Does anyone else's c class suck in the snow? There was only a few inches on the ground and my c280 couldn't come close to tackling it. It stayed in one spot and couldn't budge. I've never seen a more poor display of a car in snow than this one. Seeing minivans, taurus's, camry's and accords takcle the snow with no problem left me feeling rather pissed off Not to mention while I was at work, some a$$hole ripped the star off my hood. I noticed it when I was trying to free my helpless car in the mere inches of snow it was trapped in.

 

You need to consider the tire. Here's an excellent winter tire. I switch before
the snow fall.

Blizzak LM-22

 

i had 2 w202's before i got my clk and they were the worst in the snow. i dreaded driving in snow with them. the clk isnt any better and my friends 04 e500 sucks too. rear wheel drive and snow isnt a good mix.

 

Check this thread...

https://mbworld.org/forums/c-class-w202/91883-when-driving-w202-snow-ice-should-i-keep-fuel-tank-full-half-full-low.html

 

hey run..i hate people who are two chicken s@#t to say somthing to your face if they got a problem. messing up someone's car even if it's a rusted out minivan is the mark of a coward. what do you think the kid who stole your star is going to do with it? j-b weld it to the hood of his mom's honda civic? maybe you could check out the tops of the neighborhood x-mas trees. i'm off the soapbox now, merry christmas everybody.

 

I agree with you about people screwing with cars. Sorry to hear about the stolen star 04. Everyone loves to play with those things too. To have someone steal it when your already having difficulty with somethign is like adding salt to the wound! Adsit Co. sells removable hood stars I think. At least its not the most expensive thing to fix, but still pisses you off!

Lucky for me, unlike 04 didnt steal the star, just slashed the tires. I use to park off campus on a public street (I park somewhere else now). He slashed 2 of the tires so I couldnt see they were flat until I started driving. Thank god the 190D spare will fit on the W202 (I drove under 25mph for 15 miles home until I could get it to the shop the next morning! $300 for 2 new tires!). I guess the ghetto guys liked it because it has the gold package. Funny though because there was a 2005 C320 parked back there earlier and was never messed with. The honda behind me got its stereo stolen too! Ohh well, the car has been bad luck for me this year between the accident and tires slashing.

Heres to the new year and happy holidays every one!

 

my bad, 040 i haven't had enough coffee this morning or somthing, anyhow i agree that rear wheel drive cars, and trucks too, don't seem to do very good in the snow. in my experince wide tires seem to make things worse. my z-28 is a nightmare to drive in bad weather, my c-230 isn't much better. snow tires and something heavy over the back axle are the only help i know of. later

 

040 mercedes

You may want to consider going to a good driving school.
Winter driving has NOTHING to do with the car & has EVERYTHING to do with the proper tires & driver.

 

my w202 is fine in the snow...even with several inches on the ground. This is with all seasons too, Conti CH95's.

You just have to know how to handle the car in the snow, how much gas/brake to add. Been doing this for the past 3 years in my w202 and never have gotten stuck before.

Of course tho, on inclines, it's a little tougher but I manage still.

 

I'll second the LM-22's. I decided to go the dedicated snow tire route this winter, and I have been quite impressed so far.

 

It`s all in how it`s driven. RWD was the norm for 80 or so years and people managed to get around ok. When I was a kid my dad could drive the old Impala just fine in snow. Get some Blizzaks and ease up on the pedals.

 

Well, its been a while. As for the star, the cameras at my work don't look at as far as I park, so I can't catch the douschbag that stole my star.....oh well thats just one more thing to throw on top of the pile of stuff I need to pay for my car. As for the driving in the snow, its been ruled out by trial and error that my tires suck. They were on the car when I bought it and I'm ashamed to even mention what kind they are because I would never do that to my benz. Just never got around to buying decent treads. Any tire would have helped quite a bit. Oh yeah, and all the people who mentioned that I should go to driving school, well I don't think I need it because, I even let others try to free it when it was stuck, and..well my 190 kicked a$$ in the snow and so did both my Nissans and both my Hondas. Snow driving is fun. So...f#@k off

Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! and Happy Newyear!

040

 

I got some normal winter tires, and it works pretty good.

I was used to have a car without traction control and RWD so having my MB is waaay better in the snow.

And I live in Canada so we get a LOT of snow.

The only thing is that my car is still lowered so I plow the streets after a good snowfall

Etienne

 

Interesting thread. Sort of reminds of the kid who used to live next door. One night I heard him bi+chin' to his dad about the poor performance of his new Lexus IS300. Seems he couldn't get up the driveway that was coated with snow and ice. Got a close look at the car and saw it had wide, low profile sport tires. Probably great on dry pavement but with combined with RWD and snowy conditions, forget it.

