Rear wheel drive in snow

[Midland45]

Hi all
First run out today in my recently bought 2004 Mercedes CLK 270CDi in the snow. On the ungritted roads I lost the back end on the first corner and that was barely crawling round the corner. OK so I thought I better switch the transmission to the C position which helped things. Once out on gritted roads everything was fine but getting onto my drive was quite an experience. My driveway is flat with a slight incline from the road up to pavement level ( maybe 4" higher than the road). It took me 3 attempts to get back onto the drive, with the ESP light going crazy. I think my rear tyres may be due for replacement soon, but would this make a massive difference renewing them and having a greater tread depth on the back?
Anyway its years since I've had a rear wheel drive and its my first auto, so anyone get any tips for driving on snow/ice. Otherwise it'll me my wifes frontwheel drive that I'll be using until spring arrives.
thanks
Midland

 

[Rory]

Do a search for winter tyres.

Using Wifey's Jazz is the route I've chosen.

 

[Sp!ke]

Nope, Mercs are renowned for being useless in the snow without winter tyres.

My advice would be to pick up some cheap steel wheels from ebay and stick some winter tyres on them for use in harsh conditions. Probably be able to do the lot for £200 which is cheap as chips compared to the potential cost of damage should you have a prang on summer tyres.

Think of me in a few days as I am driving a stretched Mercedes Limo from the Italian Alps across to the mountains in Croatia - its going to be interesting

 

[R2D2]

Last year I ruined a set of rear conti's getting up my 3inch inclined drive. Rear wheel mercs are utterly useless in snow!!

 

[pammy]

Last year I ruined a set of rear conti's getting up my 3inch inclined drive. Rear wheel mercs are utterly useless in snow!!

Reknowned for being crap in the snow. But then I got a call from my old man earlier today - he'd spun his Mondeo Fortunately no damage. Didn't hit anything - just did 180 degree spin. Gave him a bit of a shock. Reckons he's never spun before

 

[KillerHERTZ]

I have trouble with wet roads since I got the 17"s.

Honestly, I can nearly power side around them!

 

[500E]

I have a video somewhere of my 500E in the snow going up a very steep hill ungritted - gradually I got her up there with the traction light going mental, even though its got traction control it didnt really help! A Ford Fiesta infront of me just had his wheels spinning, turned off into a lane - Great fun !

 

[bolide]

Snow tyres

I took my Porsche 944 to Switzerland in February many years ago. The highlight of the trip was being passed - going uphill - by a Citroen 2CV! I had brand new Brigestone RE71s - brilliant in the dry and wet but utterly useless in the snow

The Swiss have the right idea - they put their nice cars away for the winter and drive old bangers and cheap 4x4s. Come the spring the nice cars come out to play again. On my last trip they'd just discovered this new "cheap runabout" called a Subaru Impreza and a few of those were knocking around

I also got to drive a Lamborghini LM002 but it was unbelievably awful...


Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk

 

[andy_k]

The trouble is we are all so blase about tyres in this country. Because we are never taught the value (or even need) of a decent set of winter tyres we carry on regardless on totally unsuitable "summer" rubber.

For the most part modern tyres are too wide, the tread pattern is wrong (designed for low flex and maximum grip in the dry), the compound is wrong (designed harder for a longer life on low profile tyres) and even in the wet the cheaper ones can be dangerous.

As has been said before a proper set of winter tyres is the ideal but for the relatively few days of inclement weather we get here people tend to not bother and just take the chance because in those immortal words "I'm a good driver" and that's just plain irresponsible. When I lived further North and we got proper winters and I needed the car for work I kept a set of winter tyres in the garage. Now I live in the "sunny south" the weather is less extreme and if it happens to be too bad then the car is non essential and can stay parked up until the snow melts enough for it to be safe to drive

Sorry if this post upsets people but I think that driving a car on inadequate/incorrect tyres in extreme conditions is as dangerous as drink driving.

Andy.

 

[Satch]

This is not very difficult: it is the tyres, no more and no less. Just spent two and a half weeks in Germany and Austria on winter tyres in snow conditions that would bring this country to a slithering halt. Caution required but otherwise no problems at all even on mountain roads.

Simple fact of the matter is that many "performance" orientated tyres are next to useless in low temperature conditions. That sadly applies to many OEM tyres fitted to new 4x4's as well. This is witnessed by the fact that the many cars in areas prone to snow have winter and summer tyre sets or at least fit "all seasons tyres"

Tyre companies in the UK for some reason simply do not want to talk about that so Brits seem to think their tyres are good for all conditions. It is simply not true.

