Aquaplaning CLS

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vibesg

Active Member
Joined
Sep 16, 2007
Messages
342
Location
Kent
Car
CLS 320 Cdi; Volvo XC90 D5; VW Polo tdi
I am 3 months into owning a 2005 CLS 320 cdi with FSH and now 100k miles. It has 18 inch staggered wheels on good Dunlops.
What's not to like. Lovely options and smooth power delivery in a straight line and round long curves. Stable at motorway speeds and economy is reasonable. No apparent tracking or alignment problems.

Set out this morning in torrential rain on the M25 Dartford Tunnel to the M1. Oh my what a revelation?
I drive on this stretch everyday so I do not think the road surface is so uneven.
With each medium sized puddle at anything over 49 mph it skedaddled all over the tarmac.
With larger puddles ..whew. you are on your own. Embarassing watching corsas and insignias whizz past me.

Being on the inside lane in the company of larger trucks and dumpsters for company never felt safer.
I understand the care needed with powerful rear driven cars in the wet but this was ridiculous and scary. My previous W209 CLK and R230 SL with staggered 17 inch and 18 inch wheels respectively performed so much better in similar conditions.
As soon as the roads were a little drier the CLS found its composure again.

Any other driver faced similar.
 
Yes, had a very big aquaplane moment in the outside line of M62 with my old C320cdi. The wide tyres do not help. Just have to be aware and take a bit more care.
 
How much tyre thread have you got?

Are the tyres on the right way around?

Tyre thread is designed to push water from the middle outwards, if they've been rotated by someone who didn't pay attention to this, they could be pulling water inwards and you'll aquaplane very easily.
 
I did have a similar problem a few years ago with a BMW in 18" I had thought it was just the wide tyres but the next time I needed new tyres I changed from brand and it was much much better

Ditto for directional tyres being fitted the wrong way round this would have a massive effect

Cannot remember the tyre brands but tyres can certainly have a massive influence and not all tyres are created equal with respect to wet roads
 
If its that bad at 49MPH i would think something needs looking at quickly.

Tony.
 
I drove up the M1 yesterday in torrential rain and hit one massive puddle in the fast lane doing about 60mph. There was a slight "aqua plane twitch" but I just lifted off slightly before the puddle and kept straight so no dramas. That's on 19's and 275 section rears. I suspect that you have a tyre issue (pressures? brand? wear?) or an alignment issue.
 
I found Dunlops were quite bad in the wet for me, feels like they aquaplane too easily. I have now switched to Goodyear, much better in the wet.
 
Also punch your tyre model into tyrereviews.co.uk and you'll see real users ratings in various categories, wet grip, dry grip, etc, and their opinions. It might turn up that your dunlops are particularly notorious for poor wet weather performance.

Or, if it says they're fantastic, then you've got them on backwards or some other major issue.
 
yours is not a CLS specific problem, it's something to do with your tyres.

my CLS is pretty good in the wet, and does not aquaplane at sensible speeds
 
The staggered set-up (especially if you have the beasty 285 width rears) wont help disperse the water as effeciently as a narrower square set-up. Also the type of tyre will play its role. Although not quite cold enough yet, in my experience winter tyres (aka cold weather tyres) are better placed to help avoid aquaplaning and give better stability in torrential rain / standing water situations due to the higher rubber content in the compound (thus softer) and also the 'sipe' design of the tread. Nice car BTW.
 
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Thanks very much everyone. Your comments have been very helpful.
Though I knew the tyre treads were fine and the tyres fitted the right way round (and the car just passed its MOT) I went to a tyre specialist to confirm this.
He confirmed that the tyres were properly fitted and good but that the fronts were wearing unevenly on the inside.
He recommended a full suspension geometry check and adjustment as he reckoned that the fronts did not have full contact with the road, so water is not being dispersed properly.

He does not have the equipment himself so he wasn't trying to line his pockets.

Not keen to spend unecessary cash but I will rather be safe.
Getting the full check cum adjustment done tomorrow.

Will keep you posted.
 
Thanks very much everyone. Your comments have been very helpful.
Though I knew the tyre treads were fine and the tyres fitted the right way round (and the car just passed its MOT) I went to a tyre specialist to confirm this.
He confirmed that the tyres were properly fitted and good but that the fronts were wearing unevenly on the inside.
He recommended a full suspension geometry check and adjustment as he reckoned that the fronts did not have full contact with the road, so water is not being dispersed properly.

He does not have the equipment himself so he wasn't trying to line his pockets.

Not keen to spend unecessary cash but I will rather be safe.
Getting the full check cum adjustment done tomorrow.

Will keep you posted.
 
Apologies for the multiple entries above. I did it on my mobile phone and I couldn't delete the entries though I tried.

Didn't realise it when I changed the Volvo's tyres 2 month ago but the Uniroyal Rainsport 3 proved their worth this week in the wet weather. Brilliant in town and on the Motorway.

Could not take the car back to the tye specialist until today. He detected that the tracking on both front wheels were out with one side (8mm)being worse that the other.
Looking forward to collecting the car lunchtime. Will probably wait till next week to test it as we are in for some good weather this weekend (touch wood).
 
Apologies for the multiple entries above. I did it on my mobile phone and I couldn't delete the entries though I tried.

Didn't realise it when I changed the Volvo's tyres 2 month ago but the Uniroyal Rainsport 3 proved their worth this week in the wet weather. Brilliant in town and on the Motorway.

Could not take the car back to the tye specialist until today. He detected that the tracking on both front wheels were out with one side (8mm)being worse that the other.
Looking forward to collecting the car lunchtime. Will probably wait till next week to test it as we are in for some good weather this weekend (touch wood).

As above. This is NOT a CLS issue at 49mph. If your tracking does not sort it ? I would change manufacturer. Driving straight at 49mph through puddles on a motorway should not cause you an issue. Good luck.
 
Uniroyal rainsport are great tyres for wet weather.

Have you checked tyre pressure as well?

You should be able to drive comfortably at 70mph in almost any weather without issue as long as your tyres and alignment are good.
 
Uni Royal Rainsports are the best wet weather tyre I have driven on. Currently on Rainsport 3's at the moment, which also look pretty stunning as they have an interesting tread pattern, and a pretty flash design on the side.
 
Update
Agree with all opinions on the Rainsport. Works wonders on the Volvo over all roads and in all conditions.

Post alignment and geometry adjustments I drove the CLS in the rain this morning over the same routes as in my thread starter. Now that's the wet weather driving I am normally used to in a Mercedes.
I started gingerly at first but grew in confidence as the miles increased.
Yep now properly sorted.
 
Hate to agree but I have had one very lucky escape having performed a 360 degree spin on a wet motorway in my CLS and always find it twitchy in the wet. I have PZeros all round, and they are never below 3.5 mm.
I was commenting on my cars tail-happy tendency to my colleague/passenger earlier this year on the M6 toll just after I had eased off the throttle due to the conditions. Bizarrely, what do we spot a mile down the road but a CLS the wrong way round, planted in the verge.
I do drive quickly (and safely) and have never had an accident barring the 360 above in 23 years of driving, but I must say I approach the CLS with an air of trepidation in wet conditions, it scares me. Sadly, my ML goes back to Merc next month so I am giving the CLS a set of winters in the hope it behaves!
 

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