Ice Driving

[BobbyG]

Hey all....moved my car today for the first time since the ice hit (I'm in North Yorkshire). It was a struggle so I wondered if there was any simple advice for driving a rear-wheel drive in the ice? I felt like traction control was prohibitive, maybe it's best to turn off and manually select a higher gear?

I'm in a MY2019 C200 by the way. The only reason I moved it was because it's in for a service, so I've got a few hours before I'll be parking it on my (v icy) road again!

 

[KillerHERTZ]

Winter Tyres!

 

[BobbyG]

Winter Tyres!

Ha! I'm running All Season tyres

 

[mersum1es]

Yes, Winter tyres. If you need frequently drive in winter conditions, two set of tyres, no need to drive lass than average prefrorming tyres in summer AND winter. Premium class winter tyres makes huge difference.

 

[Steveml63]

Hi,
Back in 2008 to 2010, I had a tuned BMW 123d and for my first winter with the car I fitted winter tyres (as a replacement for the standard runflats).
It was a revelation during a spell of snow - and it was hilarious to see the likes of VW Golf’s trying to follow my up slopes and then failing - whereas the BMW had no problem.
Interestingly, the winter tyres were much cheaper than the runflats and I never bothered changing them even in the summer months!
They are still sitting in my garage in the UK with plenty of tread on them, after I fitted the runflats in preparation to return the car to the lease company.
Cheers
Steve

 

[BTB 500]

Hey all....moved my car today for the first time since the ice hit (I'm in North Yorkshire). It was a struggle so I wondered if there was any simple advice for driving a rear-wheel drive in the ice? I felt like traction control was prohibitive, maybe it's best to turn off and manually select a higher gear?

I'm in a MY2019 C200 by the way. The only reason I moved it was because it's in for a service, so I've got a few hours before I'll be parking it on my (v icy) road again!

We're in rural Shropshire and have had ice on the side roads for most of the last week. Our C300 and Vito (3.0 V6) are both RWD and have both been ok on their standard Continental tyres, driven sensibly on normal settings.

I drove my son's little FWD Citroen yesterday and got wheelspin in 3rd gear after being a bit liberal with the awesome power of the 1 litre 3-cyl up front

 

[TC350]

Ha! I'm running All Season tyres

They should be fine. Modern All Season tyres use compounds that are often better than cheaper winter tyres in the cold.

What you need is a featherlight touch with your right foot. Most Mercedes autos start in second gear normally anyway, and that should be fine. Once you get moving gently keep everything as delicate as possible: throttle, steering, brakes. I used this technique for very many years in RWD cars on summer tyres without any problems whatsoever. A heavy right foot is the cause of most issues.

 

[190]

Driving slowly is the way to do it on the flat but gravity wins on a hill. The only vehicles getting to my house are 4WD. No refuse collection this week because they can't or won't attempt to tackle the hill. It's been fun watching the delivery drivers getting part way up the hill and then get stuck and that's FWD vans too. I had to go out and help one yesterday because he couldn't go forwards and was sliding backwards to within 6 inches of a neighbors car that had also got stuck. The only way we got it to move was some lengths of old carpet out of my garage which when it wasn't shooting backwards from under the wheels eventually worked well enough for him to get a few feet forward and then be able to reverse back down the hill. Bizarrely these drivers have nothing in the van to help, not even a spade, must be playing havoc with their schedules My RWD car wouldn't stand a chance of getting back up the hill so I don't even attempt it. I have some salt but not enough for 100 yards of hill. If everyone of the neighbors did some salting we could do it, but they don't.

 

[BobbyG]

They should be fine. Modern All Season tyres use compounds that are often better than cheaper winter tyres in the cold.

What you need is a featherlight touch with your right foot. Most Mercedes autos start in second gear normally anyway, and that should be fine. Once you get moving gently keep everything as delicate as possible: throttle, steering, brakes. I used this technique for very many years in RWD cars on summer tyres without any problems whatsoever. A heavy right foot is the cause of most issues.

