ntwillie1

I'm in NJ and we've got about 7" on the ground already and we expect a few more. I wonder how badly my c230 sport is going to handle? I did order my winter setup from tirerack this morning but it won't be here til Tuesday or Wednesday, just in time for the next storm which they say may hit on christmas day. Looks like for now I'll just leave the car buried. Although I am tempted to take it out for a few donuts in an empty lot

bdgdl08

Post pics when you slide into a pole... just kidding. Good luck and be careful. I really hate snow driving, but I'm lucky enough not to have to deal with it very often. The people around here drive like there's ice on the road when it rains though, no one goes over 35.

acr2001

Unless the roads you drive on have been plowed, your C230 is not going to handle! I'm in NYC and our rear wheel drive E class is undrivable (with conti all seasons) in this kind of weather. 4Matic is a lot of fun though!

MasterMoparSB

The next storm is going to be rain. it'll be 45 degrees and raining on Christmas day.

omg its nate

I am glad I have two cars.

samaritrey

I have two feet where i live. my poor car is outside with two feet of snow on her and a driveway that is unplowed. I have to go to work on monday so this may be fun.

OneOfaKindTrini

LEt me share some pictures.

10Pm last night.
Not too bad right?


10am This morning....

OWNED. Lmao

bignaldo

i live in jersey went to go see avatar at the theater yesterday at 430 when i got out at 7 30 the parking lot was covered in snow at least 8 inches went to the car started it up clean off the car and just drove away no problem i love the 4 matic lol

Cintoman

Got close to 18 up here in northern RI. I have my winter setup on my car (OEM funnel wheels with Dunlop SP Winter Sport 3D) that are 2 seasons old. I can already tell that there's a significant drop in traction on my rears. After shoveling my driveway (which is slightly slanted), I moved the car down to clean around where the car was. Trying to get the car back up was not a fun endevour. There was little hope. Took me about 30 minutes and the help of some good old fashioned rock salt.

I just updated my sig to show how I found my car this morning....

Enjoy.
Cintoman.

ntwillie1

I went out and brushed the car of fthis morning and it got out alright which was pretty surprising. I'm still looking forward to my winter setup though. I do also have an MDX which handles awesome but my wife uses that mostly so I'm stuck in the benz. I'm goign to carry around cardboard and a shovel in my trunk just in case I end up getting stuck somewhere.

With my winter setup i got the ST3 wheels which are AMG knockoffs so I'm looking forward to seeing how thats going to look

zcurtis00

We got about 2 feet where I live, but the plow for my neighborhood decided to blast all the snow right in front of my car so it's not going anywhere for a while.

ntwillie1

How do you like those Dunlop SP Winter Sport 3ds? I considered them but went with BLizzak in the end cause the rep at tire rack said the BLizzaks would give me better traction while the 3ds would give better handling. Sounds like the same thing but it isn't. Depending on the wear properties of this first set of Blizzaks i'll decide if I go with them again or try something else out.

Cintoman

the SP Sport 3D's were great for the first 2 seasons I had them. The ! traction light would never (and I mean never) go on, unless I was absolutely crazy driving. They were incredibly impressive. Even now, they're not bad, but I can tell a decent reduction in low speed traction. I should check how many miles I've put on them since I've had them.

I'm sure the Blizzak's are great as well.

Cintoman

advans

this sucks.

I drove my gf to the train station today,

my Carbon Fiber front lip turned into a Carbon Fiber Snow Plow

bignaldo

that sucks did rip it off right i think it time u park that benz

advans

^nah, it's fine. here's some pictures. I took this morning! I wouldn't be driving this thing if I had my 535xi, my xi has been at the dealers for like. a month.

tommy

It does look clean, though!

I flew in from Mexico City yesterday; the timing was perfect. No delay, roads were perfect. Got the timing down perfectly, just like I planned 3 weeks ago.

advans

hahaha nice!

bdgdl08

That's so funny! I love Florida.

dw1

I respectfully but very strongly disagree. My '07 C230 with Conti performance snows did just fine Saturday night & Sunday morning in central & northern NJ. With the traction control & abs, driving was not at all dramatic. Sure you had to take it easy (I put the 7-speed in "C" to invoke 2nd gear starts), and traction with summer tires or worn-out all-seasons would have been "interesting" to say the least, but I had no difficulties.

