The tires on your car help you accelerate, grip the road as you make a turn and stop your vehicle. The type of tires your Mercedes Benz needs is dependent on the environment you drive in and type of vehicle. Do you frequently drive through ice/snow? There are various terrains that require different types of tires and some require additional maintenance like switching from snow tires in the winter to standard all season tires in the summer. Ck Auto Exclusive makes it easy to determine what your Mercedes needs whether it's a replacement or maintenance on your current tires with rotations, repairs, tread assessment or 4Matic all-wheel drive troubleshooting.
DIFFERENT TYPES OF TIRES
Most modern cars fresh off the assembly line are equipped with all-season tires. These tires are constructed as a “do-it-all” tire as they provide a balance among performance, grip, wet-weather safety, acceptable noise and durability. Wet weather tires are made with a softer rubber and are generally wider in order to have more contact with the road for additional grip. If you've ever lived in an area with more extreme weather (a lot of rain or snow/ice) you might have heard of tire siping. Siping is the process of cutting thick slits across the tire's rubber surface to improve traction. Good wet weather or winter tires already have sipes incorporated on the tire as they help to channel water away from the tire's contact with the ground. Winter tires (snow and ice) are designed with larger tread block patterns which allow the best contact with these conditions. Some snow rated tires come with several metal studs embedded in the tread to improve traction on icy conditions, but it is usually best to take these tires off during the summer as they tend to wear out quicker and can be quite noisy on paved roads. All-terrain tires are a good choice for an SUV or light truck as they have stiff sidewalls that aid in rolling over rocks or other obstacles and like winter tires, they incorporate large tread blocks. While these perform great over dirt, gravel and loose sand, on paved roads they will be noisy. Mud tires have huge tread blocks and are a type of a specialty all-terrain tire as they are similar, but perform the best under muddy conditions and should not be used on paved roads.
SPECIAL SEGMENT ON MERCEDES BENZ F1 TIRES
F1 (Formula One) is the highest class of single-seater automobile racing and contain the fastest regulated road racing cars in the world. F1 vehicles use special types of tires to maintain speed and traction around the track, often referred to as “racing slicks.” They make various types of tires for these vehicles to correlate with temperature, wet/dry conditions, etc. When the track is dry, the tires they use have a smooth tread with no blocks or patterns. When the track is wet in rainy conditions, the tire has light tread blocks that are not as deep as your traditional vehicle tire, but performs the same concept of diverting water away from the tire's contact with the ground. Both F1 style tires are also much wider than a standard consumer vehicle's tires as they create the largest possible contact surface area to the road, maximizing traction while steering and braking at high speeds. Mercedes' AMG Petronas F1 Team created a video to explain the differences in these tires and other processes they use on the track.
MERCEDES BENZ TIRE SERVICE
CK Auto Exclusive is a Mercedes Benz service and repair shop in Santa Rosa, CA that perform multiple tire-related services I mentioned above including tread assessment, 4Matic all-wheel drive troubleshooting, tire rotation, tire replacement and tire repair. We will give you an honest assessment of the condition of your tires unlike big chain tire stores that want to sell you new tires. Mercedes Benz put a lot of effort into determining which tire will deliver optimum performance based on the Mercedes you drive and as a master mechanic with over 30 years of experience with these vehicles, we have you covered. Check out our Mercedes Benz tire service page and give us a call at (707) 526-3204 for honest and professional service.