Thanks. If I remember correctly, mine started in 1st earlier, but I can switch to 2nd using the flappy padel. I did feel as though traction control got in the way though, so might switch off just for starting off/parking

 

[m80]

WE're expecting a thaw during Monday, leave it till then.

Up 'ere I've had lots of experience with different mo mo's, summer / winter / all season tyres on rwd. I've no fear of having fun on the ice, but do have a fear of being stuck up yonder due to others that haven't a clue.

With a 4x4 (Gr Cherokee) I became stuck behind students in their whatever, that then had 4 others stuck behind them. We were all digging (I carry emergency stuff in winter), and I realised it was a waste of time. My 4x4 wasn't going around or over them anyway. I reversed back 3/4 mile in the tracks I had used before another might come up behind and box me in.

Our mo mo's haven't been off the drive since Monday eve. Our road drops to a bend then climbs to the junction. A few of us could shift the packed ice, but not me alone. So poor Mrs Me is on the bus again later to get home.
Anyway it's time for Mishka to enjoy the snow on the golf course, see ya later.

 

[whitenemesis]

To be fair, nothing drives well on ice, except studded tyres!

 

[Dippo]

When I worked for Saab, we ran an incentive trip for dealer staff called Winter Driving. We'd take them over to Sweden, and up close to the Arctic Circle. There was a circuit marked out on a frozen lake, and we had loads of pre production cars which could never be sold to the public, and were used for us to play on the ice - all on summer tyres. You'd slide off into the snow drifts, then simply wait for the tractor to come along to pull you out. We also had Swedish rally drivers showing us how it done in 900 turbos on spikes, along with dog teams, skiing, and aquavit.

Sometimes I got lumbered with the task of hosting the trip!

 

[BobbyG]

Well the good news is I got my car parked back up without major issue. It's pointing the wrong way for now, but will wait for everything to melt before sorting that!

 

[grober]

SNOW SOCKS? less versatile and can only be used on non gritted snow. POPULAR in countries where they pack snow down rather than melt it. JUST A GET YOU OUT OF TROUBLE DEVICE but cheaper than chains
10 Best Wheel Snow Socks - December 2024{wbraid}&gad_source=2

 

[BTB 500]

Driving slowly is the way to do it on the flat but gravity wins on a hill. The only vehicles getting to my house are 4WD. No refuse collection this week because they can't or won't attempt to tackle the hill. It's been fun watching the delivery drivers getting part way up the hill and then get stuck and that's FWD vans too. I had to go out and help one yesterday because he couldn't go forwards and was sliding backwards to within 6 inches of a neighbors car that had also got stuck. The only way we got it to move was some lengths of old carpet out of my garage which when it wasn't shooting backwards from under the wheels eventually worked well enough for him to get a few feet forward and then be able to reverse back down the hill. Bizarrely these drivers have nothing in the van to help, not even a spade, must be playing havoc with their schedules My RWD car wouldn't stand a chance of getting back up the hill so I don't even attempt it. I have some salt but not enough for 100 yards of hill. If everyone of the neighbors did some salting we could do it, but they don't.

I used to live at the bottom of a hill on a road that became a cul de sac after they put a bypass straight through it. Most winters we got a small collections of vans etc. that had come down the hill but couldn't get back up again

 

[BTB 500]

Up 'ere I've had lots of experience with different mo mo's, summer / winter / all season tyres on rwd. I've no fear of having fun on the ice, but do have a fear of being stuck up yonder due to others that haven't a clue.

With a 4x4 (Gr Cherokee) I became stuck behind students in their whatever, that then had 4 others stuck behind them. We were all digging (I carry emergency stuff in winter), and I realised it was a waste of time. My 4x4 wasn't going around or over them anyway. I reversed back 3/4 mile in the tracks I had used before another might come up behind and box me in.

