kimeran

Howsit guys

Did a quick search and didn't find anything, so I'm sorry if this is a repost.
How do you guys feel the handling of the C63 is in the wet?
Driving the car yesterday and it was absolutely terrible! At between 120km/h and 140km/h the car would squirm for every small puddle of water I went through!

No jokes....my Toyota Hilux handles the wet weather better!
The car has Pirelli rubber all around. All tyres practically brand new.
I checked tyre pressure and adjusted accordingly, so will only know if it improves when I drive it again.

So my question is: Is this a common issue with these cars or could there be something wrong with my car that I need to get Merc to look into?

Thanx a mill

PkB2014

The wider the tire the more prone to hydroplaning. If the air pressure was too low it could cause more wet traction problems as well. I find wet traction to be fine for the amount of power we have and being RWD. As long as I keep it in C mode and traction control on it mostly stays put. Of course any goosing of the throttle can break traction, but that's expected with 450hp+.

ecohen2

If you plan on using your car in all weather conditions, you should either swap your tires or pick up another set of rims with all-seasons. I changed my tires and the car went from being almost unusable in bad weather to being on par with any other RWD car.

I bought these: http://toyotires.com/tire/pattern/pr...l-season-tires

Ed

PkB2014

All-seasons is not the same as all-weather. In fact Michelin PSS summer tire performs very well in wet conditions.

tfthach13

I don't mean to contradict you as this sounds the most logical thing to do in wet weather, but I find that I have more control of the car and keeping it grounded when I have traction control off. Sure the wheels will spin like crazy, but at least you don't have a computer cutting off your power when you really need it. For example, I was driving in a heavy downpour a while ago and merging onto the freeway was near impossible with TC on. It wasn't until I turned it off that I was able to merge at the same speed as the traffic.

But then again, I'm running all-seasons in the rear so that might have something to do with it.

PkB2014

I understand what you are saying. And I think that makes sense in some instances. I had an issue like that with my old G35. I started hydroplaning on the freeway so the system locked up my wheels and it actually put me into a spin at around 60 MPH. Not as fun as it sounds. (I was lucky though, no worries)

I feel like our TC is much better than that, but turning it off or to Sport might not be a bad idea either. I do it for fun sometimes, but usually at low speed.

Going slow and easy on the torque (i.e. keeping it in C mode) are probably most important. Also, some tires are just not good wet, so knowing your equipment is important. I think TireRack has ratings for most tires if you are interested. Probably some other sites, too, that I don't know.

tfthach13

^^ I agree. C mode will definitely help the wheels from spinning too much.

rinopiroddi

I run the proxes4 plus/as toyo tires as we'll and they are a huge improvement over the stock tires in wet weather

m a x i m u s

driving in the wet is slick no matter what car and tire combo you have. just get good at modulating the throttle, and don't stab at the gas unless you are pointed straight. this is what my driving coach told me when I was racing formula Mazda, and he was right.

kimeran

Weirdly it was the front letting go 1st. And this was going downhill and completely off the throttle. So basically coasting at 120km/h and go through a small puddle and suddenly the front starts squirming around on the freeway.
Is that normal C63 behaviour?

95_993

Behavior is not normal. Are you running normal alignment spec or do you have increased camber? In a straight line, this may cause erratic handling as the tire is virtually "on edge".

zibby43

At 120 km/h, you were moving pretty quickly (that's about 75 mph).

That's normal behavior in any car at high speed when you hit a puddle. It's called hydroplaning.

If there is standing water on the road, hitting that puddle of water at high speed will cause the tires to lose contact with the road surface (imagine a layer of water between your tire and the road surface). This sudden loss of contact with the road surface will cause a rapid loss of traction (the higher the speed and the bigger the puddle, the more violent the loss of traction).

I had a family member hydroplane on the interstate (she was going about 70 mph, the speed limit) after hitting a large puddle. She wasn't driving recklessly but she was driving recklessly for the conditions. She spun into a semi truck and was lucky to walk away with minor injuries (no one was seriously hurt).

Regardless of the car, regardless of the tires you have, you have to adjust your driving style in heavy rain - especially so if there are areas of the road covered in standing water (i.e., puddles).

Stay safe.

tfthach13

Plus, on a downhill you have gravity pushing your heavy car downwards. No matter the tire you're going to have a difficult time controlling the car.

kimeran

Shew that's hectic!
The thing is, at 120, my van, previous cars etc never had any issues with hydroplaning like this car does.
@95: I also feel it isn't normal. I just bought the car and the alignment is off slightly so I'm gonna get them to do the alignment and now will also ask them to check camber etc. thanx!

Anything else I should ask them to check guys?

95_993

Kimeran,

In addition to alignment, you should check and make sure your directional treaded tires are mounted in the right direction of rotation. I have seen tire shops mount improperly before and having the channels on high performance directional tires going the wrong way will cause very bad hydroplaning.

kimeran

Never thought about that! Will have a look when I get home, thanx bud!

khmergod

Kimeran check tires. My tires were almost worn down and I wobbled going past 60mph during rain. New tires and I can hit speed limit without problem. But remember, speed limits are for perfect conditions in weather and vehicle. Respect the laws of physics and we'll make it through this life lol.

kimeran

Hahaha advice noted!
Tyres are almost brand new though

chrisridebike8

When I was on stock Conti 5Ps at VIR, it rained on the back straight and the car was stable at 120. I was very surprised. I had the ESP full on and had no problems. Once there was standing water, I chickened out and didn't go over 100 on the back straight and basically tripled the distance I braked at. The bad part was the front straight/half of the course was dry so I looked like a total wuss because I was still in wet driving mode.

avery.whss

lol hydroplaning is the least you need to worry about in the rain...even with 285s sometimes when im accelerating upto 110km I won't even have the pedal down half way and the backend's sliding out at 90...now thats sketchy even with ESP on it just wants to spin the tires

tfthach13

^ I think that's why driving with traction control off helps a bit. Allowing the tires to spin more might help "dig" into the water and gain some traction. Maybe?

avery.whss

i agree because with ESP on it cuts the power and kinda makes things a bit awkward

kimeran

Very true! The problem is that the front end is losing grip, not the rear

zibby43

Hydroplaning is a much more common occurrence than people think.

Usually it is a minor event that the driver won't even notice. But the conditions for hydroplaning aren't that extraordinary, and it can happen even with the proper tires.

Conditions that cause hydroplaning:

1) The water depth must be over a tenth of an inch (0.3 centimeters);

2) The car's speed needs to be 50 miles per hour (80 kilometers per hour) or more.

That's it. So if there is standing water on the roads, be careful.

Diabolis

As zibby said, it's hydroplaning. Not an issue with the car in any way - it's a function of vehicle speed and weight and tire tread width, depth, pattern design and the actual rubber compound.