It never fails how many people are so ignorant of where traction really comes from. With the wrong tires, even an AWD auto will suck on snow and ice.

 

Alright. Let me clarify a few issues that have already been posted but have obviosly been overlooked. The reason why I started this thread is because I was told from a very reliable source of Mercedes info that benz's (excluding 4matics and suv's) are really not that great in the snow. I have previosly owned a 1989 190E 2.6 which I purchased Bridgestone Potenzas for. It was very fun to drive when winter came around. The tires, not being the greatest on the market (in my opinion) provided sufficient traction in the snow, thus ranking very high on the fun factor. However, this year when snow came around for the first time here in southwest Ohio, my 1995 c280 had a large amount of trouble getting around in the snow. So bad in fact, that it would not move. It was STUCK. As in, it would not move FORWARD. It didn't matter if ASR was on or how much throttle was being given. It would not move FOWARD. This happened approximatley four times in snow that other cars could move freely about in. I was so confident in the fact that the car was terrible in the snow, had anyone of you other members posting that I need to go to driving school were there, I would have gladly handed you the title to my car, if in fact you could have freed it without the assistance of snow shovels, salt, or pushing or towing. In other words there was no helping this car, IT WAS STUCK. Now, back to the reason why I posted this thread. In my opinion, there is no way in hell that my car could be that bad in the snow. Having owned the predessesor to the 202, I was in complete denial. So, I seeked the opinion of other 202 owners. Responses varied. However, my source of Mercedes info (11 years working for Mercedes Benz so experience is a definate 'yes') said "hmmm they aren't that great in the snow". I suggested that different tires would help after I initially started this thread. So fast forward to when my "info source" finally got to drive my car in the snow. To say the least, he was disgusted with the performance of the car, or should I say the tires. Turns out he suggested new tires too. Gee, what a shock. So my theory was right. The tires do in fact suck. My 1995 c280 is not that bad in the snow. I do believe that I posted this in this thread already. Yes, in fact I did post this already.....wow. I admitted to the fact that the tires do suck. Those of you who suggested that I needed new tires, Congratulations.....you were right. Also, this is what I was hoping would solve the problem. Guess what, its gonna. Now for those of you who suggested that I need to go to driving school, or I'm "ignorant" to the fact of where traction comes from, guess what...........you can still f@#k off.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year

040

P.S. if anyone is still confused, let me know. Questions?

 

A man blames his tools for a poor job.
Come & visit me sometime, I'll show you how to drive a W 202 with all-season tires ( not snow tires ) in 15" of snow without any problems.
That's with traction control turned off !!!!
Btw. this invitation applies to your " reliable " source as well.

 

You know, it's really poor character to post a message soliciting opinions and then become disgruntled with the answers considering the rather limited information provided in the original post. For example, what type of tires and what condition were there? I still don't see an answer.

Regarding the "Mercedes expert" who feels that RWD M-B sedans are poor performers in the snow, I find it interesting that the very next sentence contradicts that expert by stating that the 190E with what you feel are mediocre tires performed satisfactory. Seems like less of an expert to me. From a design standpoint, two things affect traction; suspension geometry and tire type. If there were any history of a traction design flaw, such a flaw would have made itself widely known. I'll go with a century of Mercedes automotive engineering expertise over some "expert's" years of experience.

It's also heartwarming that you realize the culprit was a tire that sucks. The only problem is that you fail to mention in what way they suck.

Are they inappropriate tires for the weather?

Are they poorly designed?

Or are they in poor condition?

If you feel that my comment about being ignorant applies to you, I can only say that if the shoe fits, choke on it.

Have a good day and enjoy your Mercedes.

 

with Blizzack snow tires and a set of chains, I got through every blizzard we had on LI.

I had to drive 40 miles to work, at the height of two (3?) blizzards and never got stuck last winter. Same thing with my W201 when we had a 36 inch blizzard in the late 80's.

Now if you want to talk about a worthless car in the snow, I could tell you stories about a 73 AMC Gremlin, even with snow tires.

