Mercedes in the Snow

[Voyager]

I have a 320Cdi Avantagarde Estate (2001) - a great car for every situation apart from....snow.

My car has £600 worth of new tyres and continually slides around, is an absolute nightmare on steep hills - has to be a combination of wide, relatively low profile tyres and a huge weight up front......what's your experience of your Mercedes in the snow ?

 

[Stratman]

You have hit the nail squarely on the head. Wide tyres plus rear wheel drive equals no chance on snow and ice. Look in the Wheels and Tyres forum, there are plenty of discussions on this subject.

 

[High-Lo]

My 2000 E320 Avantgarde is absolute rubbish in these conditions on 17's. I don't even bother trying to drive in the snow as I know I will get stuck. Good PZero tyres fitted too. Winter mode on. Just spins all over the place. My wife's B-Class on the other hand has not had a problem at all thankfully

 

[LTD]

My W220 hasn't found anything to trouble it yet and it's been up hills that other cars have struggled with.

Most drivers do not know how to be delicate with the throttle and brakes and are their own worst enemies at times.

FWIW - I'm running 265s on the rear and 235s on the front.

 

[Mark300SL]

We put 6 bags of ballast (120kg) in the boot of Eddies S320 today and apparently that has transformed the roadholding - with the added advantage that he has some "grit" in the boot to spread in the event that he does get stuck

My SL hasnt moved since the foul weather came in

 

[A210AMG]

Mines Ace and thats with 275/17's all round

 

[Voyager]

great idea

 

[Voyager]

brilliant idea

 

[RichardM]

I've seen many similar posts on Lexus and BMW forums recently. RWD, snow and summer tyres do not mix.

 

[Iain]

My 2000 E320 Avantgarde is absolute rubbish in these conditions on 17's. I don't even bother trying to drive in the snow as I know I will get stuck. Good PZero tyres fitted too. Winter mode on. Just spins all over the place. My wife's B-Class on the other hand has not had a problem at all thankfully

For PZeros which are great summer tyres by all accounts, it would be better to fit Pirelli Sotozero's winter tyres. Will make a huge difference Hi-Lo. I have winter tyres on my W202 and haven't had a problem yet.

 

[d w124]

I`ve got no problem at all with mine

 

[Iain]

I've seen many similar posts on Lexus and BMW forums recently. RWD, snow and summer tyres do not mix.

Exactly. Do not mix the winter and summer tyres.You need to fit all 4 to get real benefits and fit them on steelies as well to save the alloys from salt corrosion.

 

[renault12ts]

I've the same as the OP. No problem. W on the gearbox and plant the accelerator and let the ESP do the rest...brill.

 

[x332race]

Decent snow tyres and rear wheel drive? No problems....have 225/45/17 with winter tyres on rear...had absolutely no problems in the snow....its all in the tyres...summer tyres are useless in the snow...fit winter tyres and marvel at the difference! Oh, I drive a C270 Brabus

 

[st4]

Business as usual for me too

Yesterday I left my place of work (-10c) and drove 50odd miles through to Edinburgh (from the west side of Glasgow) along the M8.

My car didnt get stuck, I didnt get knocked into, and I arrived in Edinburgh in about the same time as it would have taken normally.

I kept my distance, used my noggin to negociate the icy office car park and his flat complex, parked up and had a good night.

Heaven forbid, I left edinburgh after some fresh snow, drove all along the M8 (according to the conditions so about 60 on the speedo) and the only hazard was some fog and some poor lane discipline. It took me the same amount of time (well i normally do closer to a ton) so a bit longer actually but all in all an entirely reasonable amount of time to get home safely.

I even got in excess of 40mpg (43.2) so an entirely reasonable journey.

So long as the main roads are clear its business as usual.

 

[welland99]

Reduce tyre pressures?

I have the same problem as the OP. Until today, my W210 hasn't moved since the snow arrived. Today I gave it a go.

Although I was losing traction at times on hills, the traction control helped and I didn't get stuck until..... I got home. (Is this the best place to get stuck).
My road is still snow covered and my house is only third house from the main road. I slowed to a crawl before attempting to turn into my drive, and right outside my neighbours house I got stuck. The road is almost flat with a negligible uphill gradient in the direction I was travelling.

After 5 minutes of trying forwards and backwards, Eventually I made it back to the main road, then I got better traction and built up enough speed to make it back to my drive without getting stuck. :bannana:

Does anybody think reducing tyre pressures would help? I currently have about 32PSI front and 42 PSI rear. I'm thinking of reducing both front and rear to 30PSI.

I don't have plans for anything but town driving in the next week.

 

[abs]

mine w210 300td is useless ogt 18" amg n it doesnt wanna move at all jus keeps spinnin.... so ive left it.. usin my e90 320d which is also crap.. but still better than the merc.. as its a manual...

 

[KNU7S]

we have not driven our mercs for 3 weeks now! just been in the RR.

Tell a lie i have moved the around on the drive and anoyed the neighbours by doing burn outs in the road!

left foot lightly on the brake and full throttle with the right foot.

 

[Iain]

Decent snow tyres and rear wheel drive? No problems....have 225/45/17 with winter tyres on rear...had absolutely no problems in the snow....its all in the tyres...summer tyres are useless in the snow...fit winter tyres and marvel at the difference! Oh, I drive a C270 Brabus

BUMP

 

[KNU7S]

Decent snow tyres and rear wheel drive? No problems....have 225/45/17 with winter tyres on rear...had absolutely no problems in the snow....its all in the tyres...summer tyres are useless in the snow...fit winter tyres and marvel at the difference! Oh, I drive a C270 Brabus

I have normal tyres and never had any problems in the RR and pulled lots of cats out of ditches this week