[jinjur]

Righto,

The front RFT's on the car are deed.......YAY. So i am planning on what to replace them with.


The back tyres died a while ago and i replaced them with a pair of 225/45R17 91W TL CONTINENTAL SPORT CONTACT 3 (MO).

Now, looking at Camskill (my purchase place of choice) i see the following for nearly £10 more each....225/45R17 94W XL FR TL CONTINENTAL SPORT CONTACT 3.



Can anyone tell me what the fak the differences are?

I can see from the charts that the more expensive tyre has:

Ply XL
Sidewall Lettering & Protection FR
Load Index 94



If there is cock all real world difference to an E91 i'd prefer to put the same as the rear on (i.e. the cheaper ones) but I am a touch concerned i have put incorrect tubes on.

WTF please?

Regards
Andy

[willhollin]

The ones you put on are Mercedes OE fitment.

Can't see there being a problem to be honest.

Why not phone Continental and ask?

[creepy coupe]

The Camskill tyres are XL, "extra load" OEM on the 3 series are XL

[doughboy]

OP - the MO ones means they are Merc OE fitment that's all.

The XL is 'Extra load' and the 94 is the load rating, kind of hand in hand, but each manufacturer has XL and NON XL rating for each tyre type, so XL means it is only XL in relation to the NON XL version of that tyre, rather than some set load level, if you get what I 'm saying.

FR means 'with rim protection'

IF you are mixing load ratings, you'd be better off with the stiffer XL tyre on the rear, especially on a tourer with the increased load capacity.

Just put these new ones on the rear and put the existing rears on the front.

Originally Posted by creepy coupe

"extra load" OEM on the 3 series are XL

Are they? my OE RFTs have all been 88 or 91 rated which is not XL AFAIK?

[creepy coupe]

Originally Posted by doughboy

Are they? my OE RFTs have all been 88 or 91 rated which is not XL AFAIK?

Strange, mine were XL, same as my last four BM's

[doughboy]

Originally Posted by creepy coupe

Strange, mine were XL, same as my last four BM's

Interesting, RFTs are not avaliable in XL versions, do you mean non rft tyres?

My current 335i was on 88Y (front) 91Y (rear) RFTs, no XL mark.

Non RFT XL tyres in similar sizes, i.e. my new Conti3's are 94+ rated.

[creepy coupe]

Originally Posted by doughboy

Interesting, RFTs are not avaliable in XL versions, do you mean non rft tyres?

Ah, think I'm having a senior moment yes the E46 had non run flat Bridgestone XL's from the factory and when looking to replace them, whether run flats or not I've always gone for XL's.

[Animalfreeride]

I can confirm for definate that MO means they are OEM for Mercedez. I know this as I've just had Conti Sport Contact 3 fitted all round.

The initial tyres which were sent by the supplier to the dealer had one marked 'MO' on the front & one on the rear. The dealer wasn't happy with this so rang Contintental technical support who stated it wasn't recommended to have a mixture of 'MO' and non 'MO' on the same axle. The tyre dealer was excelllent and sent them back immediately for replacement.

My initial impressions now that I've managed to bed them in are impressive. The harsh ride has gone and the drive feels 'silkier'. I'm not sure whether it's just me knowing that I've gone to non-RFT, but there seems to be a little extra roll and a bit more oversteer although the handling so far has been predictable.

In short the Conti offer better ride comfort and of course less damage to the bank balance! As stated, I don't pretend to be an expert test driver but although the handling is good, I don't feel as confident pushing the car through the bends as before with RFT's.

[jinjur]

Oooookey Dokey.

Well I looked at the RFT's that are on the front at the minute and they are 91V so I am assuming their rating is 91.

Also, the MO versions of the SC3's i have on the rear form Camskill do have rim protectors......i have no idea what that is about??

Anyway, if nobody thinks there are any serious differences that i should be worried about i am just going to get the MO's to match the rear...

They are lovely tyres........i've never had a car that warranted "good" tyres before......all newfangled


Regards
Andy

[jinjur]

Originally Posted by willhollin

Why not phone Continental and ask?

Satellite Delay......sorry will.

That would be WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY too sensible for me matey



Regards
Andy