviews from owners of the Mercedes Benz SLK 230.

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Tire Reviewed Dry Grip Wet Grip Feedback Handling Wear Comfort
Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 5 (243) 93% 90% 86% 88% 79% 81%
Cooper Zeon CS8 (15) 87% 81% 81% 77% 82% 83%
Michelin Primacy 4 (165) 85% 81% 74% 76% 81% 83%
Pirelli P ZERO ROSSO Asimmetrico (26) 87% 75% 79% 82% 73% 71%
Kumho Ecsta KU31 (165) 83% 75% 77% 76% 72% 74%
Avon ZZ3 (115) 84% 75% 78% 75% 70% 74%
Toyo T1R (288) 83% 69% 75% 75% 63% 70%
Aoteli P607 (25) 78% 62% 69% 68% 76% 70%
Bridgestone Potenza S001 (160) 83% 69% 74% 74% 67% 61%
Federal SS595 SUPER STEEL (136) 70% 47% 57% 55% 69% 48%
Pirelli P6000 (175) 66% 46% 55% 48% 67% 60%
Runway ENDURO 916 Plus (45) 66% 53% 52% 54% 62% 41%
Zeta Ztr10 (32) 60% 43% 48% 46% 60% 59%
Event WL905 (129) 59% 30% 41% 39% 60% 49%

Mercedes Benz SLK 230 Tire Review Highlights

Writing about the Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 5 given 69% (225-45-17-W)
Driving on a combination of roads for 4000 spirited miles
On a daily use: as good as any other UUHP tire. Easy to lose grip in RWD but also easy to restore it. Not reliable in rainy conditions but good grip on a track where the tarmac is good and the tire is heated. On a track: Easy to overheat. When overheated loses grip dramatically. With optimal temperature very reliable on corners and excellent in braking and accelerating. I expected better road feedback though. Unpleasant rollover. After 6 months, 5 events and 5 track days (and daily use) there was no rubber left. I can not recommend this tire for competition driving on sunny days. I will buy it for my wife's car :-)
tire reviewed on 2020-12-31 03:18:11
Writing about the Cooper Zeon CS8 given 97% (205-55-16-V)
Driving on a combination of roads for 40000 spirited miles
No comments left
tire reviewed on 2020-12-23 15:12:40
Writing about the Aoteli P607 given 46% (225-40-18-)
Driving on mostly motorways for 0 average miles
Once but never again. Initially fantastic tire, however, more and more noise during a few kilometers and even a front tire became unbalanced. Uncorrectable. Worthless. Better buy second hand a tires than these new.
tire reviewed on 2020-10-21 14:46:28
Writing about the Zeta Ztr10 given 64% (245-40-17-V)
Driving on a combination of roads for 35000 average miles
Well. I’m pretty sure I reviewed these two years ago when I thought they might be near the end of their life... here we go again. These two pieces of volcanic bedrock were on the rear of my SLK230 when I bought it in 2017 and had approximately 5K and 6 months of use already on them. Fast forward to today: 26th of August 2020. Three and a half years have passed, 35000 miles have been slipped/slid/burnt/tumbled through and I’ve have my third MOT with no advisories aside from ‘worn rear tires’. These things are made from armor-grade depleted uranium and hold in the wet as you’d expect being made from a material harder than the compressed centre of a dead star. In dry they are acceptable. In the wet they will continuously try to murder you in an admittedly progressive and slidey fashion. For the price; I’d put these on any non performance car simply because they’d outlive the driver. For any vehicle with the capacity to do 0–60 in less than an epoch I can not recommend at all.
tire reviewed on 2020-08-26 11:53:56
Writing about the Bridgestone Potenza S001 given 73% (255-35-18-)
Driving on mostly country roads for 10000 spirited miles
Had these installed on my 1998 SLK 230. The car is on lowering springs and Koni yellow shocks, therefore the tires a bit more diagonally placed. These tires wear pretty quickly on the inside, but that has something to do with the fact that my car is lowered. So maybe I am not the right person to say anything about the wear on these tires.

One thing I can say something about is noise, these tires are bit noisy. After that I replaced these Bridgestones with Michelin PS2's, I noticed that those tires were a lot quieter. The Michelins also absorb the bumps in the road far better I must say. The Michelins also seem to be more stable during high speed cornering, that doesn't that the Bridgestones handle badly, high speed stability and grip is fine. But the Michelins are better.

