quote:
Originally posted by hauser
Eventually our only choice may be the Coker tire.
Other than Mike Salemi's rants and raving about the Coker there doesn't seem to be much feedback on them.
1969 Euro 280sl 5 spd
Gainesville, Fl.
Other than I have the "Michelin XYZ and like them" or "I bought a set of Vredestein ZYX and they are great" there's not really much objectively anyone can say about tires without skidpad and braking tests performed on the same car. That would be interesting but no idea of how this could or would be done properly.
For our newer members, there's a thread called
Tire Nirvana that has perhaps the greatest "weigh in" of everyone on the subject of tires but I fear that a lot of tires named in that thread are NLA.
I won't rehash it all here--go to that thread if interested--but the Cokers for me
solved what I perceived to be a handling problem with Pirelli P400's and they were the only proper sized tires with the proper whitewall. Alas even those Pirelli's in the 195, 205-70-14 size at least, are NLA, too.
Many find whitewalls a horrific insult to good taste. I kind of
like the studio shots of the
230SL taken in 1963-1964 with "Gangsta" whitewalls. Really sets off all that extra chrome you can't find on the
280SL...
Those were European shots, too...
But proper sized tires are becoming increasingly scarce. I suspect the Cokers will be around for a long time because of the fact that they reproductions and low volume.
What I surmise might actually happen is we'll find more modern sized tires on different wheels--it will take a wheel manufacturer to figure that one out. Sometimes you see these 50-series low profile tires on eBay cars. I also see, everytime I exit my Costco, a pile of low-profile tires that I swear look smaller than my 14" ones but are 15" or 16". Don't know what kind of wheels would fit however.
Michael Salemi
1969 280SL
Signal Red 568G w/Black Leather (Restored)
President, International Stars Section
Mercedes-Benz Club of America
