I own a C230 coupe and have put it away for the 4 winter months and now think I will drive it in the snow. I have the Evolution pkg and know that there are summer tires on it and will have to put Winter ones on. My question is, does anyone drive in the snow and what have you done to increase traction. My thoughts are to put winter tires and two bags of sand in the trunk because I know that the rear end is a bit lighter then the front by about 5%. Your thoughts and sugestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

With winter specific tires (not all-season) and your traction control, the sand bags shouldn't be needed. This is my third winter with my coupe and I've not had a problem.

 

Thanks Mark0 for the advice, guess I could try it and can always put sand in if needed. I was just worried about inclines. My sisiter has a 3 series and forgot to put sand in the trunck and had trouble but no winter tires just all seasons.

 

I live in Colorado and there is snow on the ground outside my office window as we speak. I drive my 230 SC 'in snow' with the stock Michelin Sports tires on it. The tires have 90% plus tread on em, since they are new (as is the car). I drive careful and the ESP takes over every once and a while. If these tires had less tread on them I would probably get winter tires (studs, etc) to use in the snow season. But then again I would consider myself a decent 'snow' driver; cause I used to rock my lowered, overpowered VW with excessively worn sport tires in several inches of snow.

ESP really takes the load from the driver... granted you should still drive cautious and not underestimate poor weather conditions.

 

Four things are required, they are the tires. My experience with the Blizzak LM-25 on this vehicle has been outstanding.

Never a problem.

The thing about the traction control, it causes extra wear on the rear brakes, so the pad replacement interval decreases.

 

Worth it for safety though

 

Yes, but by maximizing traction, by selecting tires that are optimum for the driving conditions, the traction control is almost never needed. The excessive brake wear is therefore not an issue.

 

BFD. Its miminal. Besides, gives all reasons to ditch the dirty stock pads for something that doesn't foul the wheel every two days.

Also, the pile on what already has been said, YOU NEED WINTER TIRES. All seasons will do, but winter tires will do much better. Forget the sand, a full tank of gas is all you need. Never been stuck with the proper tires.

As for the gentleman driving with the pilots in the snow....youre asking for it...even if you can live with the miserable grip on takeoff, youre gonna miss a turn or can't stop in time, and ESP can't make the tires bite any harder. Go Ebay or MBKlass and get some cheapo 16"s and winter tires. If nothing else, you won't foul your C7 rims in the salt and sand.

 

Get four snow tires on dedicated rims. I have the 17" Michlin Alpin's on a 2002 C230 six speed and have driven in snow and ice for the past three winters. Handles as good, if not better than a FWD vehicle. Very seldom does the ESP kick in.
Michlin Pilot Sport's don't function in cold temps because of the compound that the summer tires are made from. When it's around 20F they stay hard thus, no traction on snow/ice.

 

Go look at the tread on your alpin's. Its the siping...all the small lines, that grips the snow. The compound comes into play on dry roads when its cold...then the Pilots don't even grip well in the dry.

 

i meant to get some winter tires, but never did, boy what a mistake that was, the stock Michelins are **** in the snow, on inclines...you may as well just consider yourself stuck and if you plan on parking anywhere, make sure you'll be able to dig around your car if there is ice under ya, or else you're stuck there too, definitely gettin some snow tires next winter...

 

The Michelins are summer only. There's still plenty of winter left. You shouldn't regret getting a set of dedicated snow tires now. An earlier post suggested Blizzak-LM25 tires. I've had very good results with Dunlop Winter Sports, and have heard wondrous reviews about tires from a company called Nokian. They may be a bit hard to find, however, their buyers love them.