Fwd drive cars may have some overall advantage but it is not all one way. They tend to suffer on steep uphill gradients because the weight distribution is then wrong and also if the wheels are turned at an angle which induces slip. So going uphill round a slippery hairpin in an Fwd car can prove to be not much fun.

 

[grober]

Snow +mercedes 4matic = no problem

I know that glojo and I have discussed this to death but WHY O WHY dont Mercedes market some 4 matic saloons in the UK. Ideal for this kind of weather.They are not alone however. Both BMW and Lexus market 4 wheel drive versions of their 3 series and new IS 250 elsewhere. It would appear these manufacturers prefer us Brits to buy the more expensive 4x4 SUV models in their product line rather than 4x4 saloons. Ford also withdrew their 4x4 Mondeo some time ago although the system lingers on in the "again" more expensive V6 Xtype Jag models.

 

[Thmsshaun]

Rear wheel drive + snow + empty carpark = FUN FUN FUN

On a serious not the C43 is useless on a damp road dread to think what it would be like in the snow

 

[BTB 500]

I know that glojo and I have discussed this to death but WHY O WHY dont Mercedes market some 4 matic saloons in the UK. Ideal for this kind of weather.They are not alone however. Both BMW and Lexus market 4 wheel drive versions of their 3 series and new IS 250 elsewhere. It would appear these manufacturers prefer us Brits to buy the more expensive 4x4 SUV models in their product line rather than 4x4 saloons. Ford also withdrew their 4x4 Mondeo some time ago although the system lingers on in the "again" more expensive V6 Xtype Jag models.

Yup my Sharan 4Motion is excellent, but the reality is that very few people in the UK are prepared to pay for this option. I've never seen another 4WD one on the road, that's why manufacturers don't bother selling them here. Most of the Japanese "full size" MPVs (Toyota, Mazda, Mitsubishi) are already manufactured in a RHD / 4WD version, but the only way to get them in the UK is as a personal import.

 

[fuzzer]

I have trouble with wet roads since I got the 17"s.

Honestly, I can nearly power side around them!

Yep , as long as its not just me , and ive just put new rubber on too :O

 

[Shude]

Also please remember that 4WD essentially helps in setting off or cornering under power, otherwise on standard tyres you are no different to any other car.

Meanwhile I am still running on Pirelli Snowsports, even on the shiny, ungritted glass-like roads this morning the traction was impressive, not a flicker of ASR Boring but safe

 

[Alps]

The C36 with 18`s is utterly useless too!, last year it took several attempts (nearly half an hour ) to try and get my car anywhere near my garage at the side of the house because of a slight incline, in the end i gave up and parked out the front, if anything to save kerbing my rims!.

I have left my car at work the last few days as the trains havent been bad, but that may change tonight and I may have to drive it

Ive yet to find ANY 17" steel rims, as 17" is the minimum size i can put on the c36 because of the size of the caliper. If anyone does find a set, let me know! Also can you get snow tyres in 17"??

 

[Doodle]

Alps, in theory a set of 16's should fit. I've been doing a bit of digging regarding brake upgrades for my C250, and initially cast my eyes to the 4-pots on our SL500.

When I was looking at sourcing replacement calipers and suitable discs, the caliper part numbers for the SL kept showing up the same as those for the C36. The discs are slightly different, our SL has the later discs (320x32), where as the C36 discs are slightly smaller at 316mm dia.

All of this fits inside a 16" Alamak alloy (it's a snug fit!), and Mercedes quote 16" steel rims for winter usage in the manual. If you know someone with an SL on 16's (I'd be happy to meet up with one of our wheels for trial purposes) it would be worth a look at.

17" winter tyres are available...bloody expensive though!

 

[Shude]

Ive yet to find ANY 17" steel rims, as 17" is the minimum size i can put on the c36 because of the size of the caliper. If anyone does find a set, let me know! Also can you get snow tyres in 17"??

There are 17" steel wheels available:

A2194000002 : DISC WHEEL 4J x 17 H2 ET 34 : EUR 76.54

But that's only 4" wide and would be silly

If I were you I'd buy some cheap, narrow 17" alloys for use with winter tyres, you could pick up some kerbed AMGs from ebay for a couple of hundred.

I just checked, Pirelli do their winter "Sottozero" tyres up to 19"

 

[fuzzer]

There are 17" steel wheels available:

A2194000002 : DISC WHEEL 4J x 17 H2 ET 34 : EUR 76.54

But that's only 4" wide and would be silly

isnt that the spacesaver?

 

[Shude]

isnt that the spacesaver?

Likely. Running 4 of those things would be 2CV style

Probably quite dangerous if you don't know what you're doing.