Mrs BTB comes from the south of Germany and said it was quite common there for people with snow tyres on to get stuck behind people who hadn't bothered. Hence the law got changed such that you were committing an offence if you were on inappropriate tyres for the conditions and caused a problem (or had an accident).

 

[Darrell]

On a skiing holiday once we had to put chains on our Vito minibus.

Most of us were pissed, never done it before and didn’t know what axle to put them on!!

We gave up.

 

[Pontoneer]

Hey all....moved my car today for the first time since the ice hit (I'm in North Yorkshire). It was a struggle so I wondered if there was any simple advice for driving a rear-wheel drive in the ice? I felt like traction control was prohibitive, maybe it's best to turn off and manually select a higher gear?

I'm in a MY2019 C200 by the way. The only reason I moved it was because it's in for a service, so I've got a few hours before I'll be parking it on my (v icy) road again!

Full tank of petrol , load your boot with heavy objects , a couple of heavyweights in the back seat , all will aid traction .

For myself , I just worked from home this last week , and since I didn't need to go anywhere , my car never moved , although I did go out and started it after about four or five days and ran the engine for about 20 minutes to charge up the battery as well as clearing ice from the windows . All thawed out now , but don't think I need to go anywhere before Tuesday .

 

[Pontoneer]

They should be fine. Modern All Season tyres use compounds that are often better than cheaper winter tyres in the cold.

What you need is a featherlight touch with your right foot. Most Mercedes autos start in second gear normally anyway, and that should be fine. Once you get moving gently keep everything as delicate as possible: throttle, steering, brakes. I used this technique for very many years in RWD cars on summer tyres without any problems whatsoever. A heavy right foot is the cause of most issues.

The other thing that helps immensely is if you are fortunate enough to have a limited slip diff , or an ASD . I have had both on different cars and they do help you to get going , or to maintain traction up hills . Putting as much weight as you can over the driven wheels also helps .

The one caveat however , is to remember the famous words of Montgomery Scott : " Ye canna change the laws of physics " , in in this instance that to overcome the momentum of a moving object , you still require retardation , and if you don't have good contact with the road surface , you may not be able to stop anywhere near as easily as you normally would - and this applies in equal measure to those driving on cold weather tyres as well as those on standard tyres ; cold weather tyres have more grip in cold conditions , but on sheer ice all vehicles will have vastly less grip than on cold , but dry , tarmac , so stopping distances will be greatly increased , especially when going downhill and gravity is also pulling you down . Always allow lots of extra time and distance to slow down and stop , ease off and also brake earlier than you normally would .

Finally , if rolling up to a junction on snow or ice in an automatic car , it can be hugely beneficial to slip the car into neutral ; few people realise that even with your foot off the gas , the idling engine is still driving the wheels slightly - try it and you will find this really does make a noticeable difference , and if you don't believe me , find an empty car park and try braking gently to a stop from 10 or 15 mph both in drive and in neutral . The difference is most surprising .

 

[Pontoneer]

Driving slowly is the way to do it on the flat but gravity wins on a hill. The only vehicles getting to my house are 4WD. No refuse collection this week because they can't or won't attempt to tackle the hill. It's been fun watching the delivery drivers getting part way up the hill and then get stuck and that's FWD vans too. I had to go out and help one yesterday because he couldn't go forwards and was sliding backwards to within 6 inches of a neighbors car that had also got stuck. The only way we got it to move was some lengths of old carpet out of my garage which when it wasn't shooting backwards from under the wheels eventually worked well enough for him to get a few feet forward and then be able to reverse back down the hill. Bizarrely these drivers have nothing in the van to help, not even a spade, must be playing havoc with their schedules My RWD car wouldn't stand a chance of getting back up the hill so I don't even attempt it. I have some salt but not enough for 100 yards of hill. If everyone of the neighbors did some salting we could do it, but they don't.

I got 50Kg of salt delivered about a week ago ; it is now in my boot to help with traction , but can also be deployed if needed .