Undrivable? I certainly think not.

Remember when most cars (with the exception of Saabs and a few other oddballs) were all rwd, and had no traction control, abs, or modern tires?

I think those of us who are a bit older may have the benefit of some good bad-weather driving training by driving 60's & 70's vehicles. But then, I'm originally from Michigan, went to school in upstate NY (I now live in northwest NJ) and I've also owned several cars that were truly awful in the snow (e.g. '67 Camaro, Gran Torino, TR8, etc.).

Benzben

The big difference sounds like you had Conti SNOW tires, while his E-Class is sitting on Conti ALL-SEASONS. Huge difference. My 2005 C230 was a glorified paperweight in any significant snow when I had Pirelli PZeroNero "all-seasons" on it. Got some Dunlop Winter Sport 3D's on the stock wheels, and it was night and day. Haven't gotten stuck since then. Those Pirelli's were absolutely WORTHLESS with anything but the lightest dusting of the white stuff. Hated those tires.

acr2001

Like benzben said, you completely missed the point. Please re-read my post. With snow tires you should do just fine.

I can tell you from experience, having all-season tires with 4Matic and ESP works great for acceleration and turns in the snow, but when it's time to slam the brakes, you really start to wish you had snow tires! Our E with all-seasons and RWD is completely useless, and honestly a danger to have on the road under these conditions (I can tell you this from experience also).

dw1

No point was missed.

I just strongly think the statement that the E was "undrivable" was a bit of hyperbole. (It was also clearly stated that the major difference was rwd vs 4matic, not the type of tire.)

I find that good all-season tires work quite well in all but the worst conditions. I have a set of Conti ExtremeContact all-season tires on my '87 911 (!) and they work ok in the slippery stuff (up to about 6 inches deep, where ground clearance becomes an issue with that car).

Until very recently, my C230 had on its summer tires. Yes, I had to be careful during the early-season storm we had here in NW NJ 12/5 - 12/6, but it certainly was not "undrivable".

It should be noted that all-season tires don't work as well when they get worn, however. Most people don't change tires often enough, I think. Or just plain don't drive enough in snow to use what the car does and does not do, and learn how to drive in bad conditions.

Heck, any new rwd car with traction control & abs brakes is far better than most 'murrican 60's & 70's cars, whether the new cars have winter, summer, or all-season tires.

If you feel that uncomfortable with driving that car in bad weather, so be it. "A danger to have on the road"? Then what about all of the other rwd cars with all-season tires?

acr2001

To answer your last question, it has a lot to do with the conditions and the dynamics of the car.
I can tell you that driving in this storm every car i saw on the road was having problems including the SUVs.
I think everyone knows that front engine RWD cars do not handle very well in snow compared to a FWD front engine car.

I have to politely disagree with you based on my own knowledge and experience. I was saying that in this storm, under these conditions, our RWD E with all seasons was dangerous to be driving. With less snow, on salted roads, sure you can do OK. But either way the car handles like crap in the snow with all-seasons and there is no arguing that as far as I'm concerned. I'm sure some sandbags (or even passengers ) in the back would help.

Cintoman

I can also agree to this. My OEM Michelin Pilot Primacy summer tires were truly horrendous in 2 inches of snow. Nothing could keep my car from going sideways down the hill my street is off of. ABS, TCS, ESP, BAS, and any other letter combinations did nothing. The car was truly undriveable. And I've grown up driving RWD cars all my life (68 Chrysler Town & Country wagon, 73 Plymouth Gran Fury Sedan, 81 Chrysler LeBaron, 80 Ford LTD, 86 Buick Regal, 90 Ford Crown Victoria), so I know how to drive an RWD vehicle in the snow.

Like Benzben, I also threw on Dunlop SP Winter Sport 3D's, and the difference was really night and day. It's amazing how much a true Winter tire makes in these cars.

Cintoman