Overall I would recommend this tire if you can get it cheaply. Otherwise I would recommend the Michelins.
tire reviewed on 2019-02-27 11:07:24
Writing about the Michelin Primacy 4 given 79% (225-40-18-)
Driving on mostly country roads for 700 spirited miles
Had these installed on my 1998 SLK 230 after my Bridgestone Turanza T001's were worn. I drove those tires from new and I must say that these Michelins feel much better. Lower noise, better comfort. It gives the car a bit more "floaty" feel, but not in a bad way. Feedback from the tires is good and they can cope with a pretty high cornering speed, without feeling too soft or unstable, though I must say that the Bridgestones gave better feedback during high speed cornering. But that is something these tires aren't made for. Can't say anything about the wear yet, because I only drove them for 1000 kilometers.
tire reviewed on 2019-02-27 10:48:30
Writing about the Federal SS595 SUPER STEEL given 81% (225-45-17-V)
Driving on mostly country roads for 15000 spirited miles
My car, a 2000 Mercedes Benz SLK 230came with these tires. Staggered fitment with a wider aspect on the rear.
Overall very pleased, i rear them as a aummer tire, as i live in a desert area. Plenty hot, and dusty. Top down every chance, so road noise is negligible. I trust these tires, they give good feedback, with a little twitch. Hot summer road temps help with a sticky feel to the road.
Always buy the best tires you can afford. And don't expect more than what you pay for. For me these tires will drive.
tire reviewed on 2018-04-01 15:14:52
Writing about the Cooper Zeon CS8 given 87% (225-50-16-)
Driving on mostly town for 1500 spirited miles
I have these fitted to two SLK's having grown to like them on one first.
To be honest, they are not pretty, looking somewhat agricultural with tread rolling up the sidewalls a bit too much. But then that's there to aid the wet handing thing I guess so a small price to pay as in such conditions they are brilliant.
The SLK's are not a car that feeds tire feel back to the driver much. But, as that means you have to have some faith in the tire, by leaving it to do its thing without letting you know much about it, I've found these have given me that confidence quickly. In the wet there's little difference in the sensation of sure footedness, and far fewer flashes from the traction control indicator when pulling away firmly than previous tires.
We like them, plus the free replacement accidental damage thing is something we've used a couple of times on other cars which is a real plus to have from Cooper Tires.
tire reviewed on 2017-12-08 16:46:56
Writing about the Toyo T1R given 84% (225-45-17-)
Driving on a combination of roads for 10000 spirited miles
Against all the online research I purchased a set of Toyo Proxes T1R 91W's 205/55/R16 front and 225@s for the rears. I really had my doubts but a very good friend owns a tire garage with over 40 years experience. I can't say how I doubted his advice but man o man I'm so glad I had him fit them and had the tracking tweaked. Well 10K miles under the belt and there still running so well. Awesome dry grip and on hot days they just give and give and right on the limit you just start to feel a very progressive break away, always controllable. In the wet again great, they love heavy rain, but like any good tire greasy roads take way more care, but that's common sense.
They are on a highly modified SLK, we even had a track day on them which I thought would show some short falls but again they were good, not a track tire but the odd mad day, great.
As they where cheap I thought they'd feel cheap but no no no. Comfort? If you've been using run flats, then I would have given them an easy ten but if you pay more than double the price for some so called top brands, then you may say 8 is fare, so a 9 I think is the right choice on this Merc. As they are so comfy I uprated front and rear bushes and there still super smooth, so that surely is good praise for budget money. They get a poor fuel economy rating but I have seen NO reduction in mpg what so ever and I had B rated tires before!
Would I buy again? Oh yes and in fact I have a full set of Proxes R888R on order for my summer track day wheels.
tire reviewed on 2015-05-28 12:48:56
Writing about the Runway ENDURO 916 Plus given 15% (205-55-16-W)
Driving on a combination of roads for 800 average miles
Absolute rubbish, they were already on my car when I bought it. The droning noise they made was so bad I thought a wheel bearing had gone, the steering felt dead, ride was very harsh. Replaced them at the earliest opportunity with a quality brand, the car was immediately transformed and is now a joy to drive.
tire reviewed on 2015-04-17 16:49:10
Writing about the Pirelli P6000 given 62% (225-50-16-W)
Driving on mostly country roads for 10000 spirited miles
Excellent in the dry, but in a light powerful RWD car in the wet, shall we say interesting.
Quite noisy on the road and the wear rate on a 140 rated tire was spectacular, about 10000 miles for the rears and a little more for the fronts. However the car was driven with gusto so I expected a high attrition rate.
I might have bought them again but I can no longer find them in the size I require, so I opted for Pirelli Cinturato P7s, wear rated at 260 as I would like just a few more miles for my money
tire reviewed on 2013-12-02 12:47:54
Writing about the Avon ZZ3 given 84% (225-50-16-)
Driving on a combination of roads for 30 average miles
I've had these on the back of my SLK for a long time, so long I can't remember the mileage, they have lasted and lasted I'm finally down to the last mm of tread. I've been very impressed by the rear end grip these give, plus they are very progressive and let you know exactly what is going on near the limit. Very good wet weather grip, huge water shifting capacity judging by the plumes of spray behind me. As comfortable as any other tire. I would have used these again but my fitter does not carry them so I will be trying some Kumho this time. I would happily recomment this tire.
tire reviewed on 2012-05-04 03:55:38
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