My car is useless in the snow!!!

[Lady]

Hi All,

I am having problems driving my car in the snow. The car skids at every opportunity. My previous car (a volvo s40 ) was very good in the snow.
Is this a mercedes problem? Do I need to get winter tires?

 

[Spinal]

There's a heated debate about whether winter tyres should be a legal requirement, so yes - winter tyres is good idea

Given the weather in the last couple of days, winter tyres which are M&S (mud & snow) rated would be good...

 

[Lady]

Thanks Spinal.

Any idea how much those winter tires would cost?

Diana

 

[Blackman]

The problem is that S40 is a front wheel drive car and Mercs are RWD. Without winter tyres, FWD cars are easier to drive, but if you put winter tyres on your Mercedes it will make a big difference.

It's a common sense in many European countries to put winter tyres on cars around November, when the snow starts, but since in the UK it doesn't snow often or heavily, some people never even heard of winter tyres...

 

[Algoritmus]

Hi,

An other point to buy winter tyres not just because of snow.The normal summer tyre keep its flexbility until 7°C. Under 7°C it become harder and loosing grip. You wont feel this until you are in emergency situation (I was and that was the last time to save money on winter tyres)

Think about it: spend say 400 pounds for good winter tyres and you are good for five years. So 80 pounds per year to know that you ,your passangers and your car are in safe. (except on ice...that is an other story)

Global warming or whatever world's climate is changing....

Safe driving


Attila

 

[Algoritmus]

Some addition numbers:

THE FACTS:
Stop Quicker.
Winter tyres stop up to 20% quicker when driving in cold weather conditions compared to summer tyres.
Better Grip.
Special rubber and silica compounds offer increased levels of grip when outside temperatures drop below 7°C.
Maximum Safety.
Sophisticated tread patterns and an increased number of sipes provide increased levels of safety and mobility.
Braking distance at 60mph on wet road under 7°C
Winter tyres – 65.7m
Summer tyres – 70.5m
Braking distance on an icy road from 20mph
Winter tyres – 57m
Summer tyres – 68m

 

[jefrs]

In snow like we had today the old Volvo 245 would swap ends. The MB in contrast with its ESP is very civilised, not only does it brake the spinning wheel but restricts the lead footed throttle too - until it finds some grip and goes haring away, in a straight line. Making it go where it is pointed round corners is a bit of a problem, same as on any car, but the anti-lock braking works to prevent slides, you just have to allow more distance and anticipate earlier, because you have not got full braking capacity on ice.

I too wonder about winter tyres but in England weather this cold only lasts a few weeks before we go back to wetness. We were not driving on snow but on ice this morning. Then the snow today was quickly cleared and there was liquid water on the road with the slush. Tyre rubber composition does vary but imo the modern "summer" tyre seems to have better cold weather capability than they had of old.

 

[Stempies]

Just stick a 4x4 badge on the boot!!
It makes you, invincible in snow , king of the road, able to drive up sheet ice , able to follow 10 feet away from the car in front because of it's incredible grip ..............................!!!!!
Or atleast, that's what the school mum's seem to think!!!!!

 

[Spinal]

It's a common sense in many European countries to put winter tyres on cars around November, when the snow starts, but since in the UK it doesn't snow often or heavily, some people never even heard of winter tyres...

I think you're confusing winter tyres with snow tyres...

Yes, snow tyes don't make much sense in most of the UK, especially the south... On the other hand, winter tyres make perfect sense nov-mar/apr if you look at the average daily temperatures... Add to that the fact that most people drive early at the morning and late afternoon - which is precisely when temperatures drop and it becomes a no-brainer...

M

 

[Oh-Flock]

i've just got rid of my subaru sti and moved to a mercedes, it's is certainly an experience in the snow thats for sure, my sti would go anywhere with the 4 wheel drive

i can't even get the car back on my driveway at the moment

i'm going looking for some winter tyres today and see what difference they make

 

[DJM]

i've just got rid of my subaru sti and moved to a mercedes, it's is certainly an experience in the snow thats for sure, my sti would go anywhere with the 4 wheel drive

i can't even get the car back on my driveway at the moment

i'm going looking for some winter tyres today and see what difference they make

They WILL make a difference! Believe me...

 

[x332race]

They WILL make a difference! Believe me...

Agreed...they will make a difference. I had to help push my neighbours VW Passat along our road to his house the other day and our road is virtually flat! He has virtually new summer tyres and could not get any traction.

Whereas my C270 with winter tryes has had no problems whatsoever getting around.