 

Ok. Clearly, no one is truely reading my posts. Maybe my wording is off, but after I went back and read it hours after it has been originally posted, it still made sense to me. Maybe I am after all a dumb a$$ for continuing this argument, but after all I'm 20 years old and full of sarcasm so here goes.....
Your invitations for showing me how to drive are very tempting, but I'll have to pass because of lack of funds to drive to Canada and lack of interest because you clearly did not read my previos post. Now, perhaps you are a better driver than me and I'll gladly admit that. However, after attending several autocross events (racing not spectating, and not in my benz mind you) and 4 short years of safe driving practice, I feel that my skills are sufficient. So, let me again say it would not have mattered if Schumacher or Andretti (who I do believe would out drive the ***** out of both of us) themselves were behind the wheel. Driving skill does not come into play if your car, like I have already said, WILL NOT MOVE. I'll go ahead and repeat it yet again. THE CAR WAS STUCK THE CAR WAS STUCK IN ONLY A FEW INCHES OF SNOW THE CAR WAS STUCK AND WOULD NOT MOVE FOWARD IT WOULD NOT HAVE MATTERED WHO WAS BEHIND THE WHEEL I WOULD HAVE LAUGHED IN YOUR FACE WHEN YOU COULD NOT HAVE GOTTEN IT OUT EITHER YOU WERE NOT THERE THAT NIGHT SO GO WITH WHAT I AM SAYING. Do you get the point now? I tried to make it as clear as possible. So that is why I did not appreciate the driving skill comment. Ok moving on.....when I was talking about my 'source' I'll just go ahead and spit it out, It's my dear old dad. However, I was not lying when I gave his experience he did in fact spend 11 years at Mercedes Benz. Starting in service, and moving his way to sales manager. So his opinion means a lot to me and more than yours. but I naturally I like to seek opinions of others too, because I'm young and niave to things still and by no stretch a Mercedes expert. Now let me again repeat what he told me "mercedes are not that great in the snow" notice this is exactly what I said before, this to me sounds like "decent but not terrible" Any RWD car in the snow, as you all know is "decent but not terrible". Now if you thought these words ment "oh my god Mercedes is the worst possible car in the world to drive in the snow! somebody please kill me....I'm in so much pain!" than you will have argued me further, which you did, so........ Now to my next point, I did in fact post a thread to recieve other opinions and Ok you're right, Maybe I did belittle the opinions of a few. Constructive critism is more my type of critism, which some members did post and I do thank you. Not "your ignorant" or "you should go to driving school because you can't drive!" so maybe I am at fault still.......or not,but I appreciate comments from all now, even those who belittle my opinion. I'm really trying to be as fair as I possibly can and look at this from your standpoint, but I just don't understand. I'm trying to see where I made contradictions, and where I choked on my shoes...I just can't read in between your lines as you can't read in between mine. So this has been blown into a full, all out, pissing match, about who is right and who is the a$$hole. Maybe I'm it, maybe your it, who knows. I do know this for certain now. I am going to go buy new tires! Can anyone recommend a decent set? I hear Michelin Pilot Alpins are awesome. So those who choose to critize me constructivley, yes I do appreciate your opinons and I thank you dearly. Those who still think I suck at driving and I can shove me feet up my a$$ or whatever, yes you can still f@#k off.

That's MY opinion and that's final, no if ands or buts about it. Now.......truce?

 

by the way, sph17 I hear that blizzaks are nice too. I'll look into them as well, Thank you.

 

Ok wadster, I just read your post again and want to further what I just REPEATED. See? I didn't read yours carefully either. Accept I just found more crap in your post than in mine. Like I had written, my source did drive the car and was disgusted with the performance of the tires. That means he felt that is not the way a mercedes should drive in the snow. Looks like he was right. So I guess I'll go ahead and make my hands more tired by typing the same old stuff again and again, you need to READ MY POSTS CLEARLY. I don't think I'm a poor character at all, as a matter of fact I bet you would like me If we hung out some time. It's just that skimming my replies and not READING CLEARLY will cause you to make accusations that just don't make sense.

So you still up for that truce?

 

I had an old pair of ?LM-22? last year on my W202 and a new pair of WS-50 on our E39.

This year I replaced the snows on the W202 with WS-50. We have only has a few inches so far, so I haven't been able to test them in deep snow, but our E39 did well with them last year.

 

040 mercedes

And a happy New Year to you too.
Btw., I was " next door " to you ( in Lebanon ), just a few days ago.
Yes, it was snowing like a *****, but we managed.

 

I'm glad you did. A lot of people did, however I didn't because, like I said, my tires sucked. Kelly Chargers, nuff' said. Zero traction. On the lighter side, I found my hood ornament after the snow melted. Go figure.

But seriosly though, happy new year, don't get too drunk and definately don't drive. O40

 

Hello all,

I've had 5 MB's and none of them were worth much in snow. Growing up in Buffalo, where we had snow school every winter, we generally bought "winter rides", or cars that could get along in snow or, if amateurs in MB's were on the road and losing control, we wouldn't be out much if we were totalled.

Sorry to say, MB's in my experience are not the best in even a light snow. That's why my 420 is off the road for the winter ( welcoming back my 91 5spd Jeep) and my 190 has 100 pounds of salt in the trunk for traction.

I'd like to hear AWD drivers' experience in snow.