Best Tires for the Mercedes Benz SL320

Very good tires. Not sporty, little dull on the steering, didn't like how a bit mushy they were with manufacturer recommended pressure. Grip for days nonetheless. Always felt safe and predictable. After 14000 miles front has 4.6mm thread left, rear 2.2mm. Would abuse again.

I recently purchased a Mercedes SL320 for summer use. It came with 275/35/18 Dunlop SP9000 sports on the rear and 225/40/18 Three A tires on the front. The car had only covered about 10000 miles in the last 13 years and while there was plenty of tread on the Dunlop's they were obviously old and were showing signs of cracking. The Three A's were new when I bought the car and had been put on so it could pass it's MOT. Being a budget brand I had never heard of I was not happy keeping them on what is a heavy car with reasonable performance.
I decided the only option was to replace all the tires and having done some research and looking at the various reviews I decided to go for the Uniroyal Rainsport 3 as these seemed to be a good compromise between quality and price. Due to the sizes available I opted for 265/35/18's on the back and 235/40/18's on the front. OK this car will never do a high annual mileage but in the 700 odd miles I have done since having them fitted (taking advantage of the great summer weather) I can make the following comments:-

The car tracks in a straight line!

The tires are far quieter

The ride is more compliant

It now corners and grips far better

It has been driven in a thunderstorm and I could not detect any discernible difference to the dry weather grip.

So overall I am very pleased and even though my mileage on them is and will be limited I feel they are exceptional value for money.

These really are THE worst tires I've ever driven on. In the wet they are LETHAL! I always fit premium tires when I buy, Continental, Pirelli, or Michelin. I bought a Mercedes SL with these already fitted, was a bit dubious but thought they would do....I hadn't even got the car home and had experienced a very very worrying aqua-plain. Not good to have the stability prog flashing at you at 65mph! Even at low speed, I just had the tremendous over steer around a small roundabout, and it feels like it wants to understeer with just a slight movement of the steering wheel. AVOID, (or die!!!)

Amazing, fantastic wet grip and dry grip, with my car I used to have the Continental, but these are far better.