 

[Apial]

Just stick a 4x4 badge on the boot!!
It makes you, invincible in snow , king of the road, able to drive up sheet ice , able to follow 10 feet away from the car in front because of it's incredible grip ..............................!!!!!
Or atleast, that's what the school mum's seem to think!!!!!

Its true though!

 

[jimkelly]

if you are anywhere near welyn garden city check out Supertyres, they sorted me out for £300 for a set of winters. They also do the storage thing for £20.

There are plenty of non believers out there but you will be hard pressed to find someone that has had them fitted that doesn't think they are worth the money.

 

[MarkC250]

I don't have winter tyers fitted (short on cash this time of year) but would if I could,
what made me think it's a good idea is when traveling down the M40 I saw 6 cars abandoned on the hard sholder, 1 porsh, 2 BMW's and 3 Merc's, I don't know why the porsh was there as they have very good rear end grip (albeit with huge rear tyers) but it's easy to see why the others were there.
I've seen so many Merc's, BMW's struggleing to get anywhere on the side roads, and I've had problems myself even with a full tank of fuel + 50L of water (in drums) in the boot and a few less psi in the tyers, the traction controle has been working overtime.
It's a real test of driving abilaty that's for sure.

But I did find an empty carpark the other night and had some fun with TC off

 

[renault12ts]

I don't have winter tyers fitted (short on cash this time of year) but would if I could,
what made me think it's a good idea is when traveling down the M40 I saw 6 cars abandoned on the hard sholder, 1 porsh, 2 BMW's and 3 Merc's, I don't know why the porsh was there as they have very good rear end grip (albeit with huge rear tyers) but it's easy to see why the others were there.
I've seen so many Merc's, BMW's struggleing to get anywhere on the side roads, and I've had problems myself even with a full tank of fuel + 50L of water (in drums) in the boot and a few less psi in the tyers, the traction controle has been working overtime.
It's a real test of driving abilaty that's for sure.

But I did find an empty carpark the other night and had some fun with TC off

An empty carpark?? That was the southern runway!!!

 

[m1tch]

Apparently in Poland its a legal requirement to fit winter wheels to the car after November 1st, everyone has to, meaning no-one is a liability with worse grip etc, sounds like a plan.

 

[m1tch]

An empty carpark?? That was the southern runway!!!

It wasn't empty, there was a plane parked on it

 

[MarkC250]

It wasn't empty, there was a plane parked on it

Dam things are allways on my drag strip.

 

[Jmal]

I'm a Finn living in the UK and I've driven about 20 years in arctic conditions in -20 and several feet of snow around.

In Finland, law requires winter tyres to be fitted during winter, there are certain dates when they are to be put on and taken off, or "pending on the weather conditions".

There are two kinds of tyres available; studded tyres and what's called "traction tyres" ie, heavier pattern compared to summer tyres, but no studs. The studded tyres are the bees knees in winter. I think they should make them legal during snow fall here in the UK despite the fact that they do eat the asphalt like crazy, at least for EMS and professional services.

There are two kinds of conditions; icy and snowy. The treacherous one is the icy conditions, because then you'll have virtually no traction unless you have studded tyres. Snowy conditions are easier, as they are more like aquaplaning occasionally.

What amazes me, is that Brit drivers do not distinguish these two and more importantly do not understand the severity. If there's been some humid air and it falls below zero, the roads turn to (black) ice rinks, yet these drivers drive like it's the middle of the summer. I was passed by some idiot woman driver in her TT on a winding narrow road because I was driving 25 on 30 zone on an icy road.

Then the snow comes in and the most drive like grannies, 15mph on 40mph zone and I'm behind then in my 4x4. Driving is much easier on snow than on ice.

I'm sure this forum is filled with apt drivers, but here are couple of tricks for driving in winter, hope these will come in handy:

1. If you have trouble getting moving and you have a manual transmission, put in 2nd gear and ease on the clutch. This won't make the tyres spin so quickly and turning the snow underneath to a slippery track, but instead due to higher gear the tyres rotate a bit slower and are easier to control.

2. Occasionally it's easier to back up a slippery hill than it's to drive up, if you have a RWD.

3. If you get stuck on snow and you have people helping by pushing the car. Here's what you want to do. Try to get the car rocking back and forth by accelerating and then letting off the while the people pushing do the same. This way eventually you get bigger and bigger rocking movement back and forth and it should make you 'leap' forward over the snow. This is very common in Finland, when the roadside parked cars got stuck in snow after the snow plower had cleared out the driving lanes.

